These days every company has a website. They come in all different shapes and sizes, with varying degrees of success. They almost all have one thing in common however- a way to contact the business.
Obviously a company wants to use a website to increase their sales and so there must be a way for the customer to get to the company in order to place an order or request a service. This is a great idea for all of those that are ready to buy the product or service, but what about all of those that are not yet sure that they want to buy what you are selling?
An independent research company found that 96% of traffic that comes through the web consists of people in the research mode of the buying product, still learning about the features and benefits of all the different options and companies. This means that a 'Contact Us' or 'Buy Now' section of a company's website only applies to, at most, 4% of your potential customers. The key to getting the other 96% 'unstuck' from where they are in the sales funnel is to educate them on what your market and give them something of value that they can take away from their experience on your site. You then begin to satisfy their desire to make a well educated decision and empower them to move to the buying phase.
The bonus of your website being their source of information is that they come to see you as knowledgeable and trustworthy, plus they are already familiar with your website. This will increase your sales as your company's website moves from standstill traffic to a six lane super highway.
I have always been a firm believer in the success an informative and "selling" as opposed to "sales" oriented website can bring. A selling oriented website as I have put it here, describes websites just like the ones you promote here; websites that don't assume that everyone visiting their website is already sold on the product and is only looking for a "buy here" button. In my opinion an outstanding company website can be one of the most beneficial aspects of the business. The internet can be accessed by anyone at any time. In turn, if your products are being ACTIVELY sold here, they too are accessible at any moment. This exponentially widens your scope of potential customers.
ReplyDeleteVery good blog. The question i am wondering is how do you optimize your website with informative content while also not overloading your landing page. I think this is always the give and take that must be examined when creating a companies webpage. Great perspective on the balance of both and how truly important that is.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting statistics. I never would have thought the vast majority of buyers who visit a company website were conducting research. This does present a problem for companies in presenting informative and promotional content. Like Nick said, how can they achieve that perfect balance?
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