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Now, to design a website that SELLS is quite another story.
You see, in order to come up with a website that makes money, doing it alone can be hard. What you need is a team because who focuses on different parts of the business – this is why I often say that an online business is a team sport.
Who do we need? The illustration below will do a little bit of explaining.
This person ensures that the aesthetic value of the website is pleasing to the eye and ensure that the website is easy to navigate. Let's face it, how the website look to others dictates how people see your company, how reliable you are and if you are professional enough. The designer typically is good with colors, is fantastic with graphics and images.
Hardware and Software Technical Support
Not many people focus on the technical side of things like the server. We assume that it will run on its own and it can't be THAT bad. Wrong. You need a good firewall to prevent malicious hacking. It needs a 24/7 security because whenever it crashes, not only will you lose money, it frustrates your customers as well.
Finance and Accounting
You need someone who is consistently there to deal with the sales when they come in, close the accounts at the end of every month, allocate funds for development of website, prepare the budget for online marketing, maintaining the website and if there was a loss, work the figures out to find out how much. The very same person will also be in charge of deciding whether it is more cost-effective to hire or outsource.
Online and Offline Marketing
Marketing your website online is important but I am not saying that you can neglect or completely stop advertising yourself offline.
Offline marketing and online marketing when strategized together can be a formidable marketing tool. You first need a good copywriter for both the online and offline efforts, a graphic designer, a printer to develop advertising material, search engine team of experts to optimize and market your website effectively. And for your landing page, hire someone who knows your customers' buying behavior. And THAT would be your ideal website marketing team!
Customer Service Representative
Modern day consumers are impatient people. They rarely have the time and patience to deal with bad customer service.
Do you remember the last time you complained about not getting prompt response when you send enquiries to Malaysian websites? Can you recall the number of times the promise of 'three working days response' not being met?
Your customer service representative is your front man and having a bad one will do your company's image more damage than you can ever imagine. The fastest response for me on a personal level is 30 minutes and it gave me a very good impression of the company.
If I had to give an example of a good website, I will pin it down to AirAsia (no, this is not an advertisement and I do not, in any way at all, represent the company although I do not mind it at all) :-)
An Example Of A Website That Makes Money And Enhance Brand
The ease-of-use for www.airasia.com says a lot about their commitment to quality services. From choosing location to ordering of ticket using the panel on the top right is literally a breeze. For a constant traveler like me, I never had to make a single phone call to get my tickets. Not a single one. They have made incredible efforts in ensuring that the navigation is easy, the terms and conditions are easily accessible and the payment process is seamless for its customers.
AirAsia may have spent a lot of money developing the system but let's just say that because of the system, people like me would be more than happy to fly with them as opposed to flying with other airlines.
Suffice to say, if a website can make the browsing, ordering, checking and payment process so easy that there is no need for phone calls, then they are making huge savings on hiring people. If you took the time to visit AirAsia website, you will see that the website is devoid of elaborate (annoying) graphics and animation. It is plain and simple...all in white, black and red.
The company also made an effort to feature any promotions that they were running at the center of the screen where it is easy to find. Whenever there was a promotion or free seats, the company advertises them offline (in newspapers and magazines) and online (TheStar) which means that the company recognizes the importance of combining their offline and online marketing efforts.
Do they make money? I believe the answer is already very evident to you. Although I do not have their ROI data to share with you but I DO know that many Malaysians think about AirAsia first (before thinking about other airlines) when it comes to flying. They have successfully secured their branding position in the minds of a large number of Malaysians (giving other airlines a run for their money).
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