One of the biggest problems of many business websites is that they spend a lot of time talking about themselves. “But isn’t that the purpose of our website?” I hear you shout. “Surely to promote our company we have to talk about ourselves?” Unfortunately you may only be talking to yourself.
People don’t search for your company, people search for solutions
When people use Google or any other popular search engine, it may come as a shock to find that they are not actually looking for you specifically. In many cases they may not even know that your company exists. They might not even care about your company, if they do know you exist.
What people are searching for is a solution to a problem. It may be that you have products that will solve their problem. Unfortunately, if nowhere on your website do you explain this, they will never find you.
Don’t use technical or industry specific language
If your product is aimed at insomnia your product might not appear if someone inputs ‘can’t sleep’. It might see obvious but never underestimate the simplicity of search terms. 70% of all searches fail, that is a lot of people that might be looking for solutions to a problem you could solve. Do your research to find out what keyword searches are used in your industry.
Find the market that has the right problem
If your products and service solves a problem then do some research and find the market that has that problem. It is easier to sell to a market that knows they need a solution. You will never sell an electric car to someone who has no interest in living in an environmentally way.
Of course it should be obvious why your products and services are amazing. Unfortunately you probably don’t have the brand recognition of Apple or Nike. You need to tell your customers what problem your product solves.
You and your staff can become experts
Social media is making it easier than ever to interact with your prospective Market. Whether your preferred platform is Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook, start building your connections and interacting with the online community. You can show off your knowledge and expertise within your industry without overtly selling.
Use the expertise in your company to become experts in your field.
- You can use a blog.
- Get involved in social media sites such as Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook.
- Answer questions and offer solutions to encourage traffic to your site.
- Don’t over sell, solve the problem asked. No one likes to sold to, be straightforward and factual.
Make it easy and obvious
Attention spans on the web are low. On average you have less than 15 seconds to capture the attention. Every page should have some kind of call to action. Your buy buttons should be prominent and any invitation to contact enticing.
Success = traffic x conversion
You may get a large number of visitors to your site but in the end the most important factor is how many of those visitors become customers. If you are offering them something they want they are much more likely to buy. Do not put any barriers ion the way of then getting in touch.
Make sure there are no dead ends on your site
When someone gets to the end of a page make sure you are sending them somewhere else or inviting them to contact you. Don’t encourage them to leave.
Often very small changes and creative thinking can massively improve the productivity of you site.
You might also read: How good is your website content?
