How NOT to Design a Website: XSitePro's Site, Which Sells Website Creation Software
August 1, 2008
XSitePro is a good product. It lets the average Joe create a website fast -- in less than an hour. Maybe faster if you have done several. Yet its site is a marketing disaster.
I recommend that you set up a website, and maybe more than one, as a way to start a new business, build an existing business, or defend your job. You can use XSitePro to build it. When you build it, keep XSite Pro's site in mind as a negative model.
The company has released a new version, 2.0. Five seconds after you land on the site's home page, a box pops up telling you that you should subscribe to a webinar. It does not tell you what the benefit of this webinar is. It does not even tell you what a webinar is. Also, "webinar" sounds too cutesy.
The box will not go away. This is not a standard pop-up box. My browser's pop-up blocker did not work. This could be a great marketing tool. It wasn't.
This idiot box follows you when you scroll down. It covers up the testimonials. It covers up the page's advertising copy. It makes visitors angry. Why? The box does not offer a CLOSE option. (If it does, I could not find it.)
This is suicidal marketing.
This is the case of a site designer using a feature in the program that is counter-productive. "Hey, look at this! Let's use it. It's neat." No, it isn't. Not without a CLOSE button, it isn't.
A pop-up box like this should be used to encourage visitors to subscribe to a weekly e-letter, such as my Tip of the Week. The box should be easy to close.
Contact Information
When I tried to send an e-mail warning them about the box, I found that there is no CONTACT box at the top of the page. Another huge error.
A site without CONTACT at the top and maybe also on the side and bottom sends a message: "We want your money. We don't want to deal with you otherwise. We will not pay a staff member to deal with you."
At the bottom, there is a CONTACT link. I clicked it. This took me to a page with three links: order form, technical support, and affiliate program. There was no link for information: info@.
This is suicidal marketing.
You need a way for shoppers to contact you before they buy. Not everyone is ready to buy (order form). Not everyone is already a customer (technical support). Not everyone is ready to sell your product to others for a commission (affiliate program).
What is incredible is that the product is aimed at people who want to create sites for marketing their products.
Programmers vs. Marketing
The site is a classic example of programmers' technical genius: "We know how to program. Unfortunately, we don't know how to market. Yet we are marketing this product to marketers."
My guess is that the president of the company does not revisit every page every week. He assumes that everything is fine. After all, everything was fine a month ago.
Meanwhile, some programmer has added something "really neat" -- from a programmer's point of view. Then the two laws of programming take over.
1. Marketing? What's marketing?
2. I programmed it, so I don't need to beta-test it.
When the cat's away, the mice will play . . . and leave droppings all over the room.
I happened to take two of the webinars live. They were run by a guy who clearly had not rehearsed his presentations. The first one ran way over schedule. It was a programmer's delight: "Gee, look at how many things we have designed into this program." But nowhere did he tell us what the marketing benefit is for each new feature. He just went on and on and on about the features -- features without benefits.
There is no better way to kill sales. It broke the universal rule of direct-response advertising: "Lead with the benefit; follow with the proof." The features offer the proof. They do not offer motivation to buy.
The president broke the universal rule: "Never allow a programmer/technician anywhere near a buyer. He will kill the sale with non-stop chatter about features, always accompanied with assurances: 'You will love this!'" No, you won't. You will be scared off. You will think: "I can't remember all this. This program is too difficult for me."
I sent the owner a suggestion after the first webinar: Use a user to do the next program. Do not use one of your programmers. I never received a reply. He obviously did not believe me.
The webinar is a long, excruciatingly boring two-hour "how to" training video designed for experienced users to master parts of the program that are useless to a new user. The company is using a training video as if it were a marketing tool.
This is suicidal marketing.
FAQs and Screencasts
I like screencasts. A screencast is a narrated video of everything that takes place on a computer screen: image, moving cursor, etc. A free screencast program is CamStudio. The best program is the $300 Camtasia Studio.
Products should have a screencast for every FAQ question. Demonstrate the answer in action. Don't just describe it in words. People learn by seeing and hearing.
There should be three FAQ lists: (1) for shoppers, (2) for new users, (3) for experienced users.
Screencast videos are great sales tools. These are "gee whiz" videos. They show what the program can do and the benefit of each feature. The narrative must describe the benefit of every feature or procedure.
The second set of screencasts is "easy as pie." It is for buyers who want to get up and running fast.
The third set is for reducing customer service questions. "Head 'em off at the pass!"
Conclusion
I recommend XSitePro. But before you buy it, search for this: "XSitePro" and "bonuses." The affiliates offer great bonuses at no extra charge.
The affiliates know how to market. Their sites are benefits-laden. The people at XSitePro are programmers. They know how to program. They do not know how to market.