The virtual sales path and visitor enthusiasm
Webmaster Column - Office News - No 10
Hello,
There is always a purpose in putting a professional business website online. Whether the visitor is directed to a virtual store, a prospecting operation or a quote request, the path the Internet user follows leads to the use of a service or the purchase of a product.
Let's review the journey and the fervor of a prospect and to the web techniques and writing used in to maintain and embellish this path of virtual golden bricks. The Yellow Brick Road!
Here is the webmaster column of the month: The virtual sales path and visitor enthusiasm.
The webmaster column on the daily management of websites, Office News, presents: 2024-10, The virtual sales path and visitor enthusiasm.
The Virtual Sales Path and Visitor Enthusiasm
Have you browsed your website and put yourself in the shoes of a stranger? I suggest you do the exercise twice.
The first time in the shoes of a professional who knows your field and who would need to prospect or make the purchase in a few minutes with his cell for his or her superior.
Next time, in the shoes of a journalist who knows nothing about your profession, responding to an end-of-month mandate, and having to write a complete article on your company and your products and services, by visiting your website.
If these two people couldn’t carry out their mission without having to contact you, adjusting your tool would perhaps bring you even more prospects and give a good boost to your virtual notoriety.
Another tip is to ask a person to make a purchase on the site we manage and study their reactions by noting down the questions.
Understand your sales path
Once we understand the excitement to be created and what to program and improve on our website, it’s likely possible our communications and promotional or media writing will come into their sense.
I like to take advantage of the first years of companies to do this study. When managers are still on the floor talking directly with customers and the public, which we don’t always take the time. It’s important to ask questions about improving web processes. We all know our days only have 24 hours.
However, we must take the time to understand how prospects and customers use our services, how they find us and what made the difference with our competitors. By understanding the way our company is viewed by the outside, the enthusiasm that our customers have when choosing us, because this is what must be highlighted on our digital and social tools. So this enthusiasm continues on our websites, our social networks, our communities, and will build the virtual identity of the company.
The sale path, more technical than we think
The virtual design of this sales path must include all the aspects and formalities of a virtual legal sale, without necessarily taking up all the space.
Let’s take the example of a product description page, the ending of most sales path of company promotions. Throughout the visitors’ journey, from the moment they see the advertisement in a magazine and follow the QR code to land on the website. Perhaps the ideal programming would be as follows:
QR code or landing promo location: An image of the same promotion on the home page, also showing the same branding and logo, putting the visitor at ease, besides being able to move up or down the page to get to know you better by visiting other menus. The promo image, and a button under the image take the visitor to a second dedicated web page or the product page.
The dedicated promotion web page will be the place to display product texts and links to purchasing, delivery, refund and other instructions. This page usually includes a link to see other special offers and important announcements from the company. (Note that many webmasters prefer to take their visitors directly to a dedicated page, reserving a more general and static layout for their home page. My opinion: it doesn’t matter! The important thing is that the visitor’s landing page must be downloaded in less than half a second. If your home page includes a clip that takes more than two seconds to download before opening, remove your promo direction link from there and create a dedicated page that opens quickly. Your stats of viewing will double, that’s quite a guarantee. Also, interested people will click on your home page link anyways with a good end-of-page redirection.)
This dedicated page may also end up with ideas of related blog articles on a complementary subject or products, serving to extend the reading time of the pages of our websites. The internal viewing of content is also good for SEO of the website on search tools. Of course, our blog posts must be written correctly, run through a proofreading tool and read annually to correct and update the veracity of the articles.
At the end of all these pages, or in the footer of our website, the subscription links and member services are great for recurring readership visits.
Then, the links to follow the company’s social networks, if the goal is to keep readers on the website. If you’re monetizing via your social networks, the social links will be highlighted before your web subscription. We also put the social icons in the header when social media are more important than web visits.
Precision in the Chosen Terms of the Sales Path
In terms of the precision of technical terms in communications, it’s important to be regular and to use the same expressions throughout communications. If our promotions mention a product purchase with a slogan or a purchase function, for example, the text must be the same everywhere and often with our branding.
The same goes for our internal communications and procedures. If in the explanation of a function you have to press the execute button, you must always use the same term when talking about that function. Avoid, using expressions like saving, think about saving, press enter, or other expressions if the text of the button is Execute. Use the word Execute all the time. This will avoid confusions of any kind and extra communications. It’s important to be precise in the wording of technicalities.
Finally, choose which communications to entrust to a professional service if you aren’t an expert. Writing techniques aren’t the same depending on the distribution channel chosen. Thus, the text of a blog will be more detailed, entertaining and enhanced with personal experiences. The text on a website page must be much more direct, precise and universal. The same applies to social media, administrative and legal documents, media communications and invitations to an event or launch, etc.
Service in French and English?
Even in Quebec, knowledge of French and English languages in the communications, commerce and digital marketing sectors is important to remain competitive; not only in the Montréal area.
You only have to compare Google ads in both languages to see the number of monolingual merchants missing display opportunities, forgetting to duplicate ads for each language.
Whether you write a text in one language or in several languages, the principle of composition is always the same: the statements of your text, the content and the characteristics of your products are the same; which means that once the text is composed in one language, it isn’t difficult to transpose it into another language when you know the popular vocabulary of your market or field.
Also, with translation tools on the web that can help us, and text correction programs, it’s increasingly easier to translate your communications and thus reach more people. Depending on your level of language knowledge, you may be able to hire a professional, or ask someone you know to do the checks.
Think about it, is a new language on your site would be beneficial for the expansion of your business or opening to new markets?
Thank you for reading this webmaster column.
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Conclusion
The Yellow Brick Road. I always think of this Elton John song when I’m working on the sales path of a website. It’s actually the song that was #1 on the Billboard charts the week I was born: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
I hope our sales paths will bring us the same ;)
I end this post with encouragement to SMEs, startups and businesses. You shouldn’t be afraid to sell yourself and be different. You should never hesitate to show yourself and sell yourself when you believe in your product or service. Don’t be shy about your professional values and go for it by demonstrating them in an appropriate, careful manner and at your pace. A road isn’t built one brick at a time… like a rocker!
Good Job Marketers! Thank you for reading the Monthly Ticket! See you on the Blog.
Jeff
Production: W+M Services
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