7 Questions Your Home Page Visitor Wants Answered
Snapshot
What exactly is your service or product and why should I be interested? You have 3 seconds to answer this question. Otherwise, click: lost sales opportunity. Most home pages do a poor job of answering this question. That's why most businesses view their web sites as a cost instead of an investment in the most cost-efficient, productive salesperson they could ever hope to find.
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1. What exactly is your service or product and why should I be interested? You have 3 seconds to answer this question. Otherwise, click: lost sales opportunity. Most home pages do a poor job of answering this question. That's why most businesses view their web sites as a cost instead of an investment in the most cost-efficient, productive salesperson they could ever hope to find. And make no mistake: it's the "why should I be interested?' part of the question you want to focus on.
2. Will it work for me? The information on your home page site must instantly send a compelling message to the prospect that says, "If you have a need for what our product or service does, we GUARANTEE it will work. I'm not saying you must offer a guarantee but you must answer this question in such a way that you would have no hesitation in backing it up with a strong guarantee. Remember, you have the upper hand here. The prospect is looking for something. That's why they came to your site. It's your job to convince them you have the best solution.
3. What kind of results can I expect? If you have won the "attention battle" eg gotten their attention in a compelling way, this is yours to lose. The fact that the prospect has been willing to come this far means he or she is looking for reasons to buy. Make sure your answer takes the following into consideration: We think in pictures. That is, we "see" how a service or product can improve our lives. Your job, as a marketer, is to paint a picture that will allow the prospect to "see" how your product or service will improve their lives. If we've done an effective job of hooking the prospect emotionally, this is where we need to start offering a logical reason to make a buying decision. As you know, people buy for emotional reasons (make me look better, feel better etc) first and then back up their emotional decision with logic eg. (these guys have an impressive customer list, the organization has been in business for 11 years etc).
4. Who else has used this service and what were their results? This is where we need to offer compelling and irrefutable evidence that we can deliver. That means presenting compelling and meaningful testimonials that leave no doubt in the prospect's mind that they are in good hands. There's an article on my web site that will give you some guidelines on how to create winning testimonials that convert prospects into customers.
5. How exactly do your services work? What's the process and structure? This is an important part of the process. It demystifies your offering by helping the prospect establish some expectations. It increases the prospects comfort level. Especially if they have to answer to someone else who wants to know what to expect. If you don't do this, some prospects will check out. They want to know what the steps of the process are.
6. Are you credible? Do you have the experience to help me? The prospect must be convinced you are the real deal. This is no time to be shy. Get your track record in front of their eyes. Make sure to highlight an industry awards you've received. A client list and numbers of years in business are other facts that can be used to convince the prospect.
7. What do I have to do next to get and use your services? Probably the second biggest mistake (and just as fatal) many web marketers make. They don't identify the next step in the buying process for the prospect and invite him or her to take it. Huge mistake. Prospects are lazy. Guess what they do when we omit this step? Right. They just drift away after all the hard work we did to keep them in front of our message. Missed opportunity. Happens all the time.
Once you're certain your home page provides answers to the questions above, by all means, start exploring some of the new online marketing strategies that are coming on stream.
You can be confident that you are building on a solid foundation.
© Relax Communications 2007
About The Author: Gerry Black is an independent copywriter and marketing consultant specializing in helping solo professionals and small businesses develop and implement simple, proven website marketing strategies that attract clients.
ttp://www.gerryblackcopywriter.com for your FREE REPORT, "The #1 Website Mistake That Could be Costing You Clients PH: 905-716- 7130
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