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ovember 19, 2009 -- I'm lucky. Because I'm in the tech business, I am forced to keep up with what is going on in technology and communications. So, I have to remind myself that for people who are not in the business, the pace of change can be overwhelming. At a recent meeting of the Executive Committee of the Sierra Club New York City Group, on which I serve, we were discussing our plans for a Facebook Fan Page. One of the members, a woman that I would guess is in her late thirties, wondered why we would even want to do that. It turned out that she is not on Facebook, unlike 1.6 million in the New York area who are. I know a nonprofit that launched a very poorly designed website because they had already invested money in it and they just wanted to get it up. And, I know many small businesses that think they can increase activity on their sites and attract people to their business just by getting their web sites "right." It is understandable that people think in these ways, but it is not based on facts and it does hurt them. Here is what they need to understand.
You Have to Be Where Your Audience Is. Where your audience is determines what you have to do to reach them. For example, most of us have gotten used to communicating via email and we think of people who do not use email as totally out of touch. For the younger generation, texting and Twitter are preferred ways of communicating. If you remember the period immediately after the Iranian elections, much of the reporting (good and bad) was via Twitter. You have to go where your audience is. This could mean having a good website but using Facebook to lead your Facebook fans to your website. So, how do you know where your audience is? Ask them. Talk to your customers or, for nonprofits, the people who use your service or contribute to your organization, and ask how much they use the web, social media. and what kinds of social media they follow.
Good Web Design is Critical. My web-designer spouse tells me that a visitor will decide in under three seconds whether to stay on your web page or move on. What makes a someone stay is their immediate assessment of whether they will find what they are looking for. Just being good at coding html (the technology behind web pages) is not enough in someone you hire to put up your website. Professional web designers know how viewers scan and absorb a page or what they see on a computer screen and how they respond to pictures, text fonts, color, and shapes. Designers use this knowledge to strengthen the impact of a website and of its message. That is why smart organizations pay attention to finding a good designer and then listening to what they say. This does not mean you just go along with whatever a designer suggests, but you should not ask for alterations without careful thought and consultation.
The Best Designed Website is not Magic. It is easy to think that once you have a website, you are done. Of course, if you website is up and no one is contacting you, it is easy to think that tweaking it will make it more attractive and draw more visitors. However, no matter how perfect it is, you reach no one if no one comes to your site. So, you need to think about how to bring visitors to your site. This is especially true if you expect your site to drive customers, clients, or support to your company or nonprofit. All of this means that you have to aggressively market your site to the appropriate audience. I know some business owners who do not have the URL of thier websites on their business cards. That would be a start. Beyond that, you need to push your site at every chance you get. Also, there are a number companies that can help you reach specific, target audiences that are worth looking at.
So, you may be one of those who are very good at what you do, but are overwhelmed by the pace of change in technology and communications. The message here is, find someone you can trust and understand to guide you in using these new tools to advance your business or nonprofit.
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