Design Tips: The One Sentence Website
July 20th, 2010
If your website had one page with one sentence, what would it be?
The answer to that question clarifies your online purpose. It tells us what you see as the most important thing about your organization. And it persuades you to really think about what that is.
At Williams Web, our one sentence website would read, "We provide effective web solutions that are affordable, easily managed and quickly deployed." Each page of our website is designed to reinforce that sentence.
- Our Solution Center tool identifies the needs of our customers, provides a matching solution and describes the features and benefits of each.
- The Idea Farm blog provides tips and insights on how to make your website and online marketing efforts more effective.
- Our online portfolio offers a look at some of the web solutions we have provided for other customers.
As websites grow over time, they become a resource to customers and a tool for lead generation. They provide more support materials, sign up forms and special offers. They start to drift away from the original focus and try to accomplish as many tasks as possible, providing solutions to every need that arises. This is the nature of websites, but this kind of "purpose sprawl" can sometimes make a once well defined site seem a bit schizophrenic.
Whether your website was launched today or three years ago, it's a worthwhile exercise to ask yourself the question, "what if I only had one sentence?" Write down your answer and keep it somewhere you can find it. Every so often, take a look at your website and make sure it is still serving your original purpose. If you start wondering exactly what your website is supposed to accomplish, give us call. Maybe it's time for a "one sentence" conversation.
Posted by Kent Callison
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