What an Effective Web
Site Says
Author:Corey
Rudl
--
We see so many web sites that are simply an online version of
a printed brochure. That's fine and dandy if people are calling you up and
asking for your sales brochure. You don't want them to have to wait a week to
get it, so by giving them your website address and they can get the information
immediately. The problem is that an online brochure is not going to attract
any new business.
Designing your site to be just a sales brochure is a real
waste. Unfortunately the internet is becoming littered with these types of
useless sites.
Generally speaking, when it comes to writing copy for your
website there's one thing and one thing only that you have to tell your visitor:
"What's in it for me?". Every time your visitor comes to your website,
they are asking one question... "What's in it for me?" You have to
make sure you answer that question immediately… even when they are just
scanning the page.
This may be in the first line or the first few paragraphs…
but you have to bring it out in bold, bring it out in headlines. You need to
answer that question… "What's in it for me?" And you have to
answer this on every page of your site.
If you go to any one of my sites, they are very clear and very
easy to understand. Once you click on a page, all you have to do is scan the
first couple of sentences to get a feeling of "What's in it for me?"
All of our headlines are written specifically for that purpose. The benefit is
in the headlines, the sub-headlines, or in the first couple of lines on the page…
we explain exactly what they will get if they read the page.
It's critically important that you know your audience and who
you are trying to attract. You need to understand their relationship with the
product, what their needs and desires are and how you can get them to
"want" your product. You have to understand what kind of people your
clientele are, who they are, what they do, what kind of mind set they have, what
kind of education they have, how old they are and exactly what their hot buttons
are. You need to know what they want to hear and what they want to learn about.
This will make a huge difference in how you sell your product.
When I say "sell your product" I have to tell
you that people don't want to be sold online. Don't try to "SELL" them
something, "HELP" them and then let them sell themselves. Build
credibility, build rapport with them, and give them heaps of information in the
process!
You can build rapport in a multitude of ways… by telling
them a story, by giving them qualifications about you, showing them great
informative information, etc. After you have done this, they will make up their
own mind and buy from you. This is a critical thing to online selling.
People want to make their own decisions, they don't want to be sold. So educate
them with good information and let them make their own buying decisions.
In other words, if you "help" them, you will
"sell" them… and they will then buy from you.
I'm going to back up a bit and talk a little more about the
importance of understanding your prospects. If you have your website all set up
and you are aiming it at technical people, you will need to include all sorts of
technical things. You'll use techie talk and have pages full of all sorts of
stats, numbers and specs. Technical "geek speak"! However if the
techies and computer people aren't the ones who are buying your product, you are
giving them the wrong information and are attacking the wrong market.
If your buyers are ordinary folk, you will need to explain
your product in layman's terms, simple easy to understand language. You will
need to show the benefits using glamour words. If you are talking to moms, you
will want to be soft and considerate. If you are talking to business people, you
want to be clean, to the point and professional. You will need a different
attitude for each and every type of client you are talking to. That's
why you have to know your audience before you build your website.
When you build your website, my main belief is… "talk
to me like I'm a twelve year old". I write my webpages so that a twelve
year old can understand them. When I consult with clients over the phone, I tell
them to go over their website and make sure a twelve year old can find their way
through it and understand every single detail in the website.
Don't use big words unless you absolutely have to… make it
simple to navigate.
Don't assume anything.
Make it simple, simple, simple and really simple.
Don't get caught up in all the hype, fancy graphics, and cool,
flashy things. Just keep it simple and make people feel comfortable at your
site.
When you are writing copy, you don't want your visitors to
be thinking about what you are trying to say, you want them to be absorbing and
understanding the concepts as they are reading it.
What it comes down to is… it must be simple.
Use bullets. I like using bullets
everywhere. By using bullets you get people excited. It makes things very
straight-forward, and actually makes everything very clear and concise. You can
list off exactly what benefits they are going to get. And at the risk of
repeating myself bullets should be totally about benefits, not features. We talk
about this in the Insiders Secrets course, a lot. Benefits, benefits,
benefits… not features, features, features.
I'm also a big believer in creating rapport by telling a
story. In the Internet Marketing letter, I talk about how I'm really
upset because there are all these get-rich-quick artists who take advantage of
people by selling them marketing advice when the only money they've ever made
online online is that made by selling their marketing advice. That's my story. I
also have a story in the Car Secrets letter where I build rapport by telling
them about my experience with cars and why I wrote the book.
These stories build rapport by showing them what I'm upset
about, by showing them what I do in my life. I let them know who I really am… so
they feel like they are doing business with a real person, with a real name,
with a real life and a real personality.
As I develop rapport, I in turn build credibility by telling
them the successes or benefits they can get out of whatever product we are
selling. I also mention the features of what we are selling so that I can tell
them about the benefits of those features…and why I believe in them. You can
also develop credibility by giving some background on why you are so
knowledgeable on subject you are talking about.
You can use some humor and jokes, but you have to be very
careful with this. What you might think is funny, may be quite different from
how other people view "funny". You should be very careful with
using humor. You are better off simply telling a story. If you use humor, there
is a good chance you will offend someone, even if by accident… or
people won't understand your humor and will have no idea what you are talking
about. Losing customers this way isn't funny in the
least.
I also believe in giving my visitors as much information as I
can. You give information in order to educate the consumer. By doing this you
build credibility and become a resource for them. You will come across as
someone who is knowledgeable, credible, and an expert in your field… by doing
this your visitors are going to believe you and… buy from you.
