It doesn’t work.
It looks great, but it simply isn’t getting the results you hoped for.
This is the complaint of 9 out of 10 business people who work only with web designers to produce their websites.
Why? Because too many web designers are brilliant at designing websites but not so good at understanding and marketing businesses. I’m the opposite – not great at designing websites, but good at understanding your business, your products, your customers.
You need someone to look at the big picture, at your marketing in its entirety. You need a marketing consultant. You need me. Here are some examples of why.
Riva is famous for its gorgeous wooden boats and yachts, but for a long time this is what their home page looked like. Could this be one of their products photographed at night? I note they have rectified the issue now, but all the text on their site is in capital letters. Don’t they know that it’s so much harder to READ TEXT IN CAPITALS? Sigh.
This is a classic bad home page. “Grip turns 15!” Who cares? Who is Grip? But wait, it gets worse.
Too many website designers seem to forget that your homepage is your shop window. Its main purpose is to grab attention and entice you in to browse. Studies show that you have eight seconds to do this. If you can’t persuade viewers in that time that it is worth their while to click or scroll down – the online equivalent of stepping into a store – then it's too late. They’re gone.
So what makes an effective website homepage?
What do these and other good websites tell us about effective website design?
- It should clearly convey who you are and what you do
- It should talk to the target audience in a way that’s meaningful and relevant to them
- It should communicate a compelling value proposition – that is, “What’s in it for me?”
- It should be optimised for multiple devices
- It should have a call-to-action (CTA) – that is, a simple solution to the question “What do I do now?”
- It should be modified and tested regularly to see what works and to keep people coming back
- It should ideally be well designed – there’s no doubt that good design makes for more effective websites – but the design must not get in the way of the first 6 points. As the late, great Prince sang: “You don’t have to be beautiful to turn me on.”
If your website isn’t getting the results it should be, talk to me now about a free Website Effectiveness Report.
I’m Robin La Pere, no ordinary marketing consultant. It’s amazing how much marketing has changed since I started in the industry, but human behavioural psychology hasn’t changed. That’s why the lessons learned from advertising's legends – people such as David Ogilvy, who was the inspiration behind the hit TV series Mad Men are still relevant today.
So why aren’t they applied more to modern websites?
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Free evaluation
Is your website getting the results you expect?
If not, I offer a free Initial Website Effectiveness Report
in which I evaluate your website format and content from a marketing rather than a web design perspective, and provide my thoughts and tips on improving the site and making it more effective.
The Report isn't intended to be comprehensive but a starting point, a document to stimulate thinking and discussion. What you ultimately do with the Report is up to you but if you like what you see and agree with my recommendations, I would of course be happy to take the next step and prepare a full Website Effectiveness Report and Brief
for you and your web developer (or I can arrange with one of my developers to make the recommended changes for you).
The price for my full Website Effectiveness Reports and Briefs start from just NZ$500 + GST (US$350), depending on the scale and complexity of your website(s).
To receive your free Initial Website Effectiveness Report with no obligation, complete the details below. Your Report will be emailed to you within three working days.
Free Website Effectiveness Report
Free eBook:
How to Build a Cult Following For Your Business
