People stay on a website for five to seven seconds. That’s it. Five to seven seconds. If they don’t find what they are looking for, they move on.
To keep people on your website, you need three things to be clear from the second they land on your website. No exceptions.
What you do and for whom.
I have been on websites (Yes, more than one) where I couldn’t figure out what the company did. The website looked great, but what did they do? Not a clue.
For example, I was on a website of an international mining supply company and the home page gave no indication what the company did.
So, I clicked on the Who We Are tab on the menu.
The following is the gist of the text. I’m not going to quote the text directly or identify the company, because that wouldn’t be fair. But here’s basically what it said.
Our people use their talent, dedication, and proficiency to enlighten our company.
Well, that cleared things up. (She said sarcastically)
So, I clicked on What We Do
We find solutions for a future where all people can prosper.
I don’t know about you, but I’m still confused.
People are very stingy with their clicks and time. How many more tabs should I click on to find out what this company does? What would you do?
Leave. That’s what I did.
You need to clearly state what you do and for whom.
Use this sentence as a template. We do ______ for _______.
You might not be able to put just one word in the blank but see what you can do. Play around with it.
For example, we provide aerial drone photography for mines. Now maybe you provide other services, or you might also work in other industries, such as construction, oil and gas, so your sentence might be a bit longer. But you get the idea.
If someone is looking for drone photography for their mine and landed on a website with that text, they would be more likely to hang around to see if you did the specific kind of drone photography they were looking for.
On my website the main banner reads: Sudbury freelance B2B copywriter and content writer for the mining supply industry, writing copy that creates awareness, builds relationships, and increases sales.
It’s quite clear what I do and for whom.
I’ll admit, it’s a bit long. I’ve added some words for SEO purposes. When I put this text on my site, my SEO ranking went up. So I’ve kept it.
The text is corporate jargon.
Corporate jargon is also known as corporate speak or corporate lingo.
You know what I’m talking about. All those buzzwords, acronyms, euphemisms, and vague phrases. We read them everyday, but if we stop to think about what they really mean, we can’t rephrase it.
No matter what it’s called, it’s just plain lazy writing. People just scan over these words to get to something meaningful.
So why waste valuable website space with words that don’t engage your readers?
“Our state-of-the-art and leading-edge pumps will be a game changer.”
“We have the bandwidth to pivot to the new normal, because we think outside of the box.”
Leading edge?! What does that mean?
You’ve read these words and similar ones. They are meaningless and say nothing to prospects, who are having problems at their mine sites.
So cut them out of all your marketing material.
For example, Need help with water management at your mine site? Let’s see if we can help you find a solution.
You can see the change in tone and perspective.
Instantly the prospects are staying on your website to see what you have to offer. They have a good idea that you understand their problem.
A call to action (CTA) button
What do you want your prospects to do when they are on your site?
Do you want them to download a case study? Do you want them to ask for a quote? Do you want them to ask questions of your staff?
This is where a Call-to-Action button comes in. It needs be clearly visible on all pages of your website.
The text on the button should read something like, I want the case study. People who want to download the case study will click on the button, because they’ve been prompted to do so.
Have Questions? could be another button.
Check out your website now and see how it fares. If it’s missing these three components, you could be missing out on sales.
Based on my observations, most of your competitors don’t have all three of these elements on their websites.
So, if you have them . . . you’ll be ahead of the competition.
I’m always looking for blog topics that interest mining supply companies.
Do you have questions about marketing copy? Content marketing?
Send your questions to janice@janiceleuschen.com
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If you’re looking for a freelance copywriter/content writer to help with your marketing goals. Email me at janice@janiceleuschen.com