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I Have a
Website. Why Am I Not Getting Business?
As a professional web
designer and internet marketer, I hear this question a lot
from new clients that consider having their website
redesigned. The answers are pretty simple.
The first thing we have to
consider is how your website looks. Many of my new
clients have websites that have had the same look for years.
An up-to-date looking website often means you look more
credible to potential customers and clients. It also
helps to have your website organized so that it's easy to find
your contact information, or pages that are important to
visitors. As most people know, grocery stores are
organized well. Your website shouldn't be any different.
The biggest reason why
websites don't get many business leads or sales tends to be
related to copy, though. So what is copy, anyway?
Copy is the Text that
Persuades People to Give You Their Money
Getting your website to
rank well on search engines like Google is really only one
part of getting more business. The other part is
encouraging people to actually pay for your product or
service. The million dollar question, then, is how we
can do that.
The answer is to have good
copy on your website. When someone visits your website,
they're more than likely already interested in your product or
service. But they also have fears and doubts about doing
business with the business that owns the website. So one
of your goals should be to use good copy that takes away as
much of that fear as possible. That's what makes an
interested visitor become a paying customer.
Take a look at any page of
your site (not just the homepage). Now pretend that
you're visiting that page for the first time, and ask yourself
the following questions:
What does this business
offer?
Who needs what they offer?
Do I need what they're
offering?
Who exactly is the
business?
Why should I trust them?
How do I know their product
works?
Do they offer any sort of
guarantee?
What do I do next if I
decide to become a customer?
Does the text on every page
of your site answer most of those questions? If they do,
then you are well on your way to removing any doubts and fears
that they have. The more doubt that the text on any page
of your site takes away, the more likely they are to pay you.
Try to point out who your
product or service is for, who actually needs it, and why
people should pay your business and not a competitor.
How are you different from your competitors? Don't
assume that visitors to your website know this, tell them!
Every page should also make it clear what their next step is.
That might include calling you, emailing you, or making a
purchase. Don't assume visitors know what the next step
is, tell them!
Tell Your Website
Visitors WHY They Need Your Product or Service
When someone visits your
website, in the end they have one thing in mind. "What's
in it for me if I give these people my money?" So give
them the benefits of what you're selling. But what's the
best way to do that?
Think of a feature of a
product or service that you offer. Let's say that you
own a business that builds beautiful wooden decks in people's
back yards. The features are that it's durable, it's
spacious, and it looks nice. But people already know
that. So tell them the benefits of getting a deck.
Tell them what they stand to gain if they hire you to build
one.
A deck from your company is
durable. That means it will last for years, saving them
money from having to get it repaired. Saving money is a
great benefit, right? A deck means being able to have
family and friends over for cookouts and get-togethers.
That means spending time with the people we care about, having
fun with others, maybe even getting a bit more popular with
the neighbors who enjoy hanging out there.
See where I'm going with
this? We're appealing to people's emotions with all of
these benefits. And emotions are the reasons why we buy
certain things. We buy certain products or services
because they can save us money, make us feel better, make us
look better, bring us love, become trendsetters, get peace of
mind, avoid bad situations.
Premium tire companies sell
peace of mind, because your family is safer when you're
driving on them. Body wash commercials tell men that
you'll be more attractive to women if you use their product.
Cereal brands show people how good they will look and feel
after they lose weight from using their breakfast as part of a
healthy diet. Arby's doesn't tell us that they sell
roast beef, they tell us that they sell "Good Mood Food."
Just watch commercials on TV, and you'll start to notice how
major companies use our emotions to persuade us (become
popular, meet people, protect our loved ones, feel better).
Take a look at the copy
(text) on different pages of your website. Are you
telling visitors to your website what they will gain if they
pay for your product or service? If not, sit down and
think of exactly what you sell, and what your site visitors
stand to gain if they pay you for that product or service.
Still Have
Questions About Getting More From Your Website?
Give Delta Creations a call.
Since 2001, we have developed over 300 websites, and have
helped market those sites using proven copy writing
techniques. We design websites for clients worldwide.
Pick up your phone, and call 866-928-1300
or email us if you have
questions about how the web design process works.
Talking to us won't cost you a dime, and you don't have to
become a paid client if you don't want to, so give us a ring.
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