Have you wondered why some business websites are more effective than others and somehow seem to be closing more sales, generating more leads and enjoying more enquiries? While it is true that it could stem from driving more traffic from good SEO, social media marketing or just naturally having a bigger user base…90% of the time it is the sales message, the content of the website and how they structure it.
When it comes to online marketing and websites, most businesses focus on the visuals and the design of their web presence to give their audience a memorable and intuitive user experience. While that is definitely important, learning to structure your sales message is just as critical. Tweaking a sales message and making sure it connects with both your customers and your brand ethos could double or even triple your conversions, giving you more qualified leads, closing a higher number of sales without spending a dollar in advertising!
In this article, we will go through the top 3 most visited areas of your website that influence your customer’s buying decisions and how to properly structure them for maximum effect.
1. Your Home Page
The 2 biggest reasons why people bounce away from your home page are because your reader doesn’t immediately understand your value proposition and they simply don’t trust your business enough.
So how do we structure the content for your home page that is both clear and inspires trust at the same time?
Ensure Your Headline In Your Hero Section Is Clear & To The Point
You have less than 5 seconds to capture their attention with a headline that is both unambiguous and lets them know instantly what they can get. While many businesses try to get fancy and write a headline that is complex and filled with jargon, that isn’t really how it should be presented.
Your prospects are in a scanning mode when it comes to their online experience and unless your hero section is simple and clear, you might lose their attention.
Include Customer Testimonials
It’s 2018 and most of your readers have probably seen hundreds, if not thousands, of websites online and have developed a need to see proof of what you can claim your product or service can do.
The strongest social proof available to incorporate into your website are customer testimonials.
But not just any testimonial that sounds positive, but one that follows the structure below:
- The challenges facing your customer before discovering your solution
- The tangible and specific benefits that have been enjoyed as a result of using it.
“Neil and the team created an AMAZING website for Inventium. We have received so much positive feedback since launch. I highly recommend Start Digital – they are awesome!”
2. Your About Us Page
The about us page would normally be the second most popular page your prospects will visit and should not be neglected or populated with just generic information.
An effective about us page helps to:
- Introduce your company to your audience and begin to further the credibility of your business
- Build a deeper emotional connection with your visitors through your brand story
- Showcase the people and team that makes your business possible
However you decide to structure your about us page, there are 2 critical elements that should not be overlooked.
A) Tell Your Story To Humanise Your Company
Every business has a beginning and a rich story to tell (you created this business not just to make money right?)
While most companies take a bland approach and merely describe their process and products, smart businesses leverage their beginnings and take their readers through an inspiring story of how their businesses came to be.
From the various milestones your business accomplished over the years to the journey that led up to you launching it from zero, every step is an opportunity to connect with your reader.
B) Feature Yourself & Your Team
From short write-ups and pictures of key members of your team to photographs of memorable company outings, this is the time to let loose and showcase the personalities of the team that runs your business operations making everything possible.
3. Your Products Page
Whether you are selling a physical product, a walk-in service or a virtual experience, your product descriptions have to be compelling enough for your reader to take action. A time-tested proven way to do this is to lead to the benefits first than justify using features.
Most websites have poor product descriptions that merely just state what their solution does or provides without going deeper into the real reason that motivates their prospects. People make purchase decisions with their emotions and justify them logically afterwards. They want to know what is in it for them and how their lives will change after using your solution.
Take Trello’s product description for example. They lead with a benefit that they know their customer seeks: getting more work done together, before justifying with the features that make the benefit possible: boards, lists, and cards.
Conclusion
While visuals and conversion-based design are important for your user experience journey, it is the content on your website that wins the day and turns your visitors into paying customers.
By structuring your content in a way that helps your readers connect with your business on an emotional level, showcasing your product benefits in a digestible fashion and building trust through testimonials, you can maximise your conversions and turn clicks into leads.
Want to discover more about content and how it goes hand in hand with design?
Drop us a line and we will be glad to take you deeper into the content rabbit hole!