News flash! Most of your website visitors are not ready to buy–yet.
Having an increase in website traffic, but plateauing sales numbers can feel a lot like bringing a blow dryer on a camping trip—it seems like a good idea, but without the proper set-up, what good does it do? While problems converting traffic could be a symptom of a variety of web-related technical issues—like slow load times, weak on-page SEO, or poor form optimization, there’s a good chance that a lot of your conversion-rate blues are primarily content related. Are you just posting product information and crossing your fingers that your visitors are ready to buy? What else is there for your visitors to engage with? What’s the language of your site like? Is the content you have on your website solely geared around the hard-sell? If you’re looking at your website and noticing some short-comings in the content department, don’t worry! Here are three tips to help beef-up your content, and aid in converting your B2B website visitors into customers.
1. Offer more than just product content
Customers (especially in the B2B market) want more than just a list of available merchandise—they’re looking for an opportunity to further their knowledge on a specific set of goods or services.
“Content is anything that adds value to the reader’s life.”
-Avinash Kaushik, Google.
While offering an extensive catalogue of available products and services is important in converting your B2B website visitors into customers, providing more than just product content is paramount. By offering educational information, via: eBooks, whitepapers, videos, and other forms of content, you’re not only selling a product without getting pushy, you’re positioning yourself (and your business), as an industry expert. This not only establishes a sense of trust between you and your potential customer, but allows them to immediately come away from your site with useful information. By empowering your visitors with pertinent information, you’re creating a nurturing sales environment that doesn’t prematurely pressure them to buy–and trust us, they’ll reward you for it. After all, talking about marriage on the first date is generally not the best way to land a second one. So when you’ve gotten your content up-to-date, it’s time to start thinking about what else goes into your website’s first impressions—it will effect your conversions too.
2. Speak to your visitor like you know them, personally
The more you’re able to embody the language of your target persona, the better chance you have of converting your B2B website visitors into customers. If you’re not entirely sure what sort of tone to adopt, do a little research on their pain points, values, and goals. Are your customers looking for more of an easy-going, conversational feel, or do they just want the hard facts? Depending on which kind of businesses you typically work with, this could vary quite a bit. However, almost universally, by using words like “you,” and “we,” in your content, your visitors will feel an immediate human connection—and for visitor-to-customer conversions, that’s huge.
3. Be a problem solver
Part of converting your B2B website visitors into customers is addressing a specific need. If your website can solve your visitor’s problems without rolling out an obvious sales pitch, you’re doing something right.
“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.”
–Tom Fishburne, Marketoonist.
With that in mind, it’s a safe bet that most of your traffic is going to ignore the, “we’re the best around!” rhetoric. Instead of empty statements, and obligatory promises, use phrases like, “this is how we’ll help you...”. Offering a specific solution to a problem is also part of initiating your particular visitor’s buyer’s journey. While these models vary depending on your business-type (B2B, B2C, etc), the logic behind the buyer’s journey remains the same: understanding your visitor’s progression from research to sale.
By setting “way-points” to guide your traffic (and marketing strategy), you’ll be able to create content that not only addresses specific, key-points along your visitor’s journey towards a purchase, but also establish a great model that’s completely reusable in future marketing efforts. Understanding your visitor’s needs, and how to maximize them (regardless of where they are in the buyer’s journey) is going to get you (and your business) a lot farther than just blindly claiming superiority to competitors.
Part of directly answering your traffic’s problems is also helping assert your company’s authority on a specific subject. Not only is this a useful promotional tool, but it also helps to further your digital marketing efforts, and search engines love great content (SEO anyone?).
Put Your Website to Work. Convert B2B Website Visitors into Customers and Drive Sales.
Follow these guidelines, and you will soon have a great website that generates traffic, leads, and sales. But don’t stop there. A website never truly stops growing. Keep learning and stay tuned for more updates from your favorite digital marketing agency.
If you want more website redesign must-haves that will generate leads and improve sales download our eBook, 26 Website Redesign Must-Haves for Driving Traffic, Leads, and Sales.
