Partner Article

Why template websites deliver so little

“Our site doesn’t do much for us” is one of the most common phrases we hear when prospective clients approach us, and it’s usually followed by comments alluding to “lots of traffic, very few leads/sales”. Unfortunately, this is all too often an issue for websites that have only recently launched.

What’s the explanation?

How does a website look great on the face of it, but deliver so little? Initially you may surmise that the wrong keywords are in the titles, but the answer is in fact something more intrinsic than just changing some keywords here and there.

If you imagine M&S is planning to open a new store. The company likes units to be red brick, within 2 miles of a town or city and over 2,000 square foot in size. The requirements are input into a computer and the perfect location pops up. The store is built and they open it with a big party and wait. The store is a flop. Lots of people walk past, but no one goes inside. A few people do peruse the aisles, but then walk out complaining about the price of the brand. What was their mistake? Opening in the heart of a student district, next to an Argos and Dreams bedroom store. No thought was put into researching the demographics of the area.

Targeting a wealthier client in this area was never going to work and a high-end, reputable brand has been weakened by a lack of local need as a result of bad planning, lack of thought about its audience (and their associated shopping habits).

If we apply this example to a website we can start to see where the real issues lie. A client has built a website, either with the help of an agency or by themselves, and concentrated almost entirely on ensuring it’s visually pleasing and contains lots of information about their company. They have found their unit. The boxes have been ticked. However, all ticking boxes within a project does, is increase the likelihood of a poor performing website. It does not encourage free thought, challenging conversation or even alternative opinions.

And therein lies the issue. Little focus has been placed on content and engagement strategies. No one has considered where they will create touch points with their audience? What does this audience expect to see? How much content will they read? Or even, will they be looking at the website on a train? There are several considerations that need to be explored before strategies are set, otherwise people will browse and then leave.

Why is the problem worsening?

Design for mobile has led to an abundance of themes flooding the market, which are too similar in look and feel. The engagement and content strategies are becoming an afterthought and instead the projects are becoming concerned about taking the client content and making it look pretty in these boxes.

Back to square one.

What content goes in these boxes?

If there is no strategy, approach or personality to base this content on, this is where writer’s block will often kick in. Content becomes generic, bland and ultimately unsuitable for purpose. No one bothers to read it and people just walk on by. If we return to the Waitrose example, imagine the store just having large posters in its windows telling you what a supermarket is and why buying food is great. Sounds preposterous but this is exactly the approach many websites take.

What’s the solution?

Here’s a list of our own, which we feel should be intrinsic to conversations around a new website build.

Your audience. Do your research. Talk to them. So you know what they want to read, what makes them tick, what will make them engage. The analytics you have on your existing website should inform you. Before committing to needing a new site use heat maps, create hypotheses and run A/B tests.

Your engagement strategy. There are so many options, Adwords? Maybe social, SEO or even flyers handed out in stations? Every client is different and you need to work out how your audience will hear about you before coming to your side. Getting a new telephone does not guarantee it will ring and it’s the same with a new website. The website will not attract new visitors on its own accord.

You. Ask yourself who are you and how do you differ to your competitors? Your story, your personality and your proposition needs to stand out. It needs to be remarkable. Saying you are nice people to work with no longer cuts the mustard I am afraid. Everyone says it.

Your content strategy. Your website should be a conversation. As without continual fresh content, it will turn stale and very dull. If you become dull, you will put your audience off. Google will spot this and it will punish you for it.

Budgets. The cheapest option isn’t necessarily the best in the long-run. We can all do tick box websites. The fact is they will deliver instant wow with their shiny scrolly picture, everyone will comment on how fresh it looks but not many people will come through the doors. They will walk on by and you will find yourself asking someone why your website does not do much for you.

An example of our success:

Our client Close Brothers Invoice Finance came to us wanting to improve results from their website. We worked with them on a new digital strategy, website redesign and build which - along with continued evolvement and optimisation - resulted in a more than 300% increase in visit-to-lead rates. Full details of the case study are available here: http://www.emosaic.co.uk/website-close-brothers-invoice-finance/index.html.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Drew Griffiths .