How do they find you? Website building

Ignite the boosters

If you want people to find your business, you need a good website. For the last four years, 77 Rockets, led by Antz White, have been on a mission to build their clients a website with

added spark. Niche spoke with Antz to find out more WORDS BY TOM YOUNG

Antz White worked as an e-commerce specialist and web designer for 20 years. He’d always wanted to set up his own business, and he got that chance in 2018. His approach was to look beyond the superficial design elements of a website and create something that can genuinely benefit the client and offer a great user experience.

“Websites don’t just need pretty words and pictures,” says Antz. “There’s a lot of science behind what makes a site good or bad. Our team understands how users interact with a website – what works for them and what doesn’t.”

The approach is user-first rather than business-first, because the business is what the site’s about, not who it’s for.

“Most business owners think about what they want to tell customers and forget to think about what the customer wants to know. Business owners want a website that looks nice, works for them, and helps their return on investment, but we represent the consumer as well. We try to ensure the site has a balance between both needs.”

Businesses want everything to be important, but it can’t be. If everything’s important, nothing is. There are certain things a website needs to have, and 77 Rockets ensure those elements (potential minefields like compliance and legal requirements) are in place – but after that, the goal is to ensure that the truly important information is what people find first.

“There are plenty of opportunities to create your own website through an online service. These might give you a good-looking product, but it won’t give you the understanding of how people actually use it. As a web design company, we want to give you a site that does more than just look nice.”

It’s important to be realistic about the client’s needs. All of 77 Rockets’ websites have search engine optimisation built-in – enough to make the site easy to find on Google and most businesses won’t need more than this.

“Google fundamentally wants to find websites that answer their users’ questions. If you build a site that answers your own users’ questions, eventually Google will use you to answer their users’ questions too.

“You have to do what’s right for the business. Blogging can be important, but it doesn’t suit every small business – a sole trader (such as a plumber or gardener) won’t have the time or interest to write 500 words every week, so it’s about finding what suits.” 77 Rockets have produced a booklet, available online at 77rockets.com/booklet to serve as a guide for what makes a good website and what works best. It also explains the full service 77 Rockets offer.

MOST BUSINESS OWNERS THINK ABOUT WHAT THEY WANT TO TELL CUSTOMERS AND FORGET TO THINK ABOUT WHAT THE CUSTOMER WANTS TO KNOW