What do a pest control company, a luxury car dealership, an industrial manufacturer of acoustic panels and a family law firm have in common? Depending on how they have chosen to pursue business online, it could be a lot more than you think.
After reading the excellent set of articles on this very topic at Search Engine Land from our friend and national conversion expert Brian Massey (see Brian’s Conversion Optimization Blog) , we realized that this exact concept applied to our clients as well. We had long wondered how companies can copy a technique from one of their competitors that we know to be effective, only to find that it does not work for them. The answer is: that the kind of company that you are matters far less than the online strategy that you choose to pursue. Companies that are utilizing tactics from multiple strategies typically have a poor conversion rate (# of visitors that do something that affects your business positively / total # of visitors) and are constantly frustrated by it.
So, you may be asking, how do I find out what strategy I am pursuing?
The good news is that we have found that our clients’ websites fit into one of only five marketing patterns that, if pursued, will simplify and clarify what to improve on your website. We will go into more detail on each pattern in future posts, but for now here is an overview of the key patterns:
1. Considered Purchase Website – This type of website is built around a purchase that is not easily compared directly to competitors and usually involves a longer sales cycle with multiple decision makers. The goal of this pattern is to provide your visitors with something of value so that you receive permission to continue marketing to them.
Examples include enterprise software, most professional services firms and custom manufacturers.
2. Transactional Purchase Website – This type of website is built around a limited number of highly standardized products or services that address an acute and usually urgent “pain” that prospects feel. The goal of this pattern is to persuade visitors to contact you by emphasizing the pain you solve, offering persuasive incentives, and providing assurance through guarantees.
Examples include pest control, plumbers, and towing companies.
3. Online Store – This type of website is characterized by selling a significant number of products online, where any customization that is available can be done on the website. The goal of this pattern is to convince visitors to buy a product that they are looking for by pre-answering key questions or create interest in a product they didn’t know about through relevant cross selling. While these are often e-commerce stores, they do not have to have e-commerce functionality (and the other patterns may contain online credit card processing).
Examples include online book vendors and manufacturers with standardized product catalogs.
4. Content Portal – This type of website is built around specific content that is regularly updated to build and retain a regular readership. The goal of this pattern is to create advertising revenue through creating new and compelling content that keeps your visitors engaged.
5. Brochure Website - This type of website is built around a desire to create a public presence for your business or organization without specific measurable objectives. It is by far the simplest of the web patterns, because it does not take the visitor or your sales process into account, and it’s success is largely driven by the emotional gratification (or lack thereof) that the client feels upon the completion of the website.
Read Brian’s original posts here for more information: http://searchengineland.com/the-five-core-patterns-of-conversion-marketing-33303
Writing for the web is maybe the single most important factor in generating results from your website, and yet it is often one of the most overlooked elements of a redesign.
