Selling with your Web Site

December 05, 2007
Found in: Articles : Editorial : Web Site Marketing & Strategy :

Hopefully you've learned by now. Your website is not a brochure. It's a dynamic, interactive resource to give your clients a better experience and bring in more sales for your business.

In fact, you should think of your web site as a sales professional who promotes you 24/7 for virtually no pay. Wouldn't you want an employee like this to have the best tools you could possibly give them? It's so easy and inexpensive to make this happen, that it's simply poor business not to do so.

If you've put any time or money into attracting traffic to your site, you need to do more than provide text and a few photos. Here are some Site Seller points that will make your website work hard for you, even while you're sleeping.

Site Seller #1: Give your prospects more

Users come to your web site looking for something. Usually it's entertainment or information. As long as you deliver, you'll get a chance to make the sale. But three seconds is all you've got. That's the average time it takes a user to decide whether they'll pay attention to your web page or move on to something else.

Make every web page useful or fun, and visitors will stay on your site longer. This is the open door, and if your site keeps users engaged, some of them will eventually become clients.

Site Seller #2: Use an Offer

Once you've got the user's interest and attention, you need to persuade them to take action. This means you have to decide what action you want them to take. If you're selling a low-priced item, especially with an e-commerce model, then the obvious step is to ask for the order.

For many businesses, though, you need to open up the relationship first. The best way to do this is with an offer. Give them something they can download such as a white paper, screen saver, video or mp3. Ask for their name and email in exchange, along with permission to send them a newsletter.

Once they've done this, you can have an autoresponder send out a series of emails telling them more about your business and gradually nudging them to make an order, call you, or take some other definite action that will help you close with them.

The key to this process is to figure out exactly what you want a user to do, and write copy that will persuade them to do it.

Site Seller #3: Use your FAQs as "objection killers"

Many web sites have a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section. If there's a common problem or issue that customers have, you may want to address it here, although you'd probably be better off just fixing the problem.

If a prospect goes to your FAQ page, they're clearly interested in doing business with you. But they probably still have some hesitations or concerns. The FAQs need to address those concerns.

This is where you respond to the common "objections" raised by prospects during a sales call. Get your top sales people to help you identify what these are. Instead of wasting time on company history or obscure procedures, answer FAQs such as "What kind of guarantee can you give me?" or "What if my ________ doesn't arrive on time?"

If an interested prospect is at your FAQ page because of doubts and hesitation, your job is to predict the reasons for those doubts, and deal with them proactively.

Site Seller #4: Use professional copy

Your copy can make the difference between success and failure. When a visitor first arrives on your site, the headlines they read at the top of the web page will convince them to stay or leave. The way you describe and present your offer can persuade a user to buy, drive them away, or simply bore them.

Savvy copywriters can work magic on your FAQ page. You can't afford to neglect your copy.

Site Seller #5: Be an authority site

As long as you're providing content and copy and good information, it only takes a little bit more effort to become an "authority site." This means that users regularly come to your web site for news and ideas. Search engines love this kind of site. You'll attract more organic traffic, and automatically gain credibility and prestige.

One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is by starting a blog, and actively engaging your readers. Leave space for comments, and be sure to respond to them. You can also enhance your site with videos, news, and podcasts.

If you've bought a computer within the last 3 years, you probably already have all the equipment you need to do most of these things yourself. Don't skimp on improving your virtual salesman. Almost anything you add to your site encourages further traffic and future sales.