It’s interesting to look at the process people go through when starting a new website …
Once they decide they need a site they begin to plan what content they’d like to have on the site.
The majority of the companies decide they need a page that talks about them so they add an “About Us” page to their site.
Secondly they would like to talk about their products or services so they add a “Products” or “Services” page to their site.
The most important part to the new website is giving it’s visitors the ability to contact them to do business or ask questions which is where the infamous “Contact Us” page comes from.
I could go on and on but I am guessing you’ve seen these types of pages on almost every website you’ve ever been to, so I won’t bore you. I am sure when you decided to get your first website online you had the intention of increasing your business and tapping into the “gold mine” the Internet makes available to us all.
Heck, this was my initial motivation as well and I’m sure this is no earth shattering revelation.
Well the problem with this process of developing a website is unfortunately absolutely wrong. No, I’m not saying you won’t make any sales or receive any phone calls by structuring your website this way. I am just saying you are limiting the potential revenue by doing it and you could do MUCH better.
The first issue I have with this tired old navigation structure is it doesn’t offer any value to your potential buyers and, if you don’t provide value for your buyers, they’ll leave and go to a competitor who does.
These buyers don’t care about you, your products, or your services. They only care about what’s in it for them!
If that’s the case why would you spend even two seconds creating a website that blathers on and on about your company, products, services and then provide them with a page so they can contact you?
Well, I should say why would you do that and expect any level of online success?
If you want a visitor to arrive at your website, consume the information, and ultimately make the decision to do business with your company instead of the competition, you need to prove you are worthy!
Let’s say you happen to be in the insurance industry.
We all know there are a million insurance agents out there ranging from property & casualty, life insurance, disability insurance, health insurance, and all the other forms of insurance available.
We also know you can’t swing a stick without hitting a half dozen or so agents in your local city, and if you go online you could spend a week non-stop online checking out every agent.
Although it may seem like standing out amongst your competition is a staggering, uphill battle … it’s not!
The best way for you to impress visitors to your website is to provide value to them before you ask them to spend any money with you insuring their prized possessions. You can provide this value by allowing them to download a free report, or maybe a discount card for their prescriptions that doesn’t cost them anything.
If you’d REALLY like to stand out in the crowd you could include a section on your website which educates your potential customers by including articles.
Every person looking for insurance or any product for that matter has the question in their head, “Why should I buy from you?” when they visit your website.
It is your job to answer that question. If I am going to be insuring the possessions or making sure I am covered if something happens to me physically, I want to work with someone who has knowledge of the products I am looking for so they can make intelligent recommendations based on my situation.
If I happen to read a couple articles on your website which relates to a situation similar to my own, and I can tell the person who wrote it knows their stuff …
They have proved themselves worthy of my business and the chances will dramatically decrease that I’ll find the need to visit their competitor’s website.
Whatever business you’re in, don’t just assume that because you have a website, and a prospect visits it, that you’ve done everything necessary to get their business. You need to use that website as a platform to prove your worth, and once you have, make it easy for them to do business with you.
Use your website to showcase your expertise and you’ll dramatically increase your chances for online success!
