By Julie Woodside

It’s time to have your website break through the clouds of the millions of websites on the Internet and SHINE. Eliminate guessing: Today’s websites should be driving key business decisions.

Drawing on her newsroom experience at The Boston Globe and her current online marketing practice, Designated Editor’s President and Chief Content Strategist Suzanne McDonald shares her insights on website creation at the Spark & Hustle conference in Boston.

Suzanne provides valuable knowledge that will get your website to stand out and truly SHINE!

The web is 16 years old: Websites are more sophisticated now

• You have 3-5 seconds to engage when someone lands on your page.
• Websites aren’t just about a pretty picture anymore.
• Your website should always be a work in progress.

Get serious about your website

• Your website should be a key data point that will drive business decisions.
• Using free or low-cost tools, you don’t have to guess anymore about what’s working.
• Your site should reflect your passion  & the value you bring to your customers’ lives.

Focus on

• Words
• Meaning
• Engagement

Websites: 4 key areas to address

Design

• No clutter: Make it navigable
• Websites age in dog years
• Usability + simplicity: Clear with call to action
• Don’t fall in love with pretty art
• Low-cost tools:  Theme Forest, WordPress, 99 Designs

Audience

• Speak to specific people
• Do you understand your audience?  Take a walk in their shoes…
• Don’t be too broad or use marketing-speak
• Low-cost tools:  Google Analytics, LinkedIn Answers, Survey Monkey, Facebook Polls

Engagement

• Speak to specific people: Replace they/customer with who/what that person really is, eg full-time mom
• How do you relate?
• Integrate social media with your website: need a cohesive look
• Listen & learn to what your target audience is saying & adapt strategy from there
• How can you add credibility? Media mentions? Reviews? Google Checkout
• Low-cost tools:  bit.ly, HootSuite, Radian6, Social Mention, Facebook, MailChimp, Twitter, Yelp

Analysis

• Check your fear
• Look at your competitors for insights
• Heed criticism & learn to love it
• Give yourself time to think & be creative
• Ask your customers for feedback always
• Sometimes have to throw out old site and start fresh, no matter how much you spent on it
• Low-cost tools:  Feedback Army, FiveSecondTest, bit.ly

Competing with over 180 million websites on the World Wide Web can seem as depressing as a cloudy day.  But, if you use these wise tips from pro, Suzanne McDonald, your website will be like the sun breaking through the clouds.

Shine on…