FortyTwo Studio – Online & Onmessage

As is our current theme of being rubbish at sharing fuller case studies (they're coming...), here’s another addition to our canon of short musings.

This time, a thriller all about the www.

Web design, development and support is such a central pillar to what we do across our client base, to the extent that you can’t separate it from our brand process. A strategy of understanding who your audiences are and what makes them pay attention are central factors for both your core brand and your digital platforms, and as such we don’t differentiate between them. In many respects, to understand one is to understand the other.

We often talk about the ‘3 second question’.

Your website has 3 seconds before a visitor will decide to stay or bounce — what do we need to say in that time to persuade them to linger longer and explore? For us its starts with the idea of ’reflection’ — your website has to reflect the user in some way, they have to ‘see themselves’ in what you offer. For example, a visitor needs to think one or more of these thoughts:

They have what I want/need

That’s the problem I have

They look like kindred spirits

I find that inspiring/interesting/attractive

Understanding who your visitors are and who they could be is vital — their wants, motivations, values, habits and much more. The backbone of this is defining clear and detailed user personas so that journeys and contact can be initially well defined and targeted then measured and improved upon as your site matures.

What is the purpose of your website? Yes, it may be about selling products and services but that's a narrow definition. Your site, just like your whole brand should be looking to:

• Inspire
• Educate
• Convince
• Provide
• Entice

How will you ensure you do this with creativity, insight and clarity?

We’ve had a busy year with the old digital pixels and code. There are some cracking projects to share and celebrate (soon... ish) and with each, the planning, user personas and journeys, UI, content, build, measurement and support are all intrinsically linked — regardless of scale, subject or transaction.

Wherever your website sits in your broader digital landscape, being clear on its purpose and value are essential — and gaining insight on your users, customers and wider stakeholders is an ideal place to start. For a coffee, a chat and some specific pointers on how best to do this, send a note to mark@fortytwo.studio anytime — just make sure he doesn't make the coffee.

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