You have 1 or 2 seconds to make an impression, and
2 or 3 seconds more to make a sale, or forget the
web hosting business!!
Web hosting as a business has taken off in the last
12 months, with a vengeance.
How many web sites are on the Web today? They all
have to be hosted somewhere, the result being, there
are now thousands of web hosts around the globe today.
How do people decide to choose you?
Potential customers will talk to friends; perhaps
ask a local web design group; or consult their ISP
(Internet Service Provider); but this may result in
knowledge of only one or two hosting companies. There
are hosting directories, and review sites which may
be governed by whoever pays for the largest ad or
personal opinions that seem popular. The visitor will
still have to make the final decision.
If these visitors make their own decisions, and there
are thousands of web hosts to choose from, there are
very few seconds to deliver your offer, which must
be instantly obvious. What can you do to turn this
streaming traffic into sales?
First View – The look of your web site
Are the design, content and delivery up to customer
expectations? If the presentation has obviously been
thought about; a conscientious effort to delivery
and content; then it is likely the visitor will believe
that the hosting company will also look after their
site conscientiously. If the presentation is poor,
then forget it, there are more than enough web hosts
that look good. Of course, to the other extreme, if
the web host’s site looks a million dollars,
it is likely that the visitor will be expecting to
a pay a ‘million’ too!
The Initial Offers – What are your
best packages?
With the sudden growth of the web, the hosting industry
has had to take a retail approach to content delivery.
In the retail trade the offers are so many, that the
customer has to learn to speed read, or speed view.
Visitors to web hosting sites have not got the time
to read all the details on each of every one of thousands
of sites, so speed viewing is a must; or is it?
Web hosts who have nothing to sell usually hide this
fact by showing columns of text, expecting the visitor
to sort out what is good to them or not. The usual
explanation for this is “ The visitor knows
what they want and will find it without our hassling
them.” The expectation is that with less hassle
the visitor will more likely become a customer. Not
true.
Web hosts that have special offers, great deals,
or offer specialised packages for say private, business
or corporate customers; will tell you just that. Think
about it, why hide the fact you have a winner? By
taking a retail approach to a very retail business,
the real dealmakers are not ‘backward in coming
forward’.
Obviously making everything on the site an ‘excellent’
offer is the other extreme. Most web hosts offer 90%
of what their competition offers, so to point out
every good point offered would be overkill. The likely
result would be that you would show the visitor that
you are new to the industry, and less experienced;
not good in times of future support.
By pointing out the great points in the best reasonable
packages, you will catch the eye of the traffic, until
previously, zooming past you. What to do when they
have stopped for a visit is another matter.
Congratulations on getting the traffic to
stop and browse – What next?
Getting the zooming traffic to stop and browse is
difficult enough. The look of your web site can catch
that peripheral vision of theirs; in an instant they
can decide, “I will stop here and have a look”.
The offers of 3 or 4 of your accounts, too good to
be true, or at least warrant further investigation,
entice a visit.
These ‘highway signs’ make you stop and
pull over. What happens once the visitors have pulled
in? You will have to hold them there, before they
up and leave just as quickly. The ‘restees’
have seen the site, they have sampled the best on
offer; now what? You know you have a captured audience,
all be it for another 2 or 3 seconds. Be careful not
to send these valuable potential customers off clicking
around your site. They clicked on your special package,
the offer on the front page, so take them directly
to it.
The visitor has been enticed to your web site; seen
good offers and one or two of those are just what
they are looking for. Take them direct to the page
with the offer; include the price; include basic details
that quantify very quickly the worth of the package;
and, provide an order form. Do not smother these account
pages in common details, or details of other accounts.
There should be only two main pages, the front page
and the account package page, that which the customer
clicks to. The front page is attractive and entices
you to stay, the offer encourages you to spend a few
more seconds on the account page consisting of title,
offer, basics, price and order form; all this should
be on a secure page ready to take credit card information.
No two visitors are the same. There are those that
will just sign up straightaway and those that will
‘further investigate’. Put the remainder
of your account packages’ details, along with
the ‘about’ information, the ‘help’,
the ‘support’ etc, on other pages, using
links on navigation bars for easy access, keep the
offer clean.
You have one or two seconds to sell your product,
don’t use it to educate your potential customer,
let someone else do that! Give them what they want,
this is now a very retail industry, if you are stuck
for reference material, then visit a supermarket or
local store, retail research has been around for years.
