Meryl's Notes Blog

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These six questions lead to the six characteristics that Nick Usborne of nickusborne.com and author of upcoming book, Net Words: Creating high-impact online copy, has identified what interests customers when they visit a business Web site. When exploring Web site strategies to turn first time customers into repeat visitors, many enterprises have failed to address conversion rates between the homepage and the purchase confirmation page. Usborne describes the six characteristics in getting the first buy and beyond:

• Make the site about the customer
  Too often, the Web site is product-centered or service-centered instead of customer-focused. What are the customers’ needs? Focus on answering the question.
• Make it easy to use
  This may sound obvious, but it continues to be a problem. Navigation AND the checkout process should be simple. According to statistics from CreativeGood.com, 43% of purchase attempts fail due to the poor checkout experience. Another frequent barrier at the front door is the splash page. Customers don’t want to sit through a commercial or watch a designer show off skills through fancy Flash intros.
• Keep it relevant to the customer
  Amazon.com and BabyCenter.com make an effort to customize the pages for the customer to ensure the experience matches the customer’s needs. Amazon looks at past purchases and page views to determine what other things may interest the customer. BabyCenter personalizes its site to the visitor’s experience as well as sends out a personalized newsletter focusing on the child’s age and development stage.

  It’s great when a customer returns to a site or receives a personalized email that says something to the effect of, “Forgot something in your shopping cart? We noticed you left [item name] in your shopping cart. If you order it, we’ll throw in a [bonus item].” Go the extra mile and show a picture of the item along with information about it.

  When a customer enters the business Web site, he wants to immediately see what is available to him. Don’t block the path with security or JavaScript pop-ups or asking him to complete a survey before getting to the destination. Also, when redesigning or updating a Web site, the business needs to do what it can to retain familiarity.

• Show the customer what to do
  Accomplish this by writing great copy from a sales perspective to drive customer actions and deliberately close sales.

  One way to do this is to have a slogan on the Web site that quickly says what the business wants to do for you or what the customer will get out of it. NerdyBook‘s slogan says, “Tips, tricks & shortcuts for Office & Windows,&3148; which is exactly what they set out to do with its books and newsletters.

  On the flip side, what kind of business do you think this company is in with this slogan, “Striving to make the world a better place?” Nonprofit? Charity? Environment? It belongs to Ford Motor Company, the company responsible for making cars.

  View the Web site for the first time and click on anything, but before you click on it, think about what you expect to see after clicking on it. Do you get what you expect or something else?

  Also, be careful about the number of options you provide to the customer. It is possible to give a customer too many things to do.

• Be a voice and character the customer can trust
  Differentiate your business with words and a unique voice that provides your business with a real character. Usborne points out that competing sites use similar designs and technologies on their sites, but differentiate themselves through character.

  This is accomplished through personalized emails and avoiding “corporate speak,” which often turns off visitors. Let your company’s character shine throughout the Web site and any communications that go to the customer.

• Provide enough information to help them decide
  As tempting as it is to keep content short and to the point, it doesn’t apply when explaining a product or service. Many sales have fallen by the wayside because the customer didn’t have enough information to decide whether or not to purchase.

These are the key things that businesses can do to build online relationships Usborne says, “Be honest. Speak with a human voice. Be responsive. And find a way to get invited into your customers’ email inboxes. It’s easier to build relationships by email and through newsletters than it is on your site itself.”

Reliable tools in building online relationships include opt-in emails and newsletters. These help you stay in the customers’ minds and ensure they come back to your Web site. Be careful of bombarding their email boxes too often or sending email messages that sound like spam.

Usborne indicates there is a much-overlooked avenue for connecting to your customer through customer service agents. Non-automated email messages, phone calls, or instant messages provide opportunities to offer personal service to customers and thereby build the relationship. Use care in preparing, training, and providing tools to customer service agents for their all too-important role on the front lines with the customers to ensure effectively communicating with them.

Make it easy for customers to find and take the actions you want them to do and grab that first buy. Avoid passive content that doesn’t encourage the customer to take action. Instead, use strong copy to drive and close the sale.

Usborne offers the following Web sites that have demonstrated a strong ability to build online relationships: Fool.com, Babycenter.com, Amazon.com, NerdyBooks.com, PoolFence.com, Norh.com, and NoBrainerBlinds.com. Each one builds on the relationship through personalization, character, or a combination of both. He finds that smaller companies have a better track record for building relationships because big companies have too much baggage interfering with being human and talking with a personal voice.

Once you connect with customers, do all you can to retain them by providing good work and terrific customer service. And as always going above and beyond or over-delivering on customer expectations continues to give you an edge.

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