The self-educating buyer

In 2008, Roman Ray wrote, The Best Salesperson: Your Website, in Entrepreneur Magazine explaining how an business’s best sales person is actually their website.

The Internet has changed the way we shop

Websites play a central role in the customer acquisition process. A brand’s website engages more prospects on a daily basis than a sales team possibly could.

Today, buyers use the web to research, compare and buy products. Information is available freely to internet-connected buyers, and buyers shift from mobile phones and tablets to desktops throughout their research process–day and night. Purchase decisions can be made on impulse or over the course of days and weeks, but access to information is a constant in the world today.

The internet contains a wealth of information and tools that support the customer buying journey. In today’s marketplace, the customer is in control.

Search, social, email, texting, blogs, websites and web-connected tools act as digital centers of influence. According to data from HubSpot, a marketing and analytics software company, 78% of users conduct product research online. This research behavior also greatly impacts eCommerce and online transactions with 64% of smartphone owners using their mobile devices to shop online (Source: eDigitalResearch ). According to a report by Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab, 46.1% of people say a website’s design is the number one criterion for discerning the credibility of the company.

How to make your website into a better salesperson?

Websites must evolve beyond brochureware. A brand’s website is often the first introduction a potential customer will have with a company. Positive first impressions lead to higher satisfaction.

A website does not perform well as a tool in isolation however. Websites are typically touch points that live at the center of a broad range of marketing activities, including advertising, social media marketing, search marketing, blogging and other methods of gaining brand visibility.

Here are a couple of considerations in order to improve the conversion rate of your brand’s website:

  • Provide clear calls-to-action.
  • Provide useful and relevant information based on the needs of your users.
  • Keep the website design of a high quality and keep the design contemporary in style to build trust.
  • Make it easy for users to find the information they are looking for.
  • Make sure your information is up-to-date.
  • Be compelling. Your website must demonstrate why your brand is the right fit.
  • Make it easy to convert into a lead or buyer. Don’t hide your calls-to-action, contact forms or buy now buttons.
  • Offer a clear and compelling reason to buy from your brand.
  • Improve drop off points. Study your website analytics and user journey flows to find drop off points.
  • Ensure your website adapts to desktop, tablet and mobile devices since buyers use all to search and evaluate

SOURCES:

  • The Best Salesperson: Your Website, https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/191310
  • “Google: Local Searches Lead 50% of Mobile Users to Visit Stores.” 2014. Searchenginewatch.com
  • “Understanding Consumers’ Local Search Behavior.” 2014. Thinkwithgoogle.com
  • “Going Local: How Advertisers Can Extend Their Relevance With Search.” 2014. Thinkwithgoogle.com
  • Why Your Website is Your Dumbest Salesperson, Pete Caputa
  • eDigitalResearch, mCommerce quadruples in just two years, https://www.edigitalresearch.com/news/item/nid/243999809