In my last article, I talked about how the purpose of websites has changed. We moved from putting information online simply because we could, to building websites with a much clearer idea of what we want them to accomplish.
But there's another side to that conversation that I think we sometimes overlook.
We spend a lot of time thinking about what we want people to do when they visit our websites. We want them to make a reservation, buy a ticket, request an estimate, call us, visit the store or make a purchase.
But what did they come there to do?
That's a different question.
Someone looking at a winery website may not have decided to visit a winery yet. They might just be looking for something to do Saturday afternoon.
Someone visiting a contractor's website isn't excited about filling out a lead form. They have a problem with their house and they're trying to figure out who they trust to fix it.
A parent visiting a museum website isn't thinking about increasing museum attendance. They're trying to figure out whether there's enough there to keep their kids interested for two hours.
The business and the visitor are looking at the same website with two completely different goals.
People come to your website because they're looking for something. Maybe they heard about your business from a friend. Maybe one of your posts showed up on Facebook. Maybe they're planning a trip and found you through a search. Maybe their sink is leaking and they need a plumber before their kitchen develops waterfront property.
Whatever brought them there, they came for a reason.
And that's really where the job of your website begins.
The first thing it needs to do is let people know they've come to the right place. Who are you? What do you do? Where are you? Can you help them?
That sounds incredibly basic, but think about how many websites you've visited where you weren't quite sure what the business actually did.
Sometimes we get so focused on creating a beautiful website that we forget someone has to use it. Once they know they've found the right business, they're probably going to have questions.
This is where knowing our own businesses so well can actually work against us. We forget how much information we already have in our heads that a new visitor doesn't.
You know that parking is around the back.
You know reservations aren't required.
You know children are welcome.
You know your company doesn't provide emergency plumbing services.
You know the museum is open Wednesday through Saturday.
The person visiting your website may know none of that.
And here's the important part: if they can't find the answer, they don't always call and ask.
Sometimes they just leave.
That's one of the reasons I've started thinking about websites as much more than marketing tools.
Your website is doing some of the work that a person standing at your front desk, answering your phone or talking to someone in your store would normally do. It's answering questions. It's giving directions. It's explaining what you offer. It's helping someone figure out whether your business is right for them.
In other words, your website is already part of your customer service.
And it's part of the decision-making process, too.
Think about what you're actually doing when you visit another business's website. You're usually trying to make some kind of decision.
Do I want to eat here?
Is this winery worth the drive?
Would my kids enjoy this museum?
Does this contractor do the kind of work I need?
What's playing at the theater this weekend?
Can I afford this?
Do I need a reservation?
Can I trust these people?
Those questions matter because there's something happening on both sides of the website.
The business wants something. Maybe it's a reservation, a ticket sale, an appointment, a phone call, a store visit or a request for an estimate.
The visitor wants something too. They may want a fun Saturday afternoon, someone to repair their roof, somewhere to take the kids or a good place to have dinner.
The website is where those two things have a chance to meet.
That's a very different way of looking at a website than simply asking whether you have the right pages.
It also changes how we think about the customer journey.
I've talked for years about awareness, consideration, decision and customer delight. Those are useful ways to understand how people move from discovering a business to becoming a customer.
But customers don't think in those terms.
They think, That looks interesting.
Then, Is this what I'm looking for?
Then, How much is it? Where is it? When are they open?
And eventually, Okay, what do I do next?
If they decide to visit, call, book or buy, the experience continues from there.
That's the part I think businesses sometimes miss. We tend to separate the website from the actual customer experience. The website belongs to marketing, while customer service happens after someone calls or walks through the door.
I'm not sure customers see that line at all.
If I'm thinking about visiting a museum and I can't find the admission price on its website, that's already part of my experience with that museum.
If I'm looking at a winery and the website clearly tells me when it's open, whether I need a reservation, what kind of experience I can expect and how to get there, that's part of my experience too.
The same thing applies to a contractor, a retailer, a restaurant or almost any other business.
By the time someone calls you or walks through your door, they may have already interacted with your business several times.
They saw something about you.
They looked you up.
They visited your website.
They looked at your photos.
They read about what you offer.
They decided whether they trusted you enough to take another step.
The experience has already started.
And if what they find online matches what happens when they actually do business with you, something else starts to happen.
They remember you.
They come back.
They tell someone else.
They leave a review. They bring a friend. They recommend the contractor to a neighbor. They take their grandchildren back to the museum. They make the winery part of their annual trip.
That's where I've started thinking about this relationship a little differently:
Visitor → Experience → Community
The website is only one piece of that relationship, but it's an important one because it often sits very close to the beginning.
So maybe before we worry about the latest website trend, a new plugin, another redesign or whatever shiny new thing we're being told our websites absolutely must have this year, there's a simpler place to start.
Pull up your website and look at it as though you've never seen your business before.
Do you understand what the business does?
Can you find the information you need?
Do you know what to expect?
Do you have enough information to decide whether this business is right for you?
And when you're ready, is it obvious what you should do next?
Those aren't particularly complicated questions.
But they're really what a website is there to do.
Because having a website isn't the goal.
Helping the person who came to it is.
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