These are the 3 golden rules for running a successful website! Rule no. 1: Content is king…
The slogan “Content is King” is old, but still completely up to date. Many online retailers have great products or offer unique services, but they do not manage to convince the visitors of their websites.
This article is brought to you by BehaviourExchange, a digital platform that will save Internet users from irrelevant junk.
Many companies, including major well-known ones that have been on the market for a long time, are not getting the distinction between classic marketing, such as TV advertising, and online marketing, and prefer to overspread their website with outdated marketing blah – instead of focusing on what visitors actually want. And that is good content.
Therefore, we would like to present 3 key rules for a good website.
1. ADVERTISING SHOULDN’T FEEL (OR LOOK) LIKE ADVERTISING
Of course, your website is supposed to sell and for that, you have to advertise your products. BUT the advertisement should not look like advertising.
We face thousands of ads every day. However, our brain is trained to work as efficiently as possible and to distinguish important from the unimportant information before we consciously perceive it. Try to remember at the end of a day all the advertising messages you have stumbled upon. You probably will not even be able to remember 10. The last thing a user would like to find on a website when he is looking for information relevant to him is advertising. A well-known consequence of this is the so-called banner (ad) blindness effect.
Because of that, flat advertising language should be avoided as much as possible. Instead, try to get people’s attention to your product. Just try and let the advantages or the special features of your product make the persuading work. According to a study by John Morkes and Jakob Nielsen, users reject everything that sounds like marketing or overblown customer talk, and instead, they prefer factual information.
Web content should, therefore, be produced as editorial text, testimonial, advice or even as a study for the users. It should address the needs of users. Particularly in the case of editorial texts, it is possible to win the favor of users by highlighting important buzzwords, even if they only “scan” or “skim over” the text. These buzzwords help to communicate specific facts succinctly and convincingly.
2. A WEBSITE SHOULD BE RELEVANT FOR THE VISITOR
Many website owners invest a lot of money and time to get traffic to their site, but then what? Traffic alone makes no money.
To get the desired effect, the visitor’s search query must be answered. This means that the user should immediately recognize what he is looking for, find a solution to his problem or a need should be aroused.
With the vast amount of information on the internet, a website has only a few milliseconds to convince. At this very moment, the user decides whether the content is relevant to him or not. Many factors play a role, such as the headline. It is usually the first anchor where the users orientate themselves and get a sense of whether the found content corresponds to what they are looking for. It must arouse the interest of the user and he is literally drawn into the page. Curiosity, a sense of urgency and above all emotions are the right tools here.
3. CONNECT WITH THE VISITOR
Even if you’ve done everything right in the first two steps, users may not want or do not feel they need your product or service right now. Only a few users buy during the first visit. In this situation, the fish jumps off the hook and you probably will not find it again in the big sea.
Experience shows that most of the users do not buy immediately. Especially in consumer electronics, most users research thoroughly before buying. That is why it is important to at least get in touch with as many potential customers as possible.
Asking a user for his email address might be old-school, but it is a simple and harmless way to build a relationship with him. Trust plays a big role here. In order for the user to give you his e-mail address, you should communicate the benefits to him and assure him that his data is in good hands with you.