5 Things Every B2b Website Designer Should Know

Business-to-business websites are now a critical part of the B2B marketing process and the demands on these sites have changed. It’s no longer enough to look good. A B2B website has to deliver measurable results on your (or your client’s) objectives. This includes how well it entices visitors to stay on the site and how many visitors are successfully converted to customers or sales-ready leads.

Not surprisingly, most website designers – by training – look at the project from the standpoint of the visual design and not from a business buying process and persuasion standpoint.

We all agree that visual design is a key part of the success of a website, so let’s take a look at how you can ensure your site is designed to attract, engage and even persuade your target audience.

Here are five critical “truths” that many visual designers may not be aware of or may choose to ignore. These can make a big difference in the success of a B2B site. Share them with your designer and hold him/her to them.

1. There is no reason to grab your visitors’ attention.. You already have it. That’s why they’re at your site. Many very good designers were trained in the offline world where constant competition for the prospect’s attention creates the need to do something bold. This is called interruption marketing. The design principles that exist in interruption marketing have carried over into web design even though they aren’t appropriate. Instead of wasting space trying to get something you already have (the prospect’s attention), use design to make it easy for them to figure out what to do next.
2. Simple is better. Your website visitors are busy people. They come to your site looking for information and they won’t spend much time trying to figure out how to find it. Independent studies show that business buyers prefer simple text pages, no more than three columns and next actions that are clearly indicated.
3. Graphics don’t count for much. Marketing research firm, MarketingSherpa, found that there are only two types of graphics business website visitors consistently pay attention to:
   • Recognizable logos from companies other than your own.
   • Bullet points.
4. Marketing messages contained within an image will probably not get read. The most popular format for business-to-business websites features a large billboard image across the top of the page. More often than not, text is embedded in the image. Even when shown flash images that feature moving text, visitors tend to skip over the image and the message. Use them if you want, but be sure to repeat any important points in the text.
5. Design for readability. Black type on a white background is – by far – the most easily read text. Text on a color background – especially white text against a dark background – requires great determination on the part of your visitor to read it. Small text and tightly spaced text is also hard to read. If your audience is over 40, forget using anything smaller than 12 point type. Make it easy to read and more people will read it. Pretty simple, isn’t it?

Remember: the purpose of your site is to engage your visitors and communicate the information they are seeking. It’s far more important to convert visitors to prospects or customers than it is to have the coolest site in town. That may be obvious, but many business technology marketers seem to forget it.

© 2008, Tatum Marketing Inc.