In recent meetings with a few clients they have spoken of how the Internet, search engines and consumers are changing their business.  Many of their websites used to employ the rule of “Tell them just enough to get them interested” but are now changing to “tell them more, tell them everything” to generate leads and business.  I’ve been preaching that for years, as have most in our industry, but it seems to have started to slip into the minds of small business owners and management.  Many finally understand that if I don’t tell them what they need to know … my competition will.

I view every situation as a comparison …comparison to past experiences, comparison to what their friend has told them and obviously comparison to the 3 other search results from Google.  Hidden secrets never sell (well maybe a few secret recipes), but coming out on top when compared to the competition, apples to apples, wins you business.

So I say, tell it all and consider these five rules, facts and angles when creating or tweaking your website to win your battle of comparison.

1.    Let your design and layout make you stand out. Create a “look and feel” that match you and evoke consumer emotions of quality, trust and service. Some consumers may judge on visual impact alone.  Which builder do you feel better about working with, Builder A or Builder B.  Seems obvious to me.
 
2.    Answer the top 10 questions you get asked by customers.  Sounds easy, but many don’t.  When users can’t find answers they go to the next source for that answer.  Be the best source of information and trust will form easily.
 
3.    Take away the damage of guessing and assumption.  Clearly define your process of working with you or buying your product.  Now they understand what working with you is like … while the other guy only leaves them guessing.
 
4.    Personalize it.  Talk to your audience with their point of view or situation in mind.  People are looking to identify … “can this help me? … is this for me?”  Give them the “we help people just like you all the time” feeling.  They want to feel that comfort.
 
5.    Give quick access to what they are looking for.  Clearly defined navigation, site search and links all contribute to users quickly locating their needs and moving forward to buying or contacting you.

Posted on June 7th, 2007 by Aaron
Filed under: web design, marketing, content

If you like what you're reading, please subscribe to this blog.

Related Posts

• Tagged by The Technorati Train
• Meet Your New Employee, Your Website
• Business Cards & Letterheads: Make Your First Impressions Last