It’s easy to do. You spend all day dealing with the intricacies of your products and services.  You love thinking about your products, you love improving them, and you love talking about them. It’s only natural that you want to shout from the rooftops and tell the world your product’s story in all its splendor. Problem is, the rest of the world isn’t interested in your story. Customers don’t have time to admire your greatness. They’re too busy searching for ways to make life better for themselves. An effective web page answers one question of the reader above all: What’s in it for me?

A well-written product page talks a bit about features, a little more about benefits and a great deal more about the experience. This last element is especially important and exactly where most pages come up woefully short. Let’s use a mundane example of this principle in action by considering a hypothetical Web page for a packaging machine:

Write For Your Audience

• Before you start writing, collect feedback from customers and prospects. Ask them why they buy from you, why they don’t, and how doing business with you has affected them.
• Start with an outline. Associate every feature with a benefit and every benefit with an experience.
• Have a customer read a draft and then explain to you why they would want to buy the product. If the customer “gets it,” you’re a star.
• Do the same thing with a person who knows nothing about your product and industry. If that person gets it, you’re a rock star.

Thats it… follow this rule.. .and your well on your way to have an effective web page!

I have been preaching this for years, and finally my clients are beginning to listen.

For a typical small business located in the Fraser Valley, using Google’s tools will bring you plenty of business…guaranteed! The main tool doesn’t even cost any money… Google Places. If your a small business and want to compete…there is no faster way than using Google Places. For instance, I have a client that provides Maid Services to Langley. Within 24 hours of getting them on Google Places, their phone started ringing.

Not sure how Google Places works? Then check out this video. And if your interested in learning more, please contact me at 604-908-4410, and I will be happy to explain it further.

Asking those questions are fundamental to a successful website.  Think about who your audience is and design the site for your audience. Determine what your audience would most want and/or need from your Website. The most important thing on your site is the information/content – it should be easy to read and understand – “bells and whistles” should be minimized.

Here is a great example of putting this in action… http://williamscopywriting.ca/

Helen and I met last summer to chat about her website. Her old site was ok, but her message was a little fuzzy, and her audience was… hhhmmm…. well, everyone.  Plus, she  offered photography services to go along with her copywriting. I told her she would be better off offering one service, and being clear on what exactly those services were. One last touch that I suggested was to strip the site down to just copy. I told her to use text formattting to “design the site”.  After defining  it’s purpose and audience, she now has a website that hits the mark!

(note: I actually did not build Helen’s website in the end…but happened to stumble across it the other day.  Well done Helen… I love it!)