IN
THIS ISSUE…
In
last month’s e-Newsletter we took a look at key considerations for
planning an online strategy.
This month, we'll focus on building web sites that provide value to both
their visitors and their owners. Our CEO,
NEWS
AND NOTES…
If
the topics we’re covering are of interest to you and you want to learn
more, we are teaching along with other respected industry professionals at
BUILDING
WEBSITES THAT PROVIDE VALUE TO VISITORS AND OWNERS
ALIKE
The
most important aspect of building web sites that provide value to both
their visitors and their owners is to think of them as relationship
platforms designed to start, develop or improve relationships. This
can happen if there is value captured by both sides that is appropriate to
the stage of the relationship. We most frequently use the analogies of a
dating process or a good consultative sales call – both are by nature
built on equal value exchange and a growing relevance and comfort level
with the other party.
Current
customers visiting a site built for them should be able to accomplish
tasks more efficiently than they might have through other channels.
Prospects should be able to seek out information about how your solutions
can make a difference to them. At the same time, you should be able to
monitor the activities of customers and prospects on your site, and
measure the value of these interactions to your
company.
To
ensure that your site is mutually beneficial for your company and your
visitors, keep these factors in mind:
1) Develop
a mission statement, just
as you would for any other project that requires a substantial investment
of time and money. Agreeing to the “who, what, why, how” (the typical
cornerstones of mission statements) helps to focus the web site project to
business priorities at a level of specificity that will help steer
content, design, level of investment, metrics, etc. And most importantly,
it keeps your project from straying in an attempt to create a site that is
" everything to everybody".
2) Anticipate
the needs and motivations of your site visitors.
Think about the most plausible things that visitors will want to do or
accomplish when they get to your web site, and make sure that there is a
logical path for them to access that information or content. This approach
will help you avoid creating a product-centric site that so many companies
currently have.
3) Empathize
with the needs of the visitor
before you begin to discuss benefits. Showing that you understand the
visitor's world and the problems they are trying to solve helps you gain
credibility and establish a common ground. Most sites skip this essential
first part of the conversation and jump quickly to what products and
services they have and how wonderful their company is.
4) Highlight
value, not features. After
empathy, you need to establish a direct connection to what your company
can do to help the visitor. Remember your marketing basics, and lead with
compelling value statements -- not with a long list of features. Features
are good for backup, but should not be the prominent way you communicate
the viability of your solution.
5) Differentiate.
Given the availability of a web browser's “Back Button”, a company's site
needs to quickly answer, “why us?”.In a medium where all competitors are
vying for attention simultaneously, make sure you distinguish your
capabilities and value very succinctly and early (i.e., on the initial
page). If you have many different segments with varying perspectives you
need to appeal to, use your home page to quickly route them to more
relevant interior pages (and when possible, land them directly in a deeper
page).
6) Expand
the opportunities for engagement.
Provide frequent opportunities for visitors to interact and make sure you
have content offers that will be valuable to them at all stages of the
buying cycle. Most sites have a lot of information and a “Contact Us”
capability as the primary means for interaction. But this link -- standard
on so many sites -- can be interpreted into “our sales folks will call
you”. Encourage visitors to engage with your company by providing other
alternatives such as “Ask a Question” or the ability to download a guide
or checklist to help them evaluate their needs and find the best solution.
7) Identify
your site's Highly Valued Activities (HVAs),
or "conversion" points in the sales funnel. Agree internally on the key
web site activities that represent milestones in the buying cycle. Make
sure these activities are prominent to the user so they do engage, and use
your web analytics tools and reports to focus on these HVAs, develop
benchmarks and measure your progress over time.
8) Optimize
all forms to the visitor’s perspective.
Typically a Highly Valued Activity will involve a form that prospects must
complete to access information or content. Many companies design these
forms for multiple internal groups, and wind up asking for too much
information too soon (see the “Meet the
Parents” white paper). To increase your conversion
rates, ask for the least amount of information possible. Also, make it
very clear what value the visitor will receive upon completing the form.
Finally, reassure them of your privacy policy and that this information
will be used for the stated purpose only.
9) Keep
your web pages focused. Every
page on your site should have a specific purpose and be optimized for
organic search to ensure your site pages are visible and highly relevant
to your targeted visitors’ searches. In essence, each page is a
potential landing page and should have the ability to support the specific
topic of the page, but also let the visitor know where they are within the
site and understand the company's hierarchy so they can navigate elsewhere
if necessary.
10)
Implement
visitor surveys. Once
you've taken the steps above, you are off to a good start. However, it is
impossible to anticipate what all your target audience visitors really
want from your site. The best way to find out is to simply ASK THEM –
either through ongoing survey tools that take a random sampling of site
visitors to gauge their experience (preferred) or through other usability
and testing methods. Make these investments early and you will avoid
operating on speculation and assumptions.
Building your site to ensure value to both parties is a lot like a relationship. It can be complex and full of pitfalls to avoid, but if you get it right, the outcome is mutually rewarding. We'll also be devoting an entire e-Newsletter on understanding your site visitor's motivations in one of our upcoming issues.
Contact us to learn more about this topic and how we can help you.
Have you visited our blog, ClearViews, yet? If not, now is the perfect time to see the topics being discussed and add your views. Check it out when you have a moment.
Next month we’ll look at the web analytics you should consider to evaluate the effectiveness of your current web site, and what to think about before you launch new initiatives.
