… and they’ve gone!

If your visitor doesn’t see what they want on your website right away – that back button is where their cursor is hovering.  Knee-jerk reaction ‘This site isn’t what I’m looking for’ – and they’ve gone!

That means you need to think long and hard about what that first screen shows them.  And not just on your home page, but on all your core pages.  You never know where they’ll land, it depends on what they’ve searched for as to where the search engine or AI assistant sends them.

What do you need to pay attention to?

Your brand banner

Make sure your logo is clear (not the size of a micro dot) and recognisable.  You might need to work with your graphic designer to create a version that works on a website.

Put your contact details top right, phone and email, to make it easy for people who just want to get in touch.  Don’t make them have to work hard to find how to contact you.  Also, while people do use their mobiles to access the web, there are still a substantial number who are searching from a desktop – putting a ‘phone us’ button, doesn’t work on a desktop!  If you want to make phoning from a mobile easy, put the button, but make the number visible too.

A note about navigation:  Ask your web designer to make the navigation ‘float’, so it stays in view as people scroll down.  That means they don’t have to scroll all the way back to the top to explore further.

Image

I’m not a fan of ‘eye-candy’ images, only there to make the page look pretty.  However, an image at the top of each web page makes engagement much easier.  Choose images that are relevant to your business – ideally, to the content of the page they’re on.  So, for instance, if you’re in the transport business, an office of friendly looking people on the phone isn’t going to help – you need pictures of your vehicles.

Sometimes web designers will add a scrolling marquee – a series of images that automatically change after a couple of seconds.  I understand that you may have more than one message to share, but how many people will sit and wait for three or four images to appear?  Most people are not that patient!  Places to go, people to see – no time to sit and stare.

The other downside to moving images is that, if they’re still visible as your visitor starts to scroll down, every time the image moves their attention is drawn to the image – and they stop exploring.  That can mean they don’t really get your message as they don’t read enough before their attention is diverted.

If they’re not getting it – they’ve hit the back button and are looking for an ‘easier’ website.

Headline

The core headline on the page needs to tell the reader ‘you’re in the right place’.  That means you need to thoroughly understand your ideal customer.  What is the biggest problem that you solve for them?  What kind of outcomes do they get from working with you?  That’s what your headline and your subheader needs to tell them.

Again, this applies to every core page.

This is where AI can help.  If you give it your customer profile in as much detail as possible and ask for powerful headline suggestions for your website – tell it which page, it will give you some options.  All you have to do is ensure that whichever you choose sounds authentically you.

Call to action

Some people choose to have a ‘take action’ button in their first screen.  If you decide to do that think carefully what you really want people to do before they go any further.

If this is the first thing they see – don’t ask them to sign up to your newsletter, you haven’t shown your value yet, so that is wasting prime real estate.

If you do add an action button, just ONE.  Not two or three – and yes, I’ve seen this in websites that are live.

It’s probably a bit early to ask people to call you, as they won’t have all the information they need to make that decision yet.  The first screen’s job is to engage and retain, not to pitch.

There’s plenty more to a successful web page, but this is just the first screen!  If you don’t get it right – that visitor has already gone.

Do you track your reputation?

The challenge about your reputation is that you don’t always know what other people say about you.

Friends and close business associates may report what they’ve heard, but there are very, very few people who will be brave enough to tell you if it’s not good news.

I’ve heard plenty of negative comments made about others.  If there’s some grounds for the comments you can bet someone else will agree, and then a whole conversation, heard by people who may not even know the person.  And we all know how much we like to gossip.  Whenever that name comes up, even someone who has never met them will wade in with what they heard.

Unfortunately, it’s human nature to repeat negative information.  While people do pass on good things, they have to be way beyond expectations to merit mention.  If you consistently meet the expectations of your clients, that’s what they want, they’re only going to notice if it’s something extraordinary, while it only takes a little wobble to make the ‘gossip news’.

How do you get control of your reputation?

The first step is to build your reputation network.  These are people you know and trust who will tell it like it is.  Ideally, you’ll do the same for them.  As the saying goes ‘knowledge is power’.  If you know what is on the gossip line, you can take steps to deal with it.

Step two is working with the client – or the person who has had a bad experience of you – to rectify the situation.  Ask the client what a successful resolution would look like to them – but don’t be steam-rollered into something that is either more expensive than merited or going against your values.  Discuss, explain and negotiate a reasonable solution.

If it’s an individual who isn’t a client, approach them and ask them what their experience has been that has led to their beliefs about you or your company.  If it’s something you can address, do it.  If it’s just that they don’t like you, there may be nothing you can do to change that – being universally loved isn’t a goal you’ll ever achieve!  However, the fact that they know you’re aware of what they’ve said may be a step towards them being less keen on bad-mouthing you behind your back. 

Step three is transparency.  When you make a mistake, own it.  People respect those who are willing to say ‘We made an error … and this is what we’re doing about it.’  Not just to the client that had the problem, but using it as a case study at networking events and on your social media.  Admitting you’re human endears people to you – and gets them on your side, rather than spreading malicious rumours.

Leverage your influence

People who already know you will have their own opinions of you – and, providing you are a reasonable person, know your stuff and are helpful generally – they’ll be able to tell when the gossip is malicious and not factual.

The people you need to educate are those who don’t yet know you.  That’s where your social media, newsletters and blogs come in.  If you consistently share good value, people draw their own conclusions – usually positive.  If everything they see is good stuff, when they hear something that doesn’t ‘fit’, they’re less likely to take it seriously. 

The secret is to be active in knowing what the grapevine or bush telegraph says about you, then you can take action to deal with the negative and enhance the positive.

Is social media still ‘social’?

 

The dictionary has a lot to say about the word 'social': human society, companionship, friendly interaction, cooperative relationships, organised communities.

Nowhere does it say 'sales vehicle'.

I think online platforms offer a digital form of networking, whether personal or business. Countless people have found old friends they'd lost touch with, rekindled relationships or reconnected with extended family, all on social media. Facebook, in particular, has been a place where personal connections flourish.

At the other end of the scale, LinkedIn started out in 2003 as a business connection platform, a sort of 'dating' agency for employers and job seekers. When Facebook arrived with a completely different look and feel, LinkedIn realised it needed more to attract people, and groups and a feed for sharing thoughts emerged. Facebook then added business Pages. So the gap between friendly and social and corporate business has closed quite a bit.

Don't forget the human beings

Whatever the platform, none of them was built for being sold at. And let's be honest, you don't want to be sold at.

From the human perspective, social media is about connection and entertainment, and I include education in that. If a post is interesting, it's entertaining me, whether it's a cat video or a hot business tip.

If you're using it as a marketing tool, keep that in mind. I think of social media as the online equivalent of a networking meeting. You don't walk in, grab someone and pitch your latest offer. You say 'Hi', you smile, you ask questions and you show an interest in others. If they become a client or customer, that only happens once they know you well enough to trust you'll do a good job.

I'm happy to talk to interesting people, and I judge that in a few ways:

• Their profile: a friendly-looking headshot and an interesting bio.
• Their content: useful and interesting posts, or an endless sales pitch?
• Their messages: if the first DM is a sales pitch, especially one that shows they haven't read my profile, I'm not interested. If they're friendly, helpful, interested in me and offer something useful with no strings attached, I'm far more likely to pay attention when they have something to offer that has a cost.

None of this is about polished video or beautifully aesthetic images. It's about content: what do they have to say?

People don't do business with people they don't like. Offline, it's hard to avoid the sales-only person (though their lack of success will eventually teach them a lesson). Online, they simply get blocked or disconnected, and never know why.

Is a list of 5,000 connections a network?

If you have 5,000 connections, how do you stay in touch? 'Social' means interaction, and you can't maintain that with 5,000 people. Accepting a connection doesn't make a relationship. How many of yours have progressed from the click of a button to a conversation?

A social network is not about the numbers; it’s about the relationships.