Because making just websites is for underachievers.
Ok, let’s imagine for a second that we’re making a web experience of informing our potential customers about our brand, thus raising their brand awareness. Basically, we just want people to know and like the brand, what can influence them to pick our brand up the next time in their store or online. And at this point two things should matter to us as the let’s say … Sausage Flavored Cereal makers. Sure we have a cult following of our fans, and the product is great. Why wouldn’t it be? Everyone eats sausage and cereal for breakfast, and we innovated our way out of cornflakes by combining the two. So we know we have something good. And we know people move around the internet sort of like in a maze where they can also stumble upon our competition, the dreaded hamburger and pizza cereals!
Where to start?
So you start to think, that we need to make a website for our company, that will offer a heartwarming experience, associating us with everything that’s good and true in this world, like a family breakfast for example. Well… WRONG! You need to get to the first things first. First of all being present in the world wide web right now is a must. It’s not a prestigious thing to be online as it was a few years back. Now it’s necessary. But at the same time there are things to consider.
Do you want to engage in the web fully?
That is actually a pretty good question, because for some reason we tend to think we do a website, pay a bunch of bills to some agency, and it’ll all work itself out. Like you know – millions of page views. The truth is that it probably won’t and that’s because you don’t really know what to expect from the web, and what you actually want to offer it. By that I mean providing things people might want to find online. Because even if they like your product they’re not very likely to be interested in your website. And if they don’t like it why would they be even remotely interested? But if you, just like we do, believe in the slow overtaking of all the other media by this large online behemoth, and you’re also willing to contribute to the online world, than we can jump to the next question.
Join the party or be left out
The truth is – people + the internet = social web. Or web 2.0. Or 3.0. Whatever you call it it’s a fact that it exists. And if it does and people share thoughts of various kinds there, you should get in on that. There are problems with that of course – mainly lack of passion to evolve that idea – making a profile here and there is not really enough. You need to update it. Tend to it. Play with it. And be creative.
Also there’s the problem of reaching new fans, and basic principles of how to operate in the social world, but we’ll elaborate on that further on another ocassion.
Make a list before you start!
- What can the user do on the site?
- How can a user find out about it
- Do we want him to be back?
- Do we focus on mixing the regular web with the social?
- Are we just making a showcase for brands?
- Or do we want to reach the end customer?
And after you answer all these questions some usability guys can work on the site’s skeleton. After that designers will make the pretty graphics, and programmers … will be late for the deadline (they usually are). But after all of it is done, you will be presented with a website. But what makes it an experience?
Testing.
Adding changes. And then some more testing. But when you do it this way, you’ll be rewarded by the people who only care about you for 30 seconds – the web users! And that was the whole point of it after all…