Actually, website configurators are not new. But the idea that small business websites can have them is new. I spend a lot of time meeting with the CEOs and management people at marketing firms and web design firms (sometimes one and the same) and the hot topic with all of them now is creating configurators for their clients.

What’s a configurator?

Configurators are those forms you find on websites where you punch a series of buttons and check some boxes and then press a START button and, magically before your eyes, it creates the thing you requested. A real good example is on the Heat N Glo website. Just go to the bottom of the page and click on Design Your Fireplace.

It was developed by Wolfmotell, a marketing and web development company in the Twin Cities. I spoke with Jason Tell, one of the owners and the driving force behind the technological magic at Wolfmotell.

What can a configurator do for small business websites?

Jason was really excited that they could now bring these types of innovations to smaller businesses. While they aren’t cheap or simple, configurators can turn a catalog website into an interactive marvel that literally sells the product on its own. By the time people finish with the configurator and contact you, they are beyond the ‘sell me’ stage. They are excited and ready to buy.

What a configurator can do for your customers.

Most people have difficulty “seeing” what a project will look like when it’s finished. Or imagine what a collection of textures like brick or stone will look like together with metals and colors and woods. With a configurator, they don’t have to imagine it. They can see it and when they see it, they want it. It’s that simple.

And the great thing for business owners? When the product or project is finished, you are much less likely to hear, “Well, that’s not what I thought it would look like. I don’t like it.”

Obviously, there are a lot of other uses for configurators besides just fireplaces. The only limit is your imagination…

Bob McClain or WordsmithBob, has been a website copywriter in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, since 2000. He has focused on developing new, more effective approaches to web writing, web content, web copywriting and Search Engine Optimization. Starting with a BA in Technical Communication and a minor in Creative Writing from Metro State University in St. Paul, McClain has worked diligently to end the use of "corp-speak" and "technospeak" online. His approach is to “humanize” the Web, using real information to guide people to buy rather than turning websites into advertisements that people can easily ignore. McClain is also the creator of Cheap SEO Website Marketing, a website devoted to helping people with the best solutions to DIY SEO at an affordable cost with tips and software reviews. More at Cheap SEO Website Marketing

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Originally posted 2007-11-17 13:30:57. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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