You invent and develop a product or service. Then you build your business. Along the way, you invest the necessary time, money and effort. Through freelance.com, you find someone in the Philippines who designed your logo. You write contracts with couriers. You roll up your sleeves until they fray. And you're ready to fly into e-commerce like a rocket.
Maybe you knew someone's cousin who creates websites from his dorm room. Or you read an article on how to "build websites yourself in 3 easy steps."
The only thing left to do then is to throw your site online.
And you're done -- right?
Error.
In recent years, I have encountered too many entrepreneurs who wanted to build their own websites. Surprise: Of course, that quickly becomes a full-time job. And outsourcing suddenly becomes an interesting idea after all. What turns out to be the case? That people complain a lot about the price of a decent website.
Permission to speak?
This bothers me (slightly).
A handsome, user-friendly Web site is no longer a luxury - or something optional. Certainly not if you want to get a successful e-commerce business off the ground. Anno 2015, it is essential.
Look, I understand.
You're a starter. Your budget is limited. You're an entrepreneur and like to hold all the reins yourself. That's all very admirable. But if you want to start an online business - and not invest in your website - you're better off staying on the couch.
Why? Why?
You have one chance, one face.
Make an unforgettable first impression.
Well, you probably heard this before:
"You only get 1 chance for a first impression."
Imagine this for a moment:
Instead of setting up your website, open a brick-and-mortar business. Let's say: a clothing store.
And because you're just starting out, keep it modest. Your furnishing budget is low. You invest only in the necessary paint, flooring, lighting, shelving, displays, mannequins, Bancontact and simple inventory systems. But even with a short-term lease, you're easily at 100,000€ to run your physical store for a year. Probably more.
And even if you throw 100,000 hard-earned or borrowed flaps at it, you still pale next to the Zara or Scotch & Soda down the street in terms of presentation. Or the Jack & Jones. Or the H&M. They crack you up in terms of presentation, assortment and processes. And that, you (almost) never survive.
When I walk around town, I see a lot of vacancy compared to about seven years ago. It's getting harder for a start-up to compete with the big boys. And when I talk to entrepreneur friends, this impression is confirmed time and again.
But it is not all doom and gloom, doom and malaise.
Because when you have a handsome website, customers see you differently.
They only see you in a narrowly defined online world. Because when you get people to your website, they're not thinking about what the Zara or the Scotch in their neighborhood looks like. They're comparing their websites to yours.
Guess what this means?
Right: that you do have better competition here.
The cost of a good web designer varies. A handsome, fully functional website with a web shop can be had from as little as 7,000€ - 8,000€. Compare that to the 100,000€ you would spend on your concrete business. And even then you would lose the battle. In every area.
Why not spend a few thousand dollars and build a great website? One that, by the way, will last much longer than 1 year.
The characteristics of handsome, functional websites
Have you decided to have your website designed? Then this is one of the best things you can do:
Go online and see what your competition is doing. Look at (1) how Web sites look and (2) how user-friendly they are. What do you like most about the designs? What do you dislike?
Finito? Good. Surf sites outside your area of expertise. Look for fresh, new or unique design trends. For example, you can get graphics ideas from completely different industries than the one you're in. The thumbnails, gallery and product pages on a real estate company's Web site, for example, could be perfectly used to sell clothing online. A totally different sector. And yet this design can be a perfect fit for your products.
Design chosen? Then make sure you have professional product photos. Because every bit of research I read confirms the following:
The prettier your photos, the higher your conversion rate. In fact, your products will also be returned less. Moreover, poor photography indirectly tarnishes your brand. So do yourself a favor and hire a professional photographer.
Besides beautiful design and picture-perfect images, the usability of your site is also important. Put yourself in your customer's shoes. Is navigation simple? Do the categories make sense? Are there special features you like? What do you hate?
Make sure the best features stick in your website. And leave out what you just don't like. Have a creative idea for a plugin that helps your customers choose - and sets you apart from your competition? Do!
Mobile-friendly
You may have heard this 7,380 times by now, but just make sure your website and webshop are mobile-friendly. Because if your website doesn't work properly and easily on mobile, you're wasting your time investing in your new website that we've been talking about all along.
Your prospects almost always click away mobile monstrosities immediately. That's 1. But for a few months now, Google has also been putting "mobile-unfriendly" websites a couch to the back.
In other words, you no longer appear at the top of search results. Causes? This can range from fonts that are too small to websites that are too wide - but that's by no means all.
Check how mobile-friendly your website is here.
Enter your website URL and click "analyze."
We passed. (thank goodness)
Are you also looking for a professional, mobile-friendly website or web shop?
Then look no further.
We build websites and web shops that work.
Send an email to info@bme.be. Or call: +32 89 23 86 35.
