Advice: How to turn web visitors into web customers

It’s the goal of every business – to be able to attract and retain an increasing share of their target market.

In the real world, business systems and CRM tools can give us as many reports as we desire about the conversions of ‘potentials’ into ‘customers’. And online, web site statistics can give us live feedback on how many people enter ‘the sales funnel’ and how many people end up completing an online ‘goal’.

Reports on conversions are essential resources for every modern business – but on a higher level, they’re simply not be able to tell you just *how* to turn a visitor on your web site into a real-life customer.

Ready for a psychology 101/marketing 101 lesson? Let’s talks needs.

In 1943, Abraham Maslow proposed his “hierarchy of needs” – a series of 5 levels that were the building blocks for every human’s existence (indeed happiness).

Starting with a base of physiological needs, without which no human can survive: breathing, food, water, sleep, shelter.

On top of that, Maslow added the needs for safety (personal security/health/employment/etc), then the need for belonging (social/family/love), then the need for esteem (respect and confidence), and finally, and only if everything else was in place, the need for self-actualisation: creativity, morality and other aesthetic needs.

It’s both amazingly complex yet intuitive at the same time – a series of needs which must be fulfilled before the next level of needs can be even contemplated.

In terms of turning visitors on your web site into real-life customers, all we gave to do is bend the five levels into more web-centric concepts.

So out go the five concepts of food, safety, love, respect & acceptance – instead we’re talking “AB’s hierarchy of internet needs”:

• discovery
• interest
• proof
• trust
• action

First step – get discovered

I can’t say it any simpler than this: Google loves words. Sure, Google also loves images and maps and RESTful APIs, but 99 times out of 100, people use the Google search box looking for phrases of *text*. So… how about we give the people what they want, ey?

By adding new content to your web site/blog (articles/stories/case studies/etc) on a regular basis, you’re essentially beginning to write a book about your business. A book that’s online 24×7, and when found, provides deep and informative content about your business to anyone who’s asking.

If it’s your aim to provide that deep information on your business for the benefit of your customers, then Google seems to match that altruistic goal with a matching reward of placing your web site higher in their search results pages.

Sure, there’s a whole pseudo-science to it, but it’s almost that simple: if you plan to put your customers’ needs first, then you’ll get more ’search engine love’ from Google et al.

And with such an informative web site, your word of mouth will spread faster, too – you’ll probably have other businesses linking to your content as ‘extra resources’. You may or may not get you more customers directly on day one, but it’s all adding up to making your web site a ‘go to’ site for your industry.

Next, create interest

Ask any internet marketer how long you’ve got to make a first impression with your web site, and you’ll get an amazing array of very small numbers.

The consensus is that you have about 10-20 seconds or so – after all, the thinking of the average joe is that “if this web site doesn’t solve my problem, there must be another one somewhere else that can”. We’re all guilty of that: we’re all information-starved and time-poor.

There’s thousands of ways to create interest for your web site visitors, so that they stick around long enough to read a bit deeper. There’s: design aspects (colours, styles, fonts); offers & promotions (free stuff, limited time offers); technical wizardry (way cool flashing thingies, etc); and many more.

One powerful way to turn a quick visit into a long visit – is to be *current*.

There’s nothing worse that a web site that doesn’t change from year to year: ” last updated May 2005″. Ouch – quite possibly a waste of time.

Business blogs aim to show off the most recent content first, with typically a long list of ’summaries’ of the most recent 10 or so articles listed on the home page.

This list of recent articles should take precedence over what were formerly the most important pages on a web site: the ‘about us’, ‘contact us’ type pages.

These supporting pages are important for *real* customers wanting to find a map to your premises, but the currency and relevancy and the *vibrancy* of fresh content shows both your old *and* new customers that you’re passionate about your business, and that you have new things to say, and new things to offer.

Provide social proof

Anyone can claim anything on the internet. It’s a by-product of the anonymity of the technology involved, that can lead to over-eager claims and wild statements.

Even if you’re not actively trying to tell porky-pies (‘lies’ in Cockney English, for my non-Australian readers), it’s still very easy to stretch the truth – or, at the very least, to over-state the situation.

Visitors to business web sites need some sort of *proof* before they can commit to trusting you or contacting you.

So *prove* that you know your stuff. *Prove* that you have other customers who love you with regular testimonials. *Prove* to me, the skeptical internet-savvy potential-customer, that what you’re saying/writing about, is also actually true.

It’s not too hard to think of ways to demonstrate your competency, and with a business blog, the actual writing about it and getting it up onto your site is dead-easy. If you’re at all used to Microsoft Word, then you’re set. If you have any sort of smartphone, then you’re equally ’set’, plus you can add new ’social proof’ where-ever and whenever you find it – with a photo, of course!

Earn trust

Apart from the ‘interest’ and the ‘proof’, to get to a point where we can think about earning a customer’s business, we have to go one level more, and earn a customer’s trust.

One of the best methods of earning trust via a web site, is to commit to the master plan of your business blog/web site, and keep plugging away at writing short or long articles of content relevant to your target audience.

Built into every blog is the concept of subscribing. Either via RSS Newsfeeds (go re-read my ‘a Coffee and a blog for breakfast’ article!) or via automated emails, potential customers can subscribe to your blog, so that they get every article you write – as you write it.

That way, if we’ve been discovered, created interest, and given proof, but not needed to be of services yet, it’s only trust that is earned over time that can convert a potential customer into the final stage… the call to action!

Call to action

Whew! We’re finally here – we’ve brought a customer to your door, created interest and shown them proof – and now they’re ready to call you/email you/buy from you online/whatever it takes.

Sure, there’s much more work to be done during and after the transaction – but I think I’ve shown you the light: if you want to turn visitors on your web site into real-life customers, begin building an authentic web site with reference to the five needs of every internet users.

AB out