The fuseStarter i5 Principle is a 5-part series where we will explore and describe our trademarked website development principles.

INTRODUCTION

At fuseStarter, we are technicians and artists. That may seem to you an odd mix, and you’d be right. According to several personality test methods, being highly technical and highly creative are rare. They are an exceptional case.

That being said, our team is the exception.

It’s because of how we are built that we are pro-structure and anti-structure! Again, seemingly weird… well, just weird! But, we make it work. We have found (although it requires constant reevaluation and realignment) a way to have creative freedom within a structure, which allows us to get things done not only efficiently, but effectively. Effectively meaning here, to have an impact, and this impact must be creative.

One of the structures we’ve created is our “i5 principle.” This is our website design guidepost. Through years of experience in both creative and technical arenas, we’ve distilled down to 5-points what we know to be necessary to deliver a great website.

In this 5-part blog series, we will cover these principles. The first is INFORM.

i1: INFORM – defn: provide facts or information; to tell.

A great website will provide information to the visitor. But the key thing is to provide the right info, in the right quantities. The goal is not to answer every conceivable question and overload the visitor, but give an “appetizer” that will lead them to contact you.

Your website is your electronic business card. It is where people go first to learn about you – your team, your products & services, your company, your location, how to contact you, your customers, and your successes. It’s where potential customers begin their journey to becoming actual customers. It’s where they begin to form a conception of you in their mind.

As we tell our clients – you have about 3 seconds to make an impression, and you can’t afford to blow it (we will be covering this “impression” aspect later in this series).

It is in this INFORM principle that so many websites miss the mark. They do provide information, but they provide far too much information. Additionally, the information does not have the proper “taxonomy.” A taxonomy is a system of organizing information in a meaningful and useful way. Too many times, websites will organize the info in a taxonomy that is meaningful to the company, but not in a way meaningful and useful to the website visitor.

Website Hospitality

A useful way to think about this is to remember that your website gets “visitors.” A visitor is a guest. Now, when you host guests at your home (although this seems to be a dying art), everything you do is to accommodate, please, and satisfy your visitors. You want them to feel welcome and special. You want them to be at-ease. You don’t want the experience to be tense, difficult, and uncomfortable.

This is what is means to be hospitable!

In the same way, you want to practice “Website Hospitality!”

When a visitor comes to your site, the taxonomy employed should be with them in mind. You may organize your info internally in one format, but that doesn’t mean that is the best format (taxonomy) for the visitor. Remember, they are not you. They don’t know all the details and history about your company like you do. Your job is to provide them an “appetizer” of information. Provide just enough info, and just the right info, to whet their whistle. You are creating and fostering a desire in them to press in more, to take the next step, to take action. The last thing you want to do is overload them with info and confuse them with a irrelevant taxonomy.

Purpose Always

Everything you do on your website should have a purpose. That purpose is to accomplish whatever your goals are for the website. If you don’t currently have goals and can’t state the purpose for your website, call us! You are wasting your website and driving customers away. We can help you fix that!

You want to lead them through the site and the information with your goal and purpose in mind.

Cleaning Up the Web, One Site at a Time

We’d love to help you create a website with purpose. We can help you clarify your goals and make it easy for your visitors. We can teach you how to practice Website Hospitality! Our goal is to clean up the web, one site at a time.

Is your website one of the greats, or one that needs to be “cleaned up?“

We are fast, affordable, and easy to work with. Give as a call and let’s see how we can help you out!