Understanding the Purpose of a Website

I'm consistently blown away by the general lack of understanding of what a website should be used for, especially by those people actually trying to promote their business via websites.

So many people have these fluffy, information-laden websites, which is fine, but no way for someone to contact them.

It's like having a telephone with no receiver.

The point of most websites is to get someone to contact you, whether by email inquiry or phone call.  Period.  Sure, there are many exceptions, like Amazon.com, whose goal is to have you buy something from them, but for most smaller websites, all you really want is a phone call or an email inquiry.  For example, if you're a Realtor, do you really think you're going to transact a whole deal over the web without talking to the person?  Of course you don't.  So just get someone to contact you.

And how many times have YOU been on a site and thought to yourself, "I just want to call this person!  Where is their phone number?!"  (or email address).

So take a good, hard look at YOUR website and ask yourself, "If I were a visitor, how many clicks does it take to be able to contact me? " Because the answer should be zero.  On each page, you should have a "contact us" inquiry form AND your phone number prominently displayed.  You'll notice that on my sites, such as www.DROdio.com , www.RebateReps.com and many others, I have an inquiry box on EVERY page.

So go reevaluate the purpose of your site.  Information is nice, but it won't lead to a sale.  Make it easy for someone to contact you to really get the sales process started.