Ok, so you have created a website for your company, with a sleek interface, responsive design, interactive features, and superb visuals. You have invested time and money on SEO, and focused SEM and other web advertising. You start to see an uptick in visitors, but, for some reason, they don’t seem to navigate beyond the page on which they land.
In a world where physical interaction is at a minimum, a website is the first interface customers will have with your business, so when they don’t find what they are looking for, they will leave without much thought. Think of the many times you have walked into a store in the mall because you heard so much about it elsewhere, but then walked out disappointed without even looking at the other goods on offer. This is precisely what happens with website visitors.
Many small and large businesses are losing a lot of potential business, only because they are unconsciously publishing content and messaging that their visitors don’t need or care for!
Understand that nudging visitors to other areas in your website, and/or take a particular action or complete a ‘goal’, is not easy. However, with the right strategy and a logical content strategy and execution process, it can be done.
Here are 5 tips to help you create engaging and result-oriented content.
This is the most important and often repeated tip in any communication or content strategy – Know your audience!
Before you start, it is important to understand your audience, their behaviors, and their needs. For a website, creating buyer personas helps your content team create a near-realistic (mental) visual of who they are communicating with.
Some key characteristics of a buyer persona, include – basic demographic information, preferred platforms, job titles/roles, and challenges faced. The sharper you can be about these personas, the easier it will be to develop messaging that aligns with the individual personas who would need your product or service.
If you take the most important goal of your content as to be helpful, then you are very likely to not only be found in times of need but also will be referred to by others as a useful source. This in turn will build trust and more likely conversions.
The problem(s) you are solving for your users is closely linked to your Value Proposition. Put yourself in the proverbial shoes of your buyer personas, and think about the problem(s) from their perspective, and how your content can help solve it for them.
Now create headlines and that clearly articulate how your product/solution makes your buyer’s life better/easier. This needs to be tangible and real, without too much jargon and buzzwords that don’t really mean anything to your buyer.
Your buyer personas help you create content that is specific to their needs. But, how do you decide which persona to target? Well, the answer is ALL!
While one may take precedence over the other, you must understand that each of them is in a different stage in their buyer’s journey. So, your content needs to fit their need, in order to be effective.
By providing the right hook for the right visitor, you are in effect making it easier to capture leads and generate interest in your product/service. You can consider using automation tools like Hubspot, Marketo, Salesforce Pardot, Eloqua, and a host of others to dynamically show the right content to a buyer on their journey.
My first boss taught me the ABC or the Always Be Closing of sales. If we don’t ask the buyer directly to make a purchase, then we are losing out. If you ask directly, then there is at least a 50 percent probability of a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
On websites, there are plenty of instances when we assume that we have said enough to persuade the buyer to take the next step. Remember, if you don’t have a clear ‘Call to Action’, very often they will leave without taking an action. This action can be to:
In the example of the shop in the mall, you might also think of the times you entered a shop and left because of the interaction you had with the sales rep.
Remember, visitors to your website are humans with emotions, and all the idiosyncrasies of being human. They will respond to your content if it speaks with them as a human.
Use content and stories that are honest and relatable. By focusing on the truth about your product/service, you will build trust, turn away buyers who may not be the right fit, and build a strong connection with the right buyers.
The tone, style, and visual language of your content need to closely align with your brand communication. It takes a bit of expertise to get this right, but with practice, you will get it right. Here are a set of 10 great tips on how to write great web content.
Ultimately, great content and structured messaging can help align the business objective your website is expected to deliver with what your target audience needs. Content that they find at the right time, and leading them toward a profitable action: buying a product, providing their email address, downloading content, or perhaps, other goals.
Still, confused? Get in touch with us for a free consultation on how you can improve your website content.
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