Web Site Success Essentials
According to
Jakob Nielsen, THE authority figure in web site
usability studies, the most essential element to
your web site's success might surprise you.
- It is not the design of your web site
- It's not the domain name you use for your web
site
- It's not the colors or the images (or lack
thereof) on your web site
- It's not even the ease of navigation of your
web site..
The NUMBER ONE ESSENTIAL ELEMENT to your web
site's success is (drum roll please)
Emphasize what your site
offers that's of value to users and how your
services differ from those of key competitors
According to
Nielsen, only 27% of sites studied complied with
this, the most ESSENTIAL ELEMENT TO WEB SITE
SUCCESS.
According to Neilsen,
"This is one of the most important
issues in homepage design, so it's particularly
sad that it's the least followed of all the
guidelines. Websites are incredibly bad at
explicitly stating what they offer users. Instead,
they hide their offerings in generic marketese
that makes very little impression on prospective
customers."
Remember: when users have needs,
they typically query search engines and allocate
only a few seconds to scan each of the sites that
the search engine drags up.
In my book,
Beyond Niche Marketing, I spend over
100 pages guiding readers through the process of
exactly how to "dig inside their customer's minds"
and create marketing messages that deliver results.
That includes web site content.
Because the first step to creating
content that REFLECTS what visitors are seeking is
to KNOW exactly what it is they are searching for on
the great Google. If you don't know WHAT SOLUTIONS
your customers are seeking, then how can you create
content targeted to those needs?
It's not JUST when customers are
scanning the search engine results that you only
have a matter of seconds to make an impression. That
is true of every advertising media at your disposal.
Your web site probably the most SENSITIVE tool in
your marketing tool box when it comes to content.
In no other media can you look at reports and watch
people leave a page IN DROVES because they didn't
find the answers they were seeking.
If your web page content isn't
performing, chances are your other marketing
materials aren't delivering results either.
Start thinking of your web site as a
"copy testing tool" and begin tweaking and testing
your content. Run a log file analysis with a
tool such as
Click Tracks.... so you can actually
WATCH visitor's as they move through your site.
If you don't know why visitors are
coming to your web site, then pick up a copy of my
book
here. I'll walk you
through the process step by step.
When you know what your customers
are seeking, then creating content that is
compelling becomes literally child's play.
|
