Tag Archives: Website Content

June 17, 2016 · 4:05 pm

5 Trust Symbols to Add to Your Website

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Do customers trust your brand?

That’s always been an important question for businesses and sales professionals to address, but it’s taken on a new urgency in the era of digital commerce. After all, if you’re doing business primarily through your website, customers may never have a chance to look you in the eye, shake your hand, or freely question you about the nature of your products or services. This does not in any way mean that your products and services are less trustworthy, but it does mean that some customers will struggle; they will need additional reassurances.

The good news is, there are ways to offer precisely that, simply by adding trust symbols to your website. The concept of a trust symbol is pretty self-explanatory: Anything that signifies your company as reputable and reliable can qualify. The question is, what are some of the main trust symbols that can be added to a small business website?

Trust Symbols to Consider for Your Site

The answer can vary slightly from one company to the next, and your brand may not really qualify for every one of these five symbols—but it will certainly qualify for a couple of them. Adding them to your business website can make a huge difference in fostering trust-based relationships with your treasured clients.

  1. There is no better way to engender faith in your product than to put a seal up showing that you offer a money-back guarantee. Note that there are different types of guarantee you can use. An absolute guarantee promises that your product will never break. A risk-free guarantee, meanwhile, might say that if the product does break down, all your money will be refunded. This second type of guarantee can actually be better for building trust: Promising your product will never break can seem too good to be true, while offering no risk if it does break feels more genuine.
  2. Consumer testimonials. Have other people used your products or services and responded favorably? Ask them to write a quick testimonial on your behalf. Usually, a loyal and happy customer, when asked politely and authentically, will be happy to do this for you. We proudly display client testimonials on the Grammar Chic page, and believe them to be important in showing that we know our stuff.
  3. Similarly, if your business receives five-star reviews on Google or Facebook, consider having those reviews embedded or linked to from your site. Just be sure you monitor the reviews in case you get some bad ones that need addressing!
  4. Helpful content. Does the content on your site support and educate your client? Do you have product guides, FAQs, demos, and tutorial videos? All can be vital for building trust on your brand’s behalf, and allowing the customer to move forward in confidence.
  5. A strong About Us page. Finally, you can build trust on your page by ensuring you lay out the details of what your company stands for and what value it offers. Don’t underestimate how far this can go in assuaging customer fears!

With the right trust symbols added, your website can really instill buyer confidence. To learn more about these strategies, we encourage you to get in touch with Grammar Chic at 803-831-7444, or www.grammarchic.net.

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March 9, 2016 · 11:17 am

How to Make Every Page a Landing Page

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Landing pages have long been central to content marketing; the idea is to develop small, individual Web pages that are narrowly focused on accomplishing one specific goal—converting users into clients, most often. Grammar Chic works with clients to develop landing pages, and we have written on the topic extensively.

There is a new way of thinking about landing pages, however—a new mindset that suggests every page on a company website should be a landing page; every page should be specific and purposeful and attempt to convert users into customers.

How can you accomplish this, though? There are a few strategies that are important to making every page function as a landing page.

Make Every Page a Landing Page

First, make sure every page has a purpose. Basically, you should think of your website as a resource for visitors. Every page of it needs to offer value; it needs to help your user in some way—so how do the pages of your site help the visitor? If you can’t answer the question, maybe some of those pages need to go.

Align every page with your central branding. Are you branding your company in terms of thought leadership? Its small-company nimbleness? Affordability? Every page of your site should reflect that central branding message. For example, your About Us page shouldn’t just be a corporate history; it should underscore those branding points that are central to your marketing.

Give every page a goal. Having a purpose isn’t enough; your pages should also have goals. They should lead the visitor to a new level in the sales funnel—whether that’s getting them to read your blog, order a product, or pick up the phone and call you. Give each page an end game.

Ensure easy navigation. In leading visitors through the sales funnel, it’s important to provide easy ways for them to move from one page to the next, and to get supplemental resources as needed; this means sleek layout, but also smart internal and external linking. Provide readers with resources, but don’t distract them from the central topic and purpose of the page.

Finally, and most importantly, don’t forget the landing page basics. Every page of your site should have two key elements to ensure its landing page efficacy—full contact information for your website, and a strong, clear call to action. These elements are non-negotiable.

Talk with us about converting every page of your website into a landing page. Contact Grammar Chic at www.grammarchic.net or 803-831-7444.

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May 20, 2015 · 4:33 pm

Failed Connections: Why Your Content Isn’t Landing

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Creating content is not the same as engaging your readers; similarly, communicating does not always lead to connecting. This is one of the potential frustrations of content marketing: That you might pool a lot of resources into content development and, on a technical level, do everything right—yet still fail to really engage or resonate with your audience in a meaningful way.

The good news is, this problem is not insurmountable. It’s just a matter of locating the blockage in the pipe, so to speak: Where are your efforts to connect breaking down? Where are you going too far, not going far enough, or simply going in the wrong direction?

There are some common sources of failed connection in content marketing. Some of the major ones:

You think everyone wants to hear your life story. Or, rather, the story of your business. A lot of online content is heavily “about”-centric, and the thinking is that this provides some context for trust, or perhaps that it humanizes the business. There is some truth to this, but it is also possible to take it too far. In the end, your users want to hear about the value you can offer them—not every last detail of your 30 years in business.

Your content is too “inside baseball.” Explaining how you do what you do, in great technical detail and with a lot of industry jargon, may convey a certain level of authority, but it may also keep your users at a distance. Remember: What they ultimately want to hear about is the benefits you can offer.

Your content doesn’t solve real problems. Your users don’t need you to create new problems and then solve them. They want you to meet them where they are and speak to issues they’re actually having. That’s where using buyer personas is essential!

You’re not respectful of your reader’s time. You can disrespect your readers’ time by prattling on for 1,200 words when you don’t need to, but you can also disrespect it by offering 300 words of fluff. Every word should convey value!

Remember that the point of content is to connect—and that takes some work! For assistance, contact the Grammar Chic, Inc. team today: 803-831-7444, or www.grammarchic.net.

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April 17, 2015 · 3:01 pm

Streamline Your Homepage (And Increase Customer Engagement)

icon_home_largeYour company homepage creates the first impression most customers and clients will have of your business—so of course you want to nail it. You want to convey the value and distinction that your business can offer, and you want to do it in a way that people will actually read.

Yet, we still see many business homepages that are vague or lacking in real value proposition. We see others that are long, rambling, and unfocused—the kinds of homepages that nobody is actually going to read.

Maybe your business homepage falls into one of these categories, and you know it. There’s no time like now to revise, rewrite, and get it right. Or maybe your company homepage is pretty good. Even so, it never hurts to go back over it and give it some polish.

Whether you’re starting from scratch or just trying to improve what you’ve already got, here are our recommendations for mastering your company homepage—making it efficient, effective, and engaging.

  1. Keep it short. When writing homepages for our clients, we generally try to keep things to 300 words or less—sometimes much less! You can get into the specifics of your business on the About Page; frankly, nobody has time or interest in reading an epically longwinded homepage.
  2. Remember your buyer personas. Who are you writing to? What are they looking for from your business? What needs, problems, or benefits should you make clear on your homepage?
  3. Keep it value-focused. What’s in it for your customers? What benefit will they receive from learning more about your business? If you want people to keep reading, that’s what your homepage should convey.
  4. Use short sentences and short paragraphs. For mobile users in particular, this is a must!
  5. Include a call to action. Invite users to explore other parts of the website, but also welcome them to contact you right away with their questions or inquiries. The call-to-action is the most important component of any piece of Web content!

The user experience begins with the homepage, so it’s worth spending some time to get this right! Of course, you can always ask our writers to give you a hand. Contact Grammar Chic at 803-831-7444, or www.grammarchic.net.

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October 15, 2014 · 5:07 pm

Supporting Customers Through Your Business Website (It’s Easier Than You Think)

iStock_000017003347XSmallWouldn’t it be nice if you could have an automated customer service center on your website—a place where your customers could go to chat, in real time, with a technical support representative, a sales staff team member, or simply some caring employee able to guide them through use of your product? That’s clearly something that would go a long way toward enhancing the customer experience, but sadly, it’s also a significant investment, both in terms of the technology and the manpower needed to staff it. Amazon.com can do it, maybe, but your small business likely can’t.

What small business owners sometimes fail to remember, though, is that there are other ways to offer website-based customer service—even through some evergreen written content or video. A website that’s built not just to sell but to educate and inform will, in the process, provide support to the customers who may have questions or uncertainties about whatever it is you’re selling.

Education and Support

There are a number of ways in which you can offer customer support through informative Web pages, or even downloadable PDF files. You’ll want to select the specific type of content based on what kinds of products or services you’re offering, but some examples include:

  • An FAQ page, where you round up the most commonly asked questions about your products and provide some feedback.
  • How-tos, product guides, or video tutorials.
  • Blog entries that outline some different ways in which your product can be used.
  • Product maintenance, upkeep, and repair guides.

The Advantages of Support Content

What we’d recommend with regard to these different forms of support content is that you don’t have them just to have them; pause to reflect on the advantages they might offer. If you understand why you’re doing it, you’ll be better positioned to see some results.

Support content, like what we outlined above, can deliver:

  • Customers who come to you already knowing something about your products and services—thus, warmer leads.
  • Fewer questions and concerns to address among your customers and potential customers.
  • A higher level of trust from your customers, who will see that you care about helping and supporting them.

Ultimately, customer service is something that companies all seek to provide; including some support content on your website is an incredibly simple, fairly low-hassle way to up your brand’s customer service game.

To learn more, or to enlist our help in creating content like this, we invite you to contact Grammar Chic, Inc. today at http://www.grammarchic.net, or 803-831-7444.

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September 5, 2014 · 9:05 am

3 Things to Cut from Your Company Homepage Right Now

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They say that less is more—and when it comes to your company’s homepage, that can often be the case. The front page of your website establishes the first impression that most clients and potential clients will have of your brand. It ultimately determines whether your leads become sales, your visitors turn into paying customers—or whether they simply navigate off the page and forget about you altogether, unimpressed by what they saw. As such, it’s important to have content on your home page that helps your brand to shine. At the same time, it’s important to delete anything that diminishes your brand’s appeal.

The Grammar Chic team visits an awful lot of business websites, and many of them are quite good—but some have elements that are likely doing more harm than good. Three of these damaging elements are especially common—and if any of them currently mar your own business website, then we recommend you ditch them immediately.

  1. Your life story.

We say this frequently, but it’s most assuredly pertinent here: The content on your website really isn’t about you. Not even the content on your About Us page. No, the content on your website should be all about the reader, and what benefits he or she derives from doing business with you. When John Smith visits your business website, he should come away from it with a good sense of what’s in it for him to pick up the phone and call you, or click over to your e-store to order a product. He should be able to envision himself benefitting from your company’s offerings.

Yet, far too many businesses use their home page to outline their entire history, or to provide a personal narrative from the business owner. These things can have their place on the About Us page, perhaps, but your homepage needs to be quick, to the point, and value-focused. You only have a few seconds to form that positive first impression, so focus on consumer benefits.

  1. Buzzwords.

We’ve written about this before, as well, but meaningless marketing buzzwords can really turn off your readers. Your company website should have a voice of its own, communicating whatever it is that makes your business special. Clichés and jargon are only going to detract from that.

  1. Prices.

There is an ongoing debate about whether it’s smart to have all your pricing online, and we’re not saying it doesn’t have its place. Many companies do benefit from having pricing online. It doesn’t always work out well to have it on your homepage, though. It can be a turnoff to some, who might otherwise have dug deeper into your site to learn more about the company. If you do choose to include pricing, put it somewhere other than the homepage.

What would you add to our list? What elements never have a place on a company homepage? Tell us in the comments section—or reach out to us directly: Call 803-831-7444, or visit http://www.grammarchic.net today.

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July 14, 2014 · 11:11 am

5 Reasons Your Website Isn’t Converting

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In theory, your business website should be a 24/7 sales machine. Customers and potential customers should be able to access the site at any time, educate themselves about the value you provide, and ultimately order a product or service right then and there—or at the very least, be able to reach out to you by e-mail or by phone to set up a consultation, or to ask for more information.

Would you say this is true of your business website? Is your website like a highly productive sales representative—or does it just sort of sit there, an online placeholder for your company?

An even more telling question: What happens with the traffic your website receives? Do you get a lot of visitors who turn into full-fledged, paying customers—or do you find that your website simply does a poor job of converting leads into actual sales?

If your website isn’t converting, there’s got to be a reason for it—and it’s probably one of these:

  • If your website isn’t converting, it could be because you’re not offering real value. We say this all the time, but it’s important: Many business websites are conceived with the notion that the site needs to be all about the business, telling the business’ full story in play-by-play detail, when in reality the website needs to focus on the consumer. Think about it from your customers’ perspective: What kinds of value can you offer to them? What benefits do they receive from ordering your products or enlisting your services? What solutions can you offer to their problems? Those are the things to focus on with your small business website.
  • Your website may not be converting because you’re not educating. In addition to offering value, your site also needs to offer perspective. You need to address common inquiries that customers have about your products—are they easy to use, cost-effective, etc.? What are their applications? What is the customer process like at your company, and what should a client expect when he or she does business with you?
  • Another reason your website isn’t converting: You’re talking to the wrong people. Who are your clients? What are their problems, and their values? How can you ensure that your website is targeted to their needs? This is where buyer personas might come in handy.
  • Your website may not be converting because you lack compelling calls to action. You can’t just assume that people will pick up the phone to call you; you have to ask them to. You should have a compelling call to action on every page of your site.
  • Finally, if your website isn’t converting, it may be something as simple as a lack of contact information. You need to make it as easy as possible for people to place an order, or to ask you questions about what you do. Do you have company contact information on every page of your site? Is it complete and up-to-date?

Need more help troubleshooting your company website? Reach out to the Grammar Chic, Inc. team today: Call 803-831-7444, or visit http://www.grammarchic.net.

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