The Seven Deadly Sins of Company Websites
Seth Rosenblatt, Vice President of Marketing at Interwoven, warns website owners against the seven "deadly sins" - gluttony, envy, fornication, pride, greed, laziness and anger. They lead to the fact that visitors will not come to your resource and buy your products, and they will not want to deal with your company at all. Below are excerpts from Rosenblatt's sermon, prepared by him for iMedia Connection.
Gluttony
By "gluttony," Rosenblat means excessive abuse of something on the site that will eventually alienate consumers. For example, it may be an overabundance of content, messy design, too many "left" links and similar things. "Every page of your website should be created with a specific purpose," Rosenblat emphasizes. - "If you can't clearly formulate this goal, then you don't need this particular page."
Crowded sites usually repel consumers, they will not read important information on such a site, click on important links, subscribe to newsletters or buy goods. "In many cases, the less information on the site, the better," Rosenblat is sure. Post the main thing on the site, and then give out additional content only to those users who will need it. By reducing the number of required forms and simply "cutting" the site, you can increase the conversion rate, the expert is sure.
Envy
Envy is what you want to have on the site in order to keep up with others. In business, this often leads to the fact that the creators of the site begin to imitate other companies, including their closest competitors. And even taking into account the fact that there are probably sites that you really like, you should first of all proceed from what is best for you. And avoid directly copying or using the same design as competitors, or using each new widget that other companies use.
New ideas are good, but there are always a few important things to keep in mind:
- who are your visitors?
- what are they looking for on your site?
- what content and what technologies will help them come to you?
Not all companies need to be the most advanced. We have observed how companies that have implemented Web 2.0 technologies on their websites even have their conversion rates dropped. Remember: what works with other companies, including your competitors, may not work on your site," Rosenblat writes.
Fornication or excessive desire to attract attention to yourself
It is difficult to imagine a website that will promote sexuality (of course, if it does not belong to a company working in the sex industry). However, websites of various companies often try to be "sexy" - flash, trying their best to attract the attention of consumers. Of course, when used correctly, rich internet applications (RIA) can be extremely informative and fascinating for your customers. However, today flash and video are often "overdosed", which does not benefit companies. After all, such applications can distract the client from the true purpose with which he came to your site. A typical example of such an "extra" application is the car dealer's website, which inserts a video clip into the "middle" of the path along which the buyer goes to buy a car. Remember that the principle of "less is better, yes it is better" also works here: often simple presentations lead to the highest conversion rates," the expert emphasizes.
Pride
In theology, pride or excessive self-love is often considered the most terrible of the seven deadly sins. The same thing happens in marketing: first of all, the company needs not to exalt itself, but to think about its consumers and talk to them, standing up to their point of view. Nevertheless, despite the popularity of this axiom, many companies on their website prefer to talk primarily about their own business, and not about the needs of their customers.
"Successful sites primarily speak from the point of view of the visitor," Rosenblat insists. So if the text about your company on the website begins with the words "We try to be the best in ...", you have already lost.
"Don't get involved in narcissism and don't think that your consumers know what you know," the expert also reminds. - "You have no idea how many people can't find important information on the site, while developers believe that they "put" it in an obvious place for everyone".
The words "pride" sometimes need to be understood quite literally. For example, many companies post photos of the management on their websites. And often this act is completely useless - except in cases when the director of the company is really famous, and association with him increases consumer confidence in the business. "However, in most cases with our clients, every time we removed a photo of the director of the company from the site, the conversion rate increased dramatically," Rosenblat recalls.
Laziness
Laziness in the application to site building can be expressed in both technical and practical aspects. For example, a company is lazy if it is not in a hurry to respond to customer requests. As for the technical side of the issue, developers should honestly admit to themselves: is the site loading for too long, are applications "slowing down" on it too much, and so on.
However, the biggest danger of laziness for business is that you treat all your customers the same. Meanwhile, today there are excellent technological opportunities for targeting and showing different groups of consumers adequate content for them," Rosenblat recalls. To do this, you can use parameters such as from where users go to your site, how old they are, where they live, what time and day of the week they visit, and so on. "Your company will spend quite a bit of effort and time to make your customers comfortable and interesting on your website. Improve targeting - and it will seriously improve your online business," he advises.
Anger
Obviously, the company should not be angry at its customers in any way. However, various firms try to treat customers down or scare them. This is particularly expressed in the fact that the company is too actively imposing its goods or services. "Never look down on your client," Rosenblatt reminds. The consumer immediately loses respect for such a company, after which he goes directly to its competitors.
It should also be remembered that the use of "negative" vocabulary can also frighten customers, for example, if a company writes that it will not send spam. Negative connotations reduce the conversion rate: the client may start worrying about what other problems await him, and as a result will think twice before buying something from you. At the same time, "positive vocabulary", such as "satisfaction guaranteed" ("You will like it!"), on the contrary, works to increase the conversion rate.
Greed
The greed of companies in relation to their websites is primarily expressed in the fact that they demand too much information from their customers. For example, many companies ask you to leave a fax number. Is this information really necessary for them? If you shorten the list of data that the client must provide, the conversion rate almost always goes up - this is what happened with Delta Air Lines. Always ask yourself, are you asking too much of a client before you start working with him? For example, does he really need to register before getting access to some content? - reminds the expert.
Another way to demonstrate greed is the abuse of search engine optimization (SEO). Although proper SEO is the cornerstone of your online presence, sometimes companies overload their website with content that works for these purposes. What works well for search engines like Google often scares away visitors to your site," concludes the vice president of Interwoven.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru29.10.2008