We’re nearly a quarter through the 21st century, and most of you are reading this on a website. That website will be one of many you’ve already seen today. You’ve been looking at menus online of a restaurant near you. You’ve bought something from an online catalog, maybe you even used a discount promo code from an influencer you saw on a website.
Are you seeing a theme here? Most people spend more time online than offline nowadays, especially when it comes to researching something that is inconvenient to check out in real life. Which is why it’s STAGGERING than only HALF of businesses in the USA have websites in the current year. HALF! And for inventors, that number is much, much lower.
This is bad news for them, but great news for you…if you are an inventor and you build a website for yourself, you’re already getting exposure that very few inventors realize they can get!
If you’re an inventor/product developer, something you should become firmly aware of is this: A website is a CRUCIAL tool for showcasing your work, attracting potential clients or collaborators, and establishing credibility in the industry. It should also go without saying you should never disclose anything on a website that you aren’t willing to put out there into the world. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to showcase yourself.
Here are key elements that a product developer should consider including on their website:
- Landing page:
- This is the real “meat and potatoes” of the site. Attract attention, use tasteful branding colors (which has it’s own article) and make use of imagery or even embedded vids.
- Highlight the most important details of your product to draw your target, whether that is licensees, partners, investors, or customers.
- The Invention(s):
- Highlight the problem it (or they) solve(s) and the big benefits of using it.
- Tweak this section for your target…a storefront for customers, a contact form or easy contact info for partners and licensees.
- About Section:
- Provide a brief but compelling overview of yourself or your team. Include information about your background, experience, and areas of expertise. Don’t write a Leo Tolstoy-length book about how you came up with your idea!
- Case Studies:
- Showcase your cheerleaders from product testing or some very happy customers. If you’ve partnered with some notable companies from other inventions, showcase that.
- Include testimonials from satisfied clients, if available. Video is great, pics are swell, but quotes are good if that’s not available.
- Contact Information:
- Provide multiple ways for potential clients to get in touch with you, such as a contact form, email address, and phone number. Make yourself as easy to approach as possible and be prompt and friendly with your responses. The goal is to turn a cold contact into a genuine relationship that benefits both you and the person/business who reached out.
- Consider including a physical location if applicable, as this adds credibility. People like to work with other people, not P.O. boxes.
- Social Media Integration:
- Connect your website to your social media profiles. This can help you reach a broader audience (including potential influencers) and helps you seem more relatable, like with having an address. Do not link accounts if they are offensive or off-putting. The point here is to sell yourself as an inventor, not recreate a tense, awkward Thanksgiving dinner conversation with a potential licensee!
- Legal and Privacy Information:
- Small and out of the way, but covers your bases. Include a privacy policy and any other legal information required for your business. This is particularly important if you collect any user data (cookies) on your website.
Remember that your website is often the first point of contact between you and potential clients or collaborators, so it’s important to make a positive and professional impression. A pretty, easy to navigate site with a mediocre product is better than a disruptive product with a clunky site buried by Google with a difficult, eyesore layout and colors.
These are some basic guidelines on building a website that garners views and visits rather than sits at the bottom of a search engine, and makes prospects want to browse the site rather than eagerly close it out and go to nicer sites.
