I’ve spoken with several people who admitted their websites aren’t representative of their company, or that they were hastily developed to get something (anything?) onto the web. They argue that it doesn’t matter that their site leaves something to be desired because according to them, their website is not key to their selling process. I beg to differ in a big way (and I suspect their potential customers would as well). My friends may never know how important their websites are to their sales because unbeknownst to them, many of their prospects have already sped off in search of another company to work with.

Of course, a website is always part of the sales equation. Just as we all make instantaneous judgments about new people we meet, so potential customers make sweeping and decisive judgments about a company and its products based on its website. According to web user research those judgments can be made at supersonic speed, so that doesn’t leave much time to make an impression. If we don’t put an awful lot of careful thought and effort into making our websites visually appealing, accessible and relevant to our customers, the site might do more harm than good.

In a recent discussion about website relevance, an industry colleague of mine used a helpful analogy: Imagine a high school student looking for a college to attend upon graduation. She may review six or seven different universities, and if those schools are too far away to visit, she will make her decision based solely on the experience she has on the colleges’ websites. For that potential freshman, the website is the college. Excuses such as, “Well, if she could just visit our campus, she’d see that our school is much better than our website portrays it,” are of no use. They’ll never get the chance to prove themselves. As business owners who want our websites to be an accurate representation of our company, we need to remember:  Our company’s website is the company to prospective customers.

I used the term “experience” because that is what a website should be. I define web experience in advertising as a succinct representation of a company’s (or in my example, a university’s) brand. For the web experience to be a positive one, the website has to be truthful, easy to navigate, eye-catching, informative and readable, audience-appropriate and current. If any of those elements are missing, the customer may go missing as well.

So, when designing (or redesigning) your website, sweat the details. Consider carefully who your customers are and what you want them to do on your site. Talk to them to find out what’s important to them. Scrutinize your written content, site design and navigation, which might seem intuitive to you, but may be confusing to your site visitors. Maybe even do some user testing (we did on our own recent site redesign, and it led to some meaningful navigational improvements). Lay aside your preferences and put the customer first. Invest in your website as if it’s your most important marketing asset, because it is. Then your website will be a sales tool, and not a frustrating diversion.