LOOK AT THAT SHINY NEW ONLINE DOODAD!!!
It is really cool. You saw it on someone else’s site, and it looked great and worked well and you MUST HAVE IT FOR YOUR OWN SITE RIGHT NOW.
Hold up a second. We are all tempted by the latest and greatest technology, whether that’s for our phones, our homes, or our cars. It’s easy to get caught up in what’s exciting and new, but for your business web site, there are some important questions to consider before you invest time, energy, and money into something to add to your site. I’ve put together an infographic to help guide you through the decision process when you’re feeling drawn irresistably to that hip-as-heck new piece of web functionality. The questions to ask yourself (not always in this order) are:
- Will it save you time?
Will it help you set appointments more easily? Can you use it to automate registrations for something you’d normally have to do on the phone? Will it let customers or potential customers check the status of something themselves instead of requiring you to do it? - Will you get new business?
Will it help people engage you for services who wouldn’t have before? Will it make it easier for people to buy your products? Will it make it easier for people to share information about your products or services with their friends? - Will it encourage your current customers to buy more?
Is this going to offer your customers a way to automate their purchases? Will it let them buy at a discount that still makes it profitable for you? Does it reward them for loyalty or create a customized experience for them that will make them buy in larger quantity than before? - Will it make you look cool? Hip? “Cutting-edge?”
Is this the latest, greatest thing? Are you the only one who isn’t using it already? Will people see you as an early adopter, and then later, as a leader and expert in the use of this new technology? - Is that important in your industry or to your customers?
Are you in a technology, media, or marketing company? Are the majority of your customers under 30 or working in one of those industries? - Can you afford it?
Do you have enough money or credit to do this in a way that lets you run your business as usual?
Use Jebraweb’s flowchart infographic to guide yourself through this process.
