My website is still yo-yoing around Google’s rankings for the search term ‘copywriter’. But that’s ok as I still haven’t worked out how to convert my business visitors into clients when they arrive.
Since my blog is now my homepage its obvious that an extensive redesign is needed. At present visitors looking for a service simply get disorientated when they don’t find a traditional landing page and leave.
When assessing how to redesign my blog an important issue to ponder is what is it that people are looking for when they land on your business website? What is the defining element that will persuade them to purchase your product or service? Can just your carefully crafted copy do the trick? Or are they looking for something more?
It would appear that Enquiro Search Solutions have the answer, with their latest research into what influences B2B buying decisions. The full white paper can be downloaded for free after registering on their site, but here’s a brief summary of some of its key points:
- When a purchaser becomes aware of an interesting product or service offline (e.g. at a trade fair) they naturally follow up with online research.
- Over half will begin their research via the search engines, with Google the dominant choice.
- 74% click on organic results, and 19% on sponsored links.
- The top four organic listings receive 53% of all click throughs.
- When arriving at a website they’re most interested in finding simple and clear product/service information in a downloadable format. This makes it easier for them to share their research with colleagues and present it to the ultimate decision maker.
- Support information is also highly desirable i.e. general company information, case studies, white papers and knowledge bases.
- The least desired content was the ‘bells and whistles’ such as podcasts, webinars and multimedia presentations.
- Half of the 1000 B2B buyers interviewed would follow up their visit by purchasing online.
Enquiro’s research follows on from a similar study they conducted in 2004, and reinforces their conclusion on the critical need to provide clear, useful information in a downloadable format which visitors can share with colleagues.
So, based on this research my blog doesn’t just need a redesign, but will also require some downloadable thought leadership articles to build credibility and persuade potential clients why they should employ my expertise.
My to do list has just got a lot longer.