The art and science of web design and web development

Web Development for a purpose:
* maximum conversions
* maximum leads
* maximum sales
* maximum exposure

This first post on our Web Development Blog provides information for the creation of high-performance websites – websites with high conversion rates. They either increase sales or increase sales leads. Many topics will be detailed, and the entire list is presented in this first Blog post.

Leaving out any single one of the website features listed below can be costly. It can take just as long to create a properly optimized website as it does to create it in an inferior manner. Web (W3C) standards compliance is important to increase search engine indexing of your content as well as consistently rendering your pages and decreasing page load times.

In order to achieve maximum website performance you need to create websites that:

• Are highly aesthetic and that fit within your industry
• Have fast page load times ^[1]. Current wisdom is that you have 5 – 8 seconds to convince the visitor that they are in the right place before they hit the back button. Any longer than this you take the risk of your visitor leaving before the page even loads.
• Contain persuasive, benefit-oriented content ^[2] to maximize conversions ^[2]. This cannot be underestimated. Content written by professional copywriters ensure that your website captures the visitors attention, moves them through a call to action into a conversion funnel to a sale or conversion – complete a form, send an email, pick up the phone and call you, etc.
• Have error-free web (W3C) standards compliant code. This ensures consistent cross-browser rendering. If your website looks freakish because a browser can’t render your pages sanely and as intended, then you’ll lose your visitors complete confidence. W3C compliance also allows the search engines to separate page code from its content so your message can be recognized and ranked high in the search engine results pages.
• Have a high degree of Search Engine Optimization ^[3] (SEO ^[3]). This process starts with an extensive keyword analysis that includes the keywords that are actually being searched on today.
• Undergo Competitive Analysis ^[4] – what keywords and features/services your competitors websites focus on, who links to them and what advertising they are paying for.
• Have an extremely high degree of usability. It is all about sales and profits. If you have a website that is pretty but difficult to understand and navigate then you’ll lose a percentage of sales, sometimes a huge percentage.
• Are Accessibility Standards Compliant – Section 508, W3C WAI, and WCAG Priorities 1, 2 and 3. This means that visitors with disabilities will easily be able to use the website. This is required for all websites built for the US Government or its agencies.
• Are continually tested and updated to maximize conversions. We use Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising as the last step in the website optimization process. Split-testing and multivariate testing techniques take conversions from less than 1% to 7 – 25%! This means a 700% – 2,500% increase in sales by monitoring and updating your website!
• Undergo optimized website promotion ^[5] in the top Internet properties so the prominence of your website is recognized by the search engines and you are found at the top of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) for your targeted keywords. Timeframes for these results vary directly with the amount of effort put into it. We have seen results in 30 days.
• Incorporate analytics to track website progress – it’s very important to see the fruits of your labor.
• Use a Content Management System ^[6] (CMS ^[6]). Using a CMS allows the website to be completely maintained by you or a non-technical person by incorporating a content management system like Wordpress or Drupal. You need to be able to shift with the market, and a CMS can be invaluable in making website updates.

If your website doesn’t utilize every single one of these features then you cannot expect to get the best results from it.

Future posts will focus on each of these items individually so you can build high-performance websites.

2 Comments To "Web Development to Increase Sales"

#1 Comment By A good search rank and an attractive and interactive website is what you need to conquer ecommerce! On June 29, 2009 @ 12:03 am

#2 Pingback By Persuasive, Benefit Oriented Content vs. Features On July 18, 2009 @ 6:15 am