10 Sticky Content Tips for Keeping Visitors Glued to Your Website

July 31, 2008 | 2 Comments

[Image courtesy MarkDM]

Brochure websites need to be consigned to a museum as relics of the internet’s evolutionary history. There I’ve said it. Websites, and the thinking behind them, has evolved a lot over the last few years. If you just want to recreate your company brochure into pixel form then, please, go ahead. But the longer you can keep prospects on your website the more time you’ve got to build a relationship.

People surf the web for information. Not sales messages. So your website needs to be interesting and ‘sticky’ if you want to engage your visitors’ interest and keep them glued to your pages.

Here are my ten tips for making your own part of the web so sticky that you’ll be politely asking visitors to leave so you can close for the day:

1. Simple navigation – Make sure it’s easy to explore and has a familiar navigation. Much like the layout of a shop, you want to ensure visitors know where they are and can swiftly find the section they want without getting lost. Having a search box is essential for those who’d prefer to go straight to the helpdesk for directions.

2. Educate - People search the web for information. Not advertising. So rather than scare them away with shallow sales spiel, you should be looking to answer the questions that led them to your site in the first place(based on 80% of your traffic coming from searches on Google). Provide content that sells through education and builds trust e.g. case studies, company news, insight on your industry and advice on how to use your product.

3. Tell a story – the internet can seem an unfriendly, robotic place, so give your website a personality by telling visitors your story. Who are the people pulling the levers behind the scenes, what’s your history and what are your dreams for the future? A cheerful ‘about us’ page is crucial for building trust, rather than a platform for boasting about how great you are.

4. Feed your visitors’ appetite for information – create a directory of articles or, better yet, a blog, which visitors can easily search for answers to their questions and learn more about your expertise at the same time. It will help boost your Google ranking too.

5. Compelling content – Is copy the same as content? I’ll let others debate that elsewhere. But for the purposes of making a website sticky then applying copywriting tactics is a good idea. Create content that’s compelling, drives visitors to further explore the site and contains a call to action, such as subscribe, contact or, best of all, buy.

6. Subscription options – Most visitors aren’t comfortable handing over their credit card details the first time they visit. So make it easy for them to subscribe to your blog or newsletter so you can develop the sales process over time. As the old adage goes – ‘People like to do business with those they like and trust’, and providing regularly updated content of value is a great way of building trust and confidence in your expertise.

7. Customer reviews – People switch off when they think they’re being sold to. But they do listen to each other. Customers reviews can provide social proof of the quality of your products/service as well as keep people engaged writing their own.

8. Interactivity – Surveys and polls can provide another tool for enabling people to interact with your site. Make them short but sweet, and ask questions that provide insight into how you can improve.

9. Usability testing – Even when you think your site is finished there’s endless tweaking that can be done. Ask friends, family or impoverished students to test your website for you. Can they find the answers to their questions and have you gained their trust when they visit? Watching how others interact with your site will provide invaluable info on what areas gleam and which need some extra polishing.

10. Measure, tweak and repeat – Use Google analytics to monitor how people are engaging with the site. Knowing which pages are most popular and which switch visitors off can help you fine tune your content and work out the path your prospects tend to take before becoming customers.

This post was inspired by a similar article I wrote for bda’s blog. It’s worth a read for reinforcing the value of content for engaging visitors and keeping them glued to your website.

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under Blog, Content marketing, Copywriting, Marketing 

Another blog that’s worth a visit for Copywriter’s Crucible fans

July 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Whether you call it business blogging, content marketing or engagement, giving away free content is a great way of building trust and credibility with info hungry web surfers. Google seems to like it too.

It has taken a while for awareness to spread (I’ve still got a drawer full of business blogging leaflets from a Milton Keynes exhibition two years ago), but this year I’m finding more people are getting clued up on the benefits of weekly articles for boosting their online profiles.

The latest place to find words written by me is the bda (Buckingham Design Associates) website. My current contributions are:

Print dead in ten years? Only if we run out of tree

Mobile Marketing: Do You Want to be a Temporary Intruder or a Trusted Friend?

Over the next few months I’ll be covering various topics on print, mobile and digital marketing. So if these areas are of interest then hopefully you might consider subscribing for an added weekly dose of marketing news and tips?

Otherwise fear not, because the Crucible is still high on my list of weekly duties for a variety of reasons:

  • Helps with my daily workout of 500 words a day
  • Gives me an outlet to write freely, and get as carried away with my metaphors as I want
  • Enables me to network, question views and get feedback from other writers and marketers (my post on whether Indian writers used a different structure and syntax to Western writers has a particularly active comments section)
  • Helps with my Google ranking (although I’m still stuck in the darkest depths of graveyard listings until I’m forgiven for changing my domain name)

So to all my loyal subscribers who listen to my weekly sermons on the evolving role of the internet copywriter, please be assured that I’ll be posting at The Copywriter’s Crucible for the foreseeable future.

As well as copywriting, marketing and self promotion tips, you’ll gradually be hearing more from me about the direct marketing world. So stay subscribed Crucible fans, because there’s plenty more to come. And hopefully I’ll see some of you over at the bda blog as well.

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under About, Blog, blogging 

An Underused, Full Proof Way to Sell More in Less Time that’s FREE

July 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment

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[photo courtesy of monamigreetings]

Even if you compose the most concise copywriting to ever grace a page, the most persuasive words aren’t always written by you. There’s an ingredient you can add to your copy that can help you sell more in less time. It’s an underused tactic. But one that can rapidly satisfy a prospect’s logical and emotional demands at the same time.

People are skeptical of being sold to, but they do listen to each other. So to persuade them to buy your product you need to provide them with  evidence of someone it has benefited. You need to provide the social proof that your product is as wonderful as you claim.

Along with case studies and customer reviews, testimonials are marketing gold for building trust, confidence and credibility. They provide evidence that your claims are valid, and that you’re not a fly-by-night salesman who’ll be gone by tomorrow.

Harness the influence of others

In recent articles I’ve highlighted the power of word of mouth marketing. People are discussing products and services on blogs and forums all over the web. After a prospect’s read your sales copy they’ll often search on your product or company name to run a background check on whether you’re to be trusted.

So why not harness the power of word of mouth in your sales pitch. Add testimonials to your landing page, brochure and sales letters to add concrete to the foundations of your claims.

Just remember – don’t try writing them yourself. People can tell if something is contrived or massaged. If the language doesn’t reflect how people speak or sound authentic then you risk losing people’s trust for good.

Asking for testimonials is good customer service

Testimonials are under utilised because most businesses don’t actively collect them. Whilst you can search through old emails for praise or ring recent buyers, you should put a procedure in place for requesting a testimonial from every customer.

You could treat it as after sales customer service.  Rather than just ask for praise, send a questionnaire requesting feedback on your service. What could be improved. What went well. And what comments would they like to share with others.

People like to help each other, particularly when it comes to sharing recommendations. So if you’re providing a high quality service you shouldn’t have any difficulty coaxing praise from people whose problems you’ve solved.

Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or an international enterprise, adding testimonials to the copywriting for your website, sales letters and brochures is a full proof way of selling more in less time.

And best of all, it’s pure marketing gold for free.

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under Blog, Copywriting, Marketing 

Why Customer Service is the New Marketing

July 8, 2008 | 1 Comment

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[image courtesy of ansik]

Whether it’s in customer reviews, blogs or forums, people are talking about products and influencing buying decisions. Blaring out sales messages merely antagonises skeptical prospects, who place their trust in the objective advice of their peers.

Research is showing that the ROI of traditional marketing methods is falling, whilst customer interaction is increasing. This would suggest that an adjustment to the bean counter is needed to how marketing dollars are spent.

Perhaps it’s time to stop thinking about just ‘joining the conversation’ in marketing to an online world, but also to be useful in how you communicate. People want insightful advice and information of value. They want constructive customer service, not sales messages.

Engagement offers a more profitable equation

A recent Financial Times article ‘Can Web 2.0 help to build your brand?’ discussed how the costs of marketing in the IT sector are continuing to rise, whilst revenue is continuing to fall. With half of marketing budgets being spent on traditional methods (advertising, sponsorship, public relations, events etc), it was suggested that engaging with Web 2.0 tools (blogs, forums etc) could provide the answer to a more profitable equation.

The FT gave examples of Dell and SAP, who’ve both benefited from engaging through customer service, rather than branding, to build a closer affinity with prospects. Dell have recorded a 26% decrease in negative comments after providing advice on replacing fire prone laptop batteries, whilst SAP have created a self healing community in which members do SAP’s job of providing customer service to each other.

SAP’s example shows how people are interacting over their shared passions, which is what companies should be doing if they want to be of value to prospects. People want to be educated and they want authenticity in how businesses communicate, not just a well publicised logo.

Be useful to earn loyalty

Whilst the web savvy IT sector are the first to experience this shift, consumers interacting over shared passions is only going to spread as more become comfortable navigating the web to find answers. Branding is now not just claiming product superiority, but about how you engage this passionate online audience.

Be useful and people will reward you with their loyalty (the subject of my eBook incidentally), which is what marketing should be trying to win.

In the FT article it was estimated that 36% of enterprise websites now use blogs, customer reviews or discussion boards, with another 27% expected to join. Do you want to be part of the 37% left behind?

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under Blog, Content marketing, Marketing 

Boost Your Sales with Customer Reviews

July 3, 2008 | 3 Comments

People might be ignoring overtly salesy marketing, but they still listen to each other. One of the most persuasive voices for selling your products can be your customers themselves. Whether you’re selling eBooks, renting skips or promoting your expertise, reviews and testimonials can enhance your credibility and build trust with hesitant buyers.

Reviews ‘social proof’ your products

Web savvy consumers now search for reviews as well as the products themselves. As Dean Rieck coined on Copyblogger, people look for the ‘social proof’ of a product or service. This is the wisdom of crowds in action where people search for feedback from previous happy customers before feeling confident enough to click ‘buy’.

If they don’t find the social proof on your site then a quick ‘Google’ on your product or company name will often do the trick. You can’t just bury your head in the sand if you’re selling a shoddy service.

Criticism can boost your credibility

So should you risk criticism appearing on your own website? In a recent E-consultancy article they suggested that a few negatives amongst the positives can actually enhance your credibility. People will think they’re getting objective advice, rather than being fed a corporate exercise in censorship.

Most reviews are believed to be complimentary anyway.

In a Bazaarvoice survey they found that 87% of reviews are positive. As Bazaarvoice CEO Brett Hurt commented, “This debunks a major myth about word of mouth and should encourage companies and chief marketing officers to be more comfortable with ‘letting go’ and inviting consumers to talk about their experiences.”

Inventing reviews is risky

Currently less than 30% of online retailers use customer reviews. So sharing feedback is an opportunity to differentiate yourself.

Just don’t try writing them yourself:

  • The backlash from customers who feel cheated could discredit you for life, or force you to change your company name to avoid reprisals in the future
  • Jo Public doesn’t worry about putting commas in the right place or writing in the active voice. However, he does write in an everyday, colloquial manner that gives his words a ring of authenticity. Trying to duplicate this can be tricky, no matter how talented a scribe you are
  • Better Business Blogging alerted me to new EU law banning ‘buzz marketing’ and the use of faked campaigns to get people talking about you. This means making up your own customer reviews will be illegal in Europe (although how strictly the law can/will be enforced is another matter)

So whilst your competitors fret about letting people write on their websites, let your customers talk about your products to boost trust, credibility and sales.

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under Blog, Marketing