How to Ensure Your Website Content Reflects Your Brand

Is a business really a business without a website? In this episode of the Weird, Smart Podcast, the Wier / Stewart Web Team geek out with us over all things of the interwebs.
 
 We'll talk about:
⚡️ How to build a site for function, not flare
⚡️ What makes an audience click on an offer
 ⚡️ Why user experience matters for your business goals
 ⚡️ Why Freddie Prinze Jr. is still a national treasure

Want to see an example of great web work?
Check out this epic development of Legend Orthopedic's website.

Transcript

[00:00:01.260] - Jackie
Hey, and welcome to another episode of the Weird Smart podcast, and today's episode, we're getting into the wild, wild web. And today I can think of anyone better to ask about this topic than the entire where Stuart Web team was. Wes Childers, Chris Harrison, and Eric Odom have joined me today to talk about how to make your brand's website pop for the best results. Gentlemen, thank you for joining me today.

[00:00:23.970] - Wes
Thanks for having us. And welcome to my podcast recording this. I hope that's OK.

[00:00:29.280] - Jackie
I think that's fine. I think it's an audio cue.

[00:00:31.020] - Eric
This is great.

[00:00:34.260] - Jackie
All right. The first question is going to go to Chris. Chris, how important is the website to our overall brand identity?

[00:00:43.050] - Chris
It is very important. It is the one thing that a company could control; to rely on third parties as far as social media platforms and whatnot. And, um. So, yeah, I don't know if W could have had.

[00:01:01.310] - Wes
Let's do you have so much to add? No, I think you know what, Chris brought up an important point. You know, a website that you control is important. You know, we're not reliant on the ever-shifting kind of winds of the rules for social media platforms and that type of thing. It also gives you the ability to totally customize the user experience. So depending on what the websites are about, you know, it could be something as simple as a, you know, essentially a brochure type website that just lends your brand kind of credence in the, you know,  in the environment that you're operating.

[00:01:37.580] - Wes
But it could also, you know, give you the opportunity to sell, you know, physical products, digital products, sell a service. And you don't have you're not limited by whatever the other platform that you might normally use.

[00:01:50.660] - Jackie
It's pretty good, pretty good. So what kind of platforms, I guess? I'll ask that later, Eric, do you have anything to add?

[00:01:57.920] - Eric
I agree with those gentlemen.

[00:02:00.600] - Wes
Probably wise since I hired you.

[00:02:03.200] - Eric
I figure I'm new enough where I should agree with both gentlemen.

[00:02:07.910] - Jackie
All right. So this may be my millennial talking, but I'm certain that a business is not real if it doesn't have a website. I just don't believe in it. And I don't think that it's like it's a pipe dream. I might be dramatic, but or I guess am I being dramatic or is this a perspective that people commonly have, like from a user experience?

[00:02:32.770] - Wes
I am officially not a millennial, so I don't think it's just your millennial talking. But I would say that you know, in looking into or researching any business or trying to research a topic of any kind, I'm very often going to turn to the Internet first. And so for businesses to have the opportunity to introduce themselves to potential customers, I do think that it is absolutely essential that they have a presence of some kind on the Web that might be big or large, you know, big or small.

[00:03:02.540] - Wes
But having something some way to be found there I think is essential.

[00:03:08.380] - Eric
I mean, I remember the days of just, you know, going into strip malls or the regular mall and going into each store to see if they had, you know, or even not only to see if they offered what you wanted. And this just using stores as an example, you know, or even seeing what type of store they were. But now it's like, oh, you can do all that work in a fraction of the time.

[00:03:28.840] - Eric
And, you know, if you're a business, I think it benefits you because you can reach a broader audience like you. You can even start reaching an audience outside of your geographic location depending on what services or goods you offer.

[00:03:41.330] - Chris
Excellent. But having said all that, also having a website and some businesses, some businesses could feel a little more sketchy depending on the website that they have. If there's not enough information or they're not providing what people are looking for, it could make you want to look elsewhere to do business.

[00:04:03.850] - Jackie
Yeah, yeah. Like if the website isn't easy to navigate or if it's like, you know, I'll even say like if it's an ugly website, I probably won't click on it.

[00:04:12.510] - Eric
Or I mean nothing against using like the pre-built templates, but there are some businesses out there where you can tell they use a template and they didn't use all of it or they didn't turn off the unused parts. There's a lot of, you know, businesses selling lorem ipsum out there, it appears, based on their website.

[00:04:30.790] - Wes
Yeah, absolutely. I think the level of professionalism of the business should be reflected in everything across the brand. And that definitely includes the website. I mean, I throw anybody under the bus, but I've definitely gone to, you know, done research on businesses and gotten to a site and been like, yeah, I think I'm going to, you know. Drop those out of contention for who I'm considering doing business with, just based on either older, outdated information or just a lack of, you know, a lack of information.

[00:04:58.540] - Eric
So I an element of the information seem old or outdated or even the website seems outdated. I question if that entity is still in business, like, I'm not sure if they're open. So, yeah, no, I would take them out of the running too.

[00:05:11.890] - Jackie
Mm-hmm. All right. So I know we had a side conversation about this before we started recording, but I want to ask this again because I thought it was good dialog. What do people need to do for their website to make it pop?

[00:05:27.000] - Eric
First of all, a little triggered by the word pop, and no one has an opinion about this, everybody buckles up the logo bigger. Yeah, and I think and this is not I know people ask for a lot of times and I think a lot of it is they don't know what to ask for. So there's like empty buzz words like they need a new website because their current one may not be doing what it needs to do or because their business or brand has grown or changed.

[00:05:53.190] - Eric
But a lot of times it just comes down to like, oh, let's make it pop, let's take it to the next level. And it's empty. And the fact that it doesn't really tell us what your needs are, you know. But then again, that's kind of what we do here, is maybe find out what your needs are to figure out what you need. But I mean, but I. I have encountered people who are just like, hey, I want to make my website pop and they think like that is the instruction and just everything else is just, you know, you hit the pop button on your right and it generates a flashy Web site.

[00:06:24.680] - Eric
But there's a lot more to it than that. You know, there has to be dialog and we need to be on the same page, you know, reach whatever goal you're trying to reach.

[00:06:35.060] - Wes
Yeah, I think it's important. If I could just interject there. I think it's important to ask, you know, when you're redesigning a site or creating a site for the first time, just ask what you want users to do. And when they come to your Web site, I mean, you'd really be surprised. That's a question that always comes up in our kind of initial project, kickoff process here where Stuart and, you know, it's it's surprising how often that is a hard question for a business to answer, whether they don't have a good, you know, obvious call to action that could have a customer, you know, complete, you know, maybe they're not selling goods online.

[00:07:09.410] - Wes
Maybe they don't they're not really sure what they want somebody to do. I think it can be very important to ask not only so we can help make sure that the website does that function, but also so so they are having an actual ask on the website. It's important for a business to ask a customer to do what they want them to do. You know, if you don't ask, you can often get a response.

[00:07:30.350] - Jackie
This is a good question, Chris. How many questions are too many questions on a Web site to ask of your customers?

[00:07:37.740] - Chris
I mean, you certainly don't want to overwhelm them. You want to be as to the point as you can be, whatever your goal is, you want to try to get to that point as quickly as.

[00:07:51.350] - Jackie
Does it matter what audience size this business has, like if it's a new business or older business or these kinds of the same things that your workshop?

[00:08:01.940] - Wes
I don't I don't think you can oversimplify, to be honest with you, I think, you know, it should be very clear. You have a very limited attention span on the Web and can often be blinded by a kind of insider knowledge or just a misunderstanding of what people what information they may already have before they ever get to your site. And so we encourage clients to really boil down and simplify their messaging so that it's very clear what you want a customer to do, what it is that you offer, who it is that you're serving and that that's something that's very easy to digest and kind of understand right off the bat.

[00:08:37.400] - Wes
You can always go into more detail, but having a clear, simple explanation kind of upfront is important.

[00:08:43.760] - Eric
I would say just being aware you have an audience might be a good start, because I think some people just think a website needs to exist to talk about themselves rather than like talking to who you're trying to reach, you know, and maybe that's from the days of the blogs or even social media where, like, this is a page where it's about you, but the website needs to accomplish a little more than that.

[00:09:03.380] - Jackie
So I think we've had some conversations about that, too, because we've had similar experiences where we've worked with people who want to just show their, um, like their awards and honorable mentions and everything. And that's just the existence of the website and that's supposed to attract customers. But the idea of a website is to give your users a good experience with your business. They'll want to continue to shop with you and maybe even become brand advocates.

[00:09:29.250] - Eric
I think of it as a date like don't spend the entire time talking about yourself, like show some interest in me. Showed me why you're good for me. And, you know, if your website can do that and that's great.

[00:09:38.520] - Jackie
Like it's like have a personality, you know. So besides the site's functionality, what are some key elements users look for in a website before they decide they can trust the business? And give that to us.

[00:09:56.710] - Wes
All right, we touched on that a little bit, I mean, I think I think having up to date relevant information, you know, one thing that we do with a lot of our clients who are in the more of a service-based industry, whether that's, you know, someone in the medical field, a dentist, a doctor, you know. Yeah, we work with a lot of real estates, you know, type-related businesses. But having some testimonials from satisfied customers is something that I think can help kind of give you some brand reputation.

[00:10:26.200] - Wes
You may see some recognizable faces if you're in kind of a geographical area where you might recognize other prominent people in the area. Does that answer your question?

[00:10:36.220] - Jackie
Does answer your question. Thank you.

[00:10:39.720] - Eric
Now, I would also like to think that as long if the information on your Web site not only be current, but it has to exist, like if I click on a link and there's a coming soon or under-construction page, you know, it's not 1993. I don't know why you would need another construction page, but. I've come across websites where they seem completely built for, you know, a full website, but after so many clicks of leading nowhere or it's like, oh, this page isn't ready yet.

[00:11:12.500] - Eric
Well, that page isn't ready that neither is that menu button. You know, that doesn't need to exist to some degree. I mean, there are some instances wherever, you know, there's something new coming out or if you're a new business and you just need a splash page to announce your presence, that's understandable. But if I click through enough of your website and it is still being built while I'm using it, I'm not sure I trust your brand that much.

[00:11:34.160] - Eric
Or maybe it's like you have some steps out of order. I think so. Well, maybe. Or like some natural steps on a website where like, you know, let's say somebody comes to the website and they're just trying to learn about the brand or whatever. What are some key things that they might be looking for in that website to learn more about the business?

[00:11:56.900] - Eric
I think step one. Tell them who you are, you know who you are, what you do, you know, like I should have to go through multiple, you know, shouldn't have to do, like, extensive research to learn exactly what your business is.

[00:12:12.030] - Jackie
Yeah. Sometimes that information can get buried. You know, it's like about pages and pages and contacts us pages and all those things have a purpose. But that's the point. Like each of these sections on your website needs to have a purpose.

[00:12:24.170] - Eric
And it's not just like if your business tag line is like creating satisfied customers, that's great. Please let me know-how and who your customers are that you can't just, you know, let me know you're creating satisfied customers unless you're into cloning like human cloning. Maybe that's understandable for a tagline. Mm.

[00:12:44.690] - Jackie
Do we have a favorite website out there that does it really well, putting you on the spot, a favorite website?

[00:12:51.860] - Chris
Where Stuart, excellent flood xq is the phrase, take the rest of the day off.

[00:13:03.040] - Jackie
So one that just sticks out, they visit time and again just because it's enjoyable.

[00:13:10.410] - Wes
I'm sure I use Google like just tens, if not 100 times a day, you know, any kind of question that pops up when we do research that way, I think the reason that Google is popular is that it works how you would expect it to work. I've done a lot of things over time to make that happen. But the fact that I can have a question and I don't have to word that question in some magical way, I can just ask the question and I'm going to get very likely on that first page, you know, some good relevant information that points me in the right direction of answering that question or finding what I'm looking for or shopping for what I'm looking for.

[00:13:47.740] - Wes
I think that's kind of pretty magical if you think about it. I mean, I was around in the early days of the Web and the search engines didn't really exist. You know, Yahoo! At first was a directory of websites. There were so few websites that they were just sorted into categories and listed on pages. And so the fact that now you have all that kind of information at your fingertips, that's, you know, I would have to say and I don't think about that as a favorite website, but I do use it probably more than anything else.

[00:14:12.470] - Jackie
So, yeah, that's a good point. Do you remember Ask Jeeves? I do. Is Jeeves still around or did you retire?

[00:14:18.720] - Wes
I think he's in like old folks home somewhere.

[00:14:21.740] - Chris
He's hanging with Mr. Belvedere now. You probably don't get that reference.

[00:14:26.810] - Jackie
I know the name, but I'm sorry, I'm just so much younger. Well, that kind of hurts. I think we're done here, man.

[00:14:34.670] - Jackie
You can't go ahead. I've got one more question.

[00:14:36.860] - Eric
Well, go ahead, young lady.

[00:14:38.120] - Jackie
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm not going to call you an old man.

[00:14:43.150] - Wes
See if we can come up with a more current reference for whatever the next question is.

[00:14:47.910] - Jackie
So, all right. So if a business is looking to expand its brand awareness, for example, how would a fresh website aid in this effort?

[00:14:56.100] - Wes
If I say tick, would that be a reference?

[00:14:59.130] - Eric
Oh, sorry.

[00:15:04.100] - Chris
Tripods, Wisco, girl, please don't iPods audience, could you repeat the question?

[00:15:10.860] - Jackie
Yeah, maybe maybe I could take this a step back a little bit. So what like what is the shelf life of a website. What, like how long does someone's website last to business before it needs to be refreshed in any way.

[00:15:27.970] - Chris
I mean, I think back in the day, you agencies would tell people that, you know, you know, you should be doing something with it every six months or every year and a half, whatever. I mean, as long as you're doing stuff with it and giving people a reason to come back, I mean, a website can last a while. You know, places like Facebook, you know, they're constantly iterating, they're constantly changing and frustrating users, you know, and they're doing things just to do it because they can.

[00:16:04.560] - Chris
A lot of people don't have that luxury. So, I mean, it really can last you a while. But if you're not using it. You know, it's not. It may not be working out would I would say it might depend on the business, like if your business changes or evolves and your website should change to update that, I would even look at it like just your physical business where, you know, at some point you might realize your lobby is stuck in the 90s and might need a refresh.

[00:16:34.430] - Chris
If you like your website and it seems outdated, then it may need a refresh. But even then, you know, it does not just make it pop. It's like let's not just look at giving it a makeover. Let's what else needs to be updated? Does the content need to be updated? Does just the layout, the structure. You know, I know this movie is problematic in hindsight, but like, she's all that only works because Lainie Boggs is a good person before the makeover.

[00:16:58.340] - Chris
So, like, you know, if your website was bad before and all you do is, you know, make it pop, it's still bad. You might need, you know, some personality, a little restructuring. Sorry, that was a little veered off a very deep cut on the Lainez Boggs trivia. Couldn't have been a million years. Told you that actress's name, but I'm impressed geometrically.

[00:17:18.260] - Eric
Lindy Boggs was the name of the character. Oh, OK. OK, so. I was going to correct you with the name of the actress, but I can't remember now so well, you know, Freddie Prince's and he was.

[00:17:28.790] - Jackie
Freddie Prinze, did he do like a hard stare and swallow, because that's every movie of his where he just does a rough stare and like deep like that doesn't work on Mike, but you. Yeah, what I'm saying, like, intense stare parts while they see the Adam's apple just smolder, it is as small as a trademark.

[00:17:46.490] - Jackie
Oh, I'm glad. I hope I don't get sued for this. This.

[00:17:50.880] - Eric
I am I am not up to date on my Freddie Prinze Jr. trivia, so so if there's a Freddie Prinze Jr. website.

[00:17:57.050] - Chris
OK, Google, you could go for it. All right.

[00:18:04.450] - Jackie
I'm sorry, I'm just thinking of Freddie Prinze Jr. smolder right now, I need to come back to the conversation.

[00:18:09.990] - Chris
Me too.

[00:18:14.310] - Jackie
OK, so this is the last question I have because I feel like this kind of gets jumbled up and it could just be like my naivete with websites. You kind of wanted to do a few things. You wanted to like help with brand awareness. You want it to keep visitors on their first time. You want it to make sales for you. How do you figure out the balance of these major goals for websites? Like what are some steps that people can take to figure this out?

[00:18:46.210] - Wes
So I think by intuition, some business owners are going to have an idea of what they like. We talked about earlier, like what they want potential customers to do. We know that a lot of websites are going to be used, if nothing else, for somebody to reach out and find some type of contact information, either an email address or an address, a physical address or a phone number, some way to get in touch with the business. The other thing that we can do is by using some analytics kind of as a website lives and breathes.

[00:19:10.410] - Wes
And as it gets used, we can take a look at data and see what types of searches people have been using to find the website. We can look at what types of searches people are using on the site, what information they're looking for often, what information they might have a hard time finding. And that's one of the things that we can use to make sure that that website lives and grows and becomes more valuable and usable and just is a better resource over time.

[00:19:35.520] - Wes
And that's something that if you're not looking at, you know, Eric talked a minute ago about how long should a website, you know, last and in what should be there, that's a good way to without reinventing the wheel that you can make sure that the content is actually what somebody is looking for overtime.

[00:19:51.490] - Jackie
And that's a really good way to check in with your customers, too, and with your users really just to see what they're engaging with most on your website and what draws them in and what they actually spend time on and what they buy. And that's really I think that's a really important piece of information, is to pay attention to your analytics because, you know, people can get so caught up on the look and feel of it. And it is an important part of, you know, your website.

[00:20:17.160] - Jackie
But ultimately, you want to make sure it doesn't just look good, it's functioning the way it's supposed to, and it's driving your users to do what you need it to do at the end of the day. This is a great conversation.

[00:20:32.430] - Eric
I felt like you were going to say that regardless of how this turned out, it's true because it's not nice like that. Thank you.

[00:20:37.650] - Wes
It's on this piece of paper called me nice, but would you like to read? Because if you do, I would feel the same way if I was talking to me, you know, I mean, given everyone else in the office you've had to interview if you had to pick a favorite group.

[00:20:54.740] - Wes
Of three designers and developers of three or more you've interviewed, who would that obviously be, the Web team where, Stuart, you really shouldn't have. We're blushing.

[00:21:07.310] - Jackie
I know this. It's because I said your name is right.

[00:21:11.400] - Wes
True. At least the second time around.

[00:21:14.090] - Jackie
Third time's a charm. All right. Well, this is a great conversation. I'm really glad you guys got to come on and talk with me for a bit about websites and branding.

[00:21:24.560] - Eric
I like how we got to come talk with you. And it wasn't you talking with us. I feel that is also a delight.

[00:21:31.790] - Jackie
Here's the thing. Nobody who is listening to the podcast can see my throne like you guys do right now.

[00:21:38.210] - Eric
I mean, it is high-quality porcelain. So you're doing a great job, persiflage.

[00:21:46.190] - Jackie
Thanks, everybody, for listening today. If you want to catch up with the Web team or see anything that they have done, I've added some links to the bio here, and one of those is Google dot com. That's geologically dot com.

[00:22:01.240] - Jackie
We hyperlinked it, so you don't have to copy and paste this because we're futuristic like that. OK, thank you all for listening. Hope you have a great day. We'll see you next week. I.