I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had this conversation. Someone comes to me with their website needs, and I ask them this question:
“When a user lands on your site, what do you want them to do?”
And they will inevitably respond with one of these answers:
- I want them to see my services.
- I want there to be sliding photos.
- I want to have a flashy site.
…or something else along these lines
The problem is, none of these responses answers the question I asked. They are telling me what they want, and not telling me what their user NEEDS.
What’s the difference?
You need to have a desired outcome for every visitor on your site. What do you want them to do? What would make this website successful? That’s YOUR need. But the customers who come to your site have needs to. And if you aren’t answering those needs, then your website goal will not be met.
Your website has to meet the needs of your user in order to reach your own goals.
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It’s all about give and take.
You have to give them something before they give you something.
Let me share with you a story. A client came to me with their hopes and dreams for their website. They wanted lots of flashiness, all the latest and greatest because they wanted to “blow their competition away.”
My question was this: “How does this help you reach your website goals?” They really had never thought about that before. It’s imperative before you begin any website project to consider what your goals are, and the figure out the best ways to reach those goals.
For example, if you are a carpenter and do custom woodworking, then your goal for your website might be that you want people to contact you about custom woodworking, to get a quote for your services. That’s your need.
Your user’s need: They need to see that you are a professional. They need to see photos of work you’ve done. They need to read testimonials from your clients. These are the things THEY need, in order to give you the credibility you need to be contacted.
If you meet the user’s needs by showing them a great photo gallery of your work, information about your experience, and testimonials and reviews from your past clients, then you will get a lot more calls than if you don’t.
You have to meet their needs first.
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Amy Masson
Amy is the co-owner, developer, and website strategist for Sumy Designs. She's been making websites with WordPress since 2006 and is passionate about making sure websites are as functional as they are beautiful.