Level 1: Marketing/Prospecting
Prospecting is the result of your marketing. It's the delivery of targeted qualified traffic to your virtual storefront. This can be achieved by search engine optimization, pay per clicks, or advertisements that draw people to your site. Once they are there it is your job and responsibility to deliver your Unique Selling Proposition. Not sure what your USP is? Ask yourself the following questions:
- What is the obvious void in the marketplace that your product or service fills?
- What makes your business stand out as distinct and appealing that sets your business apart from the rest?
Level 2: Build Credibility and Trust
In a brick and mortar business trust is built by human interaction. Greeting a person when they walk in the door or physically helping them find something that they are looking for, so how can you build that same trust and credibility virtually?
I think you will be surprised to find out that you build that same trust and credibility by the elements that surround the design and the development of your website. Your viewer is unconsciously judging your credibility by mentally asking themselves the following questions:
- Does this feel and look professional like a legitimate company?
- Is this site reliable?
- How fast is it downloading and are there broken images or links?
- Can I find my way through the site with the navigation that is provided, or are these virtual isles cluttered?
- How is the copy on this site?
- Is it powerful, does it draw me in or is obvious that there was no time taken to write it?
- Are there spelling and grammatical errors?
- Do the images draw me in or are they distracting and irrelevant?
- Can I find the companies assurances and privacy policies easily?
- What about customer support? Is it easily found?
- Can I access support and information that I need easily or is it hidden?
Take a look at your site and ask yourself the questions above. Are you guiding your viewers or are you leaving them in the dark. Your site should work as a personal shopper, a live virtual assistant that knows the needs that your visitor has and makes the solutions for those needs easily accessible.
Level 3: Escort and Court the Buyer
A person who visits your site has been targeted if you followed the first steps in prospecting, so now it's time to qualify the visitor. How do you do this? It's actually very easy. A person happens on your site because they are looking for a solution to a problem. That solution can be a product or a service. Internet marketing studies show that 7 out of 10 visitors to a site are ready to buy. Take the time to escort and court them to what they need.
- When you look at your current site are you helping your visitors to identify and find the best solution for that problem?
- Are you guiding them to find what they need to solve the problem that they have?
Your navigation should be structured to help those that know exactly what it is that they are looking for, those who know what they want in general but aren't sure about the specifics, and those that are browsing and need you to give them some direction.
