How To Make Your Web Site Fabulous

Everyone wants a fabulous web site. How do you get to fabulous?

And, uh, fabulous for whom?

Well, it depends. . .

Your web site is your message to your world, or to some part of your world. There are as many different ideal sites as there are purposes. Whatever the purpose, getting clear up front is essential.

A web site exists to communicate. A fabulous web site conveys intended messages clearly to your visitor.

So ask --

-- Who is your reader?
-- What are your messages to your reader?
-- How can you best convey those messages?
-- What do you want the reader to do?

Answer these questions well, and act astutely upon the answers, to make your site fabulous. A fabulous site will advance your mission.

High cost is not necessarily part of fabulousness. Fabulousness lies not in the site’s components (graphics and text) so much as in the total design.

Good design with little money is far better than poor design and a high budget.

What is your purpose? Define it clearly and never lose site of it as you design the site.

A fabulous site is purpose-built from the ground up. And the messages the site contains, which are primarily carried in the writing (the ‘copy’), benefit from being fit into the overall plan like a dovetail joint in a piece of fine woodwork. The site’s design must account for all its parts, from the nuts and bolts level, all the way up to your total marketing strategy.

Let’s say the site is commercial. It represents the business interests of a family-owned metal fabrication shop in Southern California that serves three markets – local boatyards, local artists who make metal sculptures, and local architects who design metal components for unique houses. We’ll call this company Metal Masters, or MM for short.

In greater detail, the purpose of the web site is --

-- To expose MM to its markets in ways that create positive brand image
-- To differentiate MM from its competitors
-- To secure new business for MM as an on line sales brochure

The first purpose is served more in the high level site architecture and the graphical treatments, because it’s somewhat intangible. The second purpose is served mostly in the site’s selling copy. Somewhere between these purposes lies a catalog of specific items, along with descriptions. At this level the words and pictures work together to sell product offerings.

This metal fabrication business comprises a blend of product and service. The process of making the concepts into metal unfolds in two activities. Any given delivery involves two process components, design and fabrication. The metal thing is product, the design part is service. At some phases fabrication and design are interactive and simultaneous.

Customers ultimately take delivery of some tangible metal object that matches their concepts. It might be a stair railing, a special mooring cleat, or a one-off floor standing sculpture.

We now have enough detail to sketch out an overall plan for a fabulous web site for Metal Masters.

Anyone can resist a sales pitch but nobody can resist a really great story. The stated purposes are basically to sell the business at the marketing level and to sell the offerings at the production level. A fabulous site will tell a great Metal Masters story in ways that convey the company’s mastery of its business and how it fulfills the needs and wants of its market.

The story could unfold like this –

-- Who we are
-- What we do
-- How we do it
-- Buy something, OK?

This is how a huge number of web sites are built. When people encounter them they tend to ask “So what?” and say “Yeah, right.” And “I don’t have time for this.”

This is not fabulous. It’s plain old ordinary. A site built this way makes the company it represents look ordinary. And it puts you to sleep. Because you get bored with them going on about themselves.

We want a compelling story, not an ordinary one, since fabulousness is our goal. How do we make the story more compelling?

By making the story all about the reader.

Imagine you’re reading a fairy tale to a kid. The plot revolves around a middle aged businessman who’s struggling with alimony, lawsuits, balding, heart disease, credit card debt, and male menopause. How long are you going to hold the kid’s interest? Maybe 3 microseconds.

New fairy tale. This one’s all about a lost prince struggling to find his parents and family and regain his place in society. The lost prince is about the same age as the kid you’re reading to. The hero is described in terms the kid can relate to. The hero’s issues are the kid’s issues. The kid won’t want to go to sleep or let you stop reading until the hero’s struggle is resolved.

Let’s make the MM web site all about the customer, and still tell the Metal Masters story. To accomplish this we structure the site differently from the mundane one above.

The irresistible story unfolds something like this –

-- Metal Masters has what you’re looking for – design, fabrication, and product. . .
-- Here’s how we make that available to you
-- Here’s how we’ve served others just like you – architect, boat yard, artist
-- Here’s how we give you exactly what you want. . .
-- Here’s why you should buy from us and not those other bad boys. . .
-- And oh, by the way, here’s who we are. Just in case you care.

This version’s irresistible because, like the kid listening to the second fairy tale, your customer becomes the hero.

And their story is your story.

Going this way is like reading a fairy tale wherein the hero is your listener. And you’re his best pal. When you tell it like this you address your customers driving concerns instead of going on about yourself. You meet them on their own turf and speak to their real questions --

-- Why should I bother to listen to you?
-- What are you trying to sell me?
-- Why should I care?
-- Why should I trust you?
-- How is what you’re selling going to do me some good?
-- Why should I buy it from you instead of those other bad boys?

When structured like this, Metal Masters’ fabulous web site grabs the viewer’s attention, develops their interest, creates desire to have what MM offers, and creates willingness to do business with MM. And it closes the sale.

For a web site that’s truly fabulous, build one to a specific purpose. One that’s constructed from the ground up to tell your story by centering on your customer’s needs and wants, and making them the hero. Make it a story that matters, about how they find great value from someone they can trust.

Then all you have to do is make the story come true for every customer.

What could be more fabulous than a fairy tale come true with you as the hero?

Homework, should you choose to accept this assignment, is to go find a fabulous site somewhere on the web. You can bet it was written by a pro.