Fairy Godmother
, Holly Buchanan, is an expert on Marketing to Women Online; she and
Michele Miller have co-authored a book on the subject planned for release this year. Holly writes:
There are a variety of reasons why some websites succeed and others fail. But if you follow these three suggestions, you will greatly increase your chance for website success. How do you know if your website is successful? If visitors take the actions you want them to take, whether it’s buying a product, signing up for a newsletter, downloading a whitepaper or viewing a class schedule.
#1 – Answer your customers questions.
When you’re deciding what content to put on your website – start with what your customers want. Make a list of all the questions your customers ask. What questions do they ask about you, your products or services, your industry, your competition? What are their objections – what keeps them from buying? Answer these questions on your website. But do NOT bury them in an FAQ. Answer their questions throughout your whole site.
Example:
Take a mother who has a big family. She does A LOT of laundry – but she genuinely loves her family and takes pride in a job well done. Her question is, “Is there a towel that can be washed day in and day out, but still remain soft?â€
Most towel companies say their towels are soft, but do they remain soft after multiple washings? Land’s End answers her question: Unlike “Treated Towels†Ours Start Out Soft and Become Softer with Every Wash.
Lots of towels are coated with chemicals to make them feel soft on the store shelf. But wash them a couple times and their softness goes down the drain. Not ours! Because we use better cotton and superior construction, our towels get plumper and softer with every wash, Guaranteed.
If she were on a website and saw a link that said “Choose a towel that remains soft through lots of laundering.†Do you think she’d click on it?
Lands End goes on to describe the towel further, which is great. You always want to back up your claim. But most website product copy would start with this copy – it’s typical features/benefit copy you see everywhere.
We use only the top 3% of cotton grown in the United States.. Farmed for its extra-long, strong fibers, Supima cotton feels softer, lasts longer and pills far less. Start with better cotton and you end up with a better towel.
Most companies are so focused on their selling points, they fail to answer her questions. You can give her your selling points once you’ve answered her question – but always answer her questions first. If you’re answering her questions, and your competition’s website isn’t…who is she going to feel better about and ultimately give her money to?
#2 – Get rid of dead end pages
Have you ever read the copy on a web page, and, at the end, didn’t know where to go next? That page is a dead end. These types of pages have high abandonment rates. In other words – these are pages where people often leave your website. Make sure you have links in the copy on every page of your website with good choices where people can go next.
Example:
“About Us” pages are famous dead ends. A visitor clicks to the “About Us” page and reads about the founder, the company history, etc. But where does she go now? She’s usually forced to go to some sort of global navigation to try to figure out where to go next.
On your “About Us Page”, make sure you have a link in the actual copy for “contact us†AND make sure you have a link to your product or services page. “XYZ company has a long history of satisfying customers. See our products and find out which one is right for you.â€
Every page on your website should contain links with clear choices of where to go next. So now when a visitor finishes reading the page, instead of trying to guess where to go next, she has a strong call to action and persuasive momentum to keep her engaged and moving towards the action you want her to take.
#3 – Avoid Clutter
There is often a temptation to put too much on a page. You want to have some testimonials, and a newsletter sign up, and a third party endorsement and links to other resources and the latest news and lifestyle images and company logos and the latest products and don’t forget a picture of your cat.
Seriously – giving visitors too much on a page makes it very difficult for their eyes to know where to focus. They don’t know where to focus their attention or what to do. In the case of websites, less is more. Having a clean layout without clutter is absolutely key to making customers feel comfortable and enabling them to make good choices as to where to focus their attention and where to go next.
Home pages are the biggest offenders. Your home page does not have to do everything. The purpose of the home page is to let visitors know they are in the right place – (state clearly what you do or sell) tell them why they should care (clearly spell out what makes you unique, special, a better choice than your competitors) and start them on a pathway that takes them to the information they need.
Example:
Michele Miller does a wonderful job with her home page at Wonderbranding.com. She has a very clean layout. She has three clear links in the embedded text. She features her book and her calendar. That’s it. Very simple. Very easy to read
Conclusion:
Follow these three suggestions and you will have content your visitors care about, linking that allows them to easily find that content creating persuasive momentum, and simple choices clearly laid out so they don’t get lost in all the noise.
Good luck!
