Friends and clients are usually surprised to learn that I knit– “It’s such an old-fashioned hobby for a new-fangled web designer.” I find the two are as entwined as a fluffy ball of yarn: creativity, design, math, visualization (putting the math and design together to know what it will look like when finished). We all have interests that get satisfied online. How I act as a knitting consumer reveals clues to what others want online. So, without having to make a pair of socks or a wooly hat, let’s use the example of knitting to see what consumers want online and how to satisfy those needs on your website.

• Make It Easy For Me. I used to go in to a shop and look through their (sometimes sparse) patterns. It was hit or miss. If I wanted to make something specific there was no guarantee I would find a pattern for it. Now, the web makes it easy to search for specific items. For example “lacy mock cable scarf.” Bang-o… exactly what I want. Improve any website by adding specific, identifiable wording for products or services—they will connect the consumer to your business.

• I Want Product. On occasion, I’ve described this now out-of-business yarn shop as a “dud”. Why? Because they never had product on their shelves. I’d drive for miles and then find they had only one or two skeins of yarn, hardly enough to complete a sweater or other project. But, on the web I can search for the exact yarn I want: color, fiber content, brand name, and even the quantity. Providing product on a website with full product descriptions draws in customers. I’m a web designer…. I’m up at 2am. I want to be able to buy 24/7 and that’s what adding a shopping cart does to achieve the sale. Capture impulse purchases by having product for sale on your site.

• Don’t Keep Me in the Dark. I’m not a mushroom living in the dark. I love it when a knit shop can shine a light on a new knitting product, explain a technique, or just let me know what kind of stock has recently arrived. How do you let your customers know this? Why RSS Feed of course!

So when KISS (Keep It Super Simple) is your motto and the only mushrooms you want are on your pizza, you’re going to love working with Design to Spec. We’ll work with you to tap into easy marketing ideas that will feel as comfortable as a favorite sweater! Easy, comfortable and all designed to boost your online marketing.