While websites are a fantastic way to gain an audience, the hardest thing about having a website is maintaining "traffic." Web "traffic" is both the number visitors and the length of stay they have on your webpage. It's good to get a lot of "hits" (quantity of times a device looks at your webpage), but that doesn't necessarily translate into human interaction. It would sound amazing if your blog article got 3000 views! But if their mean time looking at the article was 5 seconds then you know that the traffic did not actualize the goal of your blog. On the other hand, someone might click on your page and leave it open while they get their coffee or enter a heated debate on their social media account. That didn't work so well either. So what is the secret? Well there are tricks to getting people to find your page, but I'm talking about what you need to achieve the purpose of people looking at your site.
There are five questions everyone asks when they go to a new web-page. Usually they get to it through a search engine or a share from a friend. But they want these five questions answered immediately, within 5-10 seconds. If they can answer all five questions to their satisfaction then they will stay to look around. If they can't answer the questions within that inital glance then they leave and try the next site on the list. (Obviously if they do find an answer but they are looking for a different service, then we expect them to move on). You ask these questions too! Go ahead and balance this list with your own eye-brain coordination the next time you are surfing the web.
- Who is the host of the site?
- What kind of services do they offer?
- Where/to what extent do they offer services?
- Are their services credible?
- How do their services apply to me?
There's a reason why people begin conversations by introducing their names. There's a reason why logos and branding are so highly valued. Names, logos, brands, and even colors can help instantly answer this first question. It is important for viewers because they wish to know if they have had prior experience with this source. It changes their approach to the rest of their search. It doesn't change these five questions, but knowing the source might well instantly answer the rest of the questions. They can turn their attention to finding what they are looking for.
Have you ever been browsed a website, unsure of what it is for? Like, what's the difference between the content of the site and all the ads that keep filling up the screen? While ads often distract (intentionally) from the host site, host sites themselves often become their biggest distraction. Before viewers are willing to look any further, they want to know what the host has to offer them. Is it information? Is it a product? A service? Are there hidden costs or agendas?
Its all well and good to find a decent person to provide the service you want, but can you actually use them? If you want a car-wash, you aren't going to drive to another state to get one. A lot of services need to be located locally. Others need to be planned on specific stops on a journey. Does the product ship? Do the salesmen travel? Does the blog only pertain to the city of Wichita Kansas? Do they offer advanced services only while I need an introduction? Do I have a simple question but they make me sign up for an account before they give it to me? These kinds of concerns are going through our minds constantly until they are answered.
I almost hit the perfect who-what-where-when-why, but I didn't want to swap out credibility for a gimmick. Another way to ask the question is: does this person/company know what they are talking about? Are they certified under the premises of what they offer? Do they create information or are they a parrot in their industry? This last one, actually, is really, really important. Industry leaders are always creating, investigating, and pushing the limits of how to offer good products. If you want to be credible in the eyes of your viewers, the BEST thing you can do is create your own content rather than copy-pasting what others in your industry do.
This is kind of a summary question. A "so what?" of it all. After I know who they are, what they offer, if their services are available to me, are worth my time/money, then how can we engage in mutual benefit? This is where a lot of sites have terminology like "Call to action" or a request to "Subscribe", "Connect on ____", "Purchase here", "Call" etc. Without some way for the consumer getting in touch with or keeping up with the host, then the relationship will probably come to a halt.
So with these five questions running through viewers heads at lightning speed, what does this mean about the way we build our websites and write our content? Follow up right here for the next blog post called "How to satisfy viewers questions, Fast!"
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