Ensuring that Your Homepage Satisfies Your Visitors
If you are searching for a product and/or service on someone else’s website, what you actually searching for? Well, the most basic thing is that you have a problem and you are looking to the other person to solve that problem. It is the “WIIFM?” concept. WIIFM is defined as “What’s In It For Me?”
Your effective approach
It is important that you keep in mind (at all times) that it doesn’t matter how wonderful you or your business are. All that matters is that you are capable of solving the other person’s problems. If you can do that, you will be well on your way to building a meaningful relationship with that person and they will (most likely) become your client in the future. Just as you were searching on someone else’s website to solve whatever problem you were experiencing, it is the exact same thing for the other person who is searching on your website for some kind of help. That is exactly why your website has to be everything that it should be (and then some). It is an extremely powerful tool and it is probably the only tool that is exclusively unique to you.
You may be wondering at this point what information you need to have on your website. It will be effective information that is important and relevant to the other person who is searching and ends up coming to your website. The elements that your website should contain are:
- Your introduction
- Address potential objections from your visitors
- Showcase your talents
- Position you as a subject matter expert (SME)
Those are the important elements of your homepage; however, it is often easier said than done when it comes to your actually incorporating those elements into your homepage in a way that is really, really effective. If you put yourself into the shoes of your homepage visitor, it will become clear to you that there are certain questions about your business that must be asked and answered.
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What does your business and your brand offer? After taking a look at your homepage, it should be abundantly clear to the visitor what you are selling. If it isn’t, you have done something wrong and you need to fix it pronto! An important rule of thumb when it comes to your website visitors is that you need to make it extremely quick and easy for them to find the information that they are looking for. Your information about your brand and your offerings should be clear and concise. Your objective is that you want your website visitor to feel as though you are the absolute best person to give them the information that they need. It is not safe for you to assume that the person necessarily understands what he or she is looking for. However, it is your job to convince that person (through your website content) that they want and need what you are offering. Your unique selling proposition (USP) should be crystal clear and there should be no room for doubt.
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What is your edge? It may very well be the case that many other people have businesses in which they sell the same products and/or services that you sell. However, it is your job to convince them why your offerings are better for them. You need to have something that is unique and fresh and really stands out and compels the other person to want what you are offering. In short, you need t0 have an edge. Let’s face it, there are very few businesses and business owners with products and/or services that absolutely nobody else in the universe is offering. If that were the case, it would be very easy for you to sell as much as you want and as often as you want.
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Have you successfully become trustworthy in the eyes of the other person? The bottom line is that nobody but nobody will do business with you if they don’t trust you. Would you? It is important to remember, however, that trust doesn’t happen automatically. It must be earned. Once you have been able to accomplish that, everything else will fall into place.
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Have you given the other person the ability to reach you? In other words, have you given them a call-to-action? This concept is so simple yet it is something that you, as a business owner, can’t do without. If you don’t provide the other person with a way to connect with you, you will not be able to get anywhere. Not only do you need to provide them with a way to connect with you but you must also make it extremely simple for them to do so.
Conclusion
If your homepage is effective, it will achieve results that you want it to achieve. It will convince your visitor that you have what they are looking for, that you can solve their problems, and that you can be trusted. Make sure that you examine your homepage (and the rest of your website) carefully from time to time to make sure that it is exactly what you need it to be. It must be consistently friendly and very informative at all times. One last thing to keep in mind is that if you do it correctly, your business’s reputation will be so strong that people will know about what you are doing and will want to learn more about you and your business.
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Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Small Business & Independent Consultant Network
Discussion: How Do You Convey Your Ability to Solve Your Audience’s Problems?
Ask open ended questions and listen, repeat till mutual benefit relationship is achieved.
By James Johnson
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Small Business Accelerator
Discussion: How Do You Convey Your Ability to Solve Your Audience’s Problems?
Once you get the client’s attention on your website, you should continue to provide value and content via a regular podcast.
Say you sell wholesale plumbing supplies: your website can have a blog, and some “about us” pages. But, the prospect is not going to spend 2 hours reading every word. And, if you have YouTube videos, maybe they spend 20 or 30 minutes watching.
But, your clients are plumbers. They spend hours in their truck going from job to job. And, they spend hours more at the job site where they could be listening to your podcast on new products, marketing techniques, and management strategies.
Give those plumbers 4 hours per month of your great content and they will know, like, and trust your company.
By Craig Pollack
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Group: Small Business Network: Startups & Entrepreneurs talk Social Media Marketing Startup Jobs Sales PR
Discussion: How Do You Convey Your Ability to Solve Your Audience’s Problems?
As stated, easier said than done about a home page, is correct. However, replace as much copy by using a visual that will drive a visitor to the correct page with a CTA and capture page. My page views are up over 300% since I made the change in late December, Thanks for sharing!
By Mike Deuerling
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Group: Bright Ideas & Entrepreneurs | Startup Community
Discussion: How Do You Convey Your Ability to Solve Your Audience’s Problems?
While a well designed home page is hugely beneficial, it’s not enough. The absolute best way is to provide answers to commonly asked questions through your blog posts, where each question becomes one blog post. These blog posts are then found via organic search, which then direct the reader to the home page to learn more.
By Kevin Carney
Michael, great article. I started an inbound marketing campaign in February and quickly realised my website was not in perfect sinc with our campaign. I am reviewing and working on adjustments and your insights come at a perfect time during my review. Thanks for sharing!
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Network – #1 Group for CMOs
Discussion: How Do You Convey Your Ability to Solve Your Audience’s Problems?
Thank you for this remainder: having all the key issues and questions to be tackled when analyzing a homepage is great! I’d just add that it’s extremely important to talk about ‘visitors’ as this term gathers all the audiences that will visit your web site. Indeed, in terms of marketing and communication it’s important to differentiate each target audience you may have…However, in reality your web site will be visited by them all, having different profiles, motivations, expectations or behavior. The real challenge is to embrace all these groups while talking to each individually.
By Adriana Lerman-Launay
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Group: Bergen County Business Professionals
Discussion: How Do You Convey Your Ability to Solve Your Audience’s Problems?
Thanks for this article. You did a great job in synthesizing the most important elements needed in promotional materials. I facilitate a business start up class and will use this in a class…with all recognition to you folks.
By Louise DiSclafani
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Group: Business Writers of America
Discussion: How Do You Convey Your Ability to Solve Your Audience’s Problems?
Great article. To add to your analysis, the homepage should address those fundamental questions with as few steps as possible. 7-seconds I think is the goal. You basically want the visitor to understand what you do without having to work to find out. The more “work” someone has to do to figure out your unique value, the less likely they will stick around…
By Nathan Williams
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Group: Content Marketing Institute
Discussion: How Do You Convey Your Ability to Solve Your Audience’s Problems?
Great tips! Thank you for sharing! The homepage is your company’s business card. That is why it’s very important for it to respond to your customers’ needs and expectations. In order to achieve this, one should take the time to investigate and identify what exactly those needs are. Social media is the perfect tool to use when playing detective 🙂
By Michael Kamleitner