How many times have you landed on a website and the first words in BOLD are “Welcome to our website”.
If your site does this, please, I beg of you, stop.
While it’s appropriate and courteous to welcome someone to your office or home, it’s not useful on a website.
Why?
Because when someone lands you have seconds to answer these questions before they hit the back button.
They are:
- Am I in the right place? Can you solve my problem?
- Who are you? What’s your experience and track record?
- Can you achieve the outcome I want?
Start by talking about them, not you. Don’t begin with “We’re a wonderful organisation who’s been in business 25 years. Blah, Blah, Blah. Nobody gives a toss.
This article “Why nobody cares about your product” goes into more detail.
Give people a clear path to navigate through your site. Tell them what to do next.
Too many options are like the cafeteria with 50 menu items on the blackboard. You stand there agonising over what to order, feel overwhelmed and just wish you had guidance on what the best food there was.
While a picture may well tell a thousand words, don’t just have massive graphics that take up the whole page with very little text.
If someone’s going to spend money with you they want more detail. Detail which can only be explained with words.
BTW, video on your site is an excellent adjunct to the written word. Especially if it has you personally speaking, giving people a sense of who you are.
A combination is the key.
So your mission, should you accept it, is to look at your website and other marketing material through the eyes of your prospects.
Looking at your site what would you think if you didn’t know anything about you. Would you feel engaged and compelled to dig deeper or would you bounce away?
And if the latter, how much money are you losing out on because potential clients are going elsewhere?
Rashid & Barbara.
P.S. If you’d like a comprehensive review and suggestions as to how you could improve your site, call us on 0414-913-334. We’ll spend a couple of hours going over every facet and provide you a with a comprehensive improvement path which will help you engage with your audience and make more sales.
