A business website is a common practice these days – a way to tell your visitors about your product or service, and to invite them to inquire and buy. It’s so common, in fact, that there are millions of websites in your industry alone. What’s the best way to stand out from the crowd? How can the design of your website sway your visitors to do business with you, and not the next company?
Science has proven that people make their decisions based on emotions, and only afterwards they justify it with logic. Not the other way around. This means that your marketing message has to be geared to hit a chord of your visitors’ emotions. But how do you do that?
The format, which has been with us since cave drawings, is story. Perhaps this is why it’s so powerful – the primal roots of our stories are woven deep into our psyche, spanning hundreds of generations. When we encounter a good story, we project our awareness into its context and, to some degree, experience the hero’s adventures. Without even being aware of this, we identify with the hero, and take on his or her fears and goals. In this case, what makes a good story?
A good story is one that changes the hero – the trials and tribulations force the hero to grow and change for the better. Vicariously, it changes the audience, as well. But for that to happen, the hero has to make a difficult choice. In a good story the emotional response to a challenging situation causes the hero to act. Similarly, if you want your website visitors to act on your offer, your front page has to evoke an emotional response by “telling a story.”
The reason why I used quotation marks there is that the front page of your website is not a place for a story in its classical sense. The top fold of your front page is where you have only about 3 seconds to capture the attention of your visitor. The only way to tell a story in such a short period of time is with one image and a short headline. But how is that even possible?
It’s not only possible – today it’s my standard practice. My specialty is to help you distill the essence of your brand, to figure out what makes you unique and sets you apart from the crowd, and to craft it all into a 3-second story. Write or call me for a complimentary 30-minute consultation.