As an offline business owner with a website, I know you spend a lot of time worrying about getting traffic to your website…and you should be. But what are you doing with your site visitors…once they land on your site? No matter what type of website you have, retail or otherwise, you need to focus on BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS with your website visitors! Building relationships related to your online presence can take place in a number of different ways: active as well as passive, and they all work together…
The 2 main relationship building vehicles available to you online are your website (and/or blog) and email, both business email and marketing email. Here in Part 1, we will discuss website strategies for relationship building.
WEBSITE STRATEGIES:
ABOUT ME / ABOUT US Page
Include an ABOUT ME / ABOUT US page with short bios and photos of you and the staff. In most cases, informal images will work just fine. If you have a physical location that people are likely to visit, include photos of both the exterior and interior.
WEBSITE WRITING STYLE
Write in an informal, personable style Where appropriate, personalize comments and suggestions, such as in product descriptions.
GENERAL STRATEGIES
1) Depending on your industry, consider offering personalized suggestions from you and staff such as: Staff Favorites, Staff Tips, and Staff Recommendations with each staff member listed by name with a photo. For example, in an accounting practice where different staff members have different specialties, include a Tips section with comments from each staff member, along with each individual’s picture.
2) Include a BLOG in your online marketing plan and include some posts that have a personal tone and are written in a nice style.
3) If you have a physical location that people are likely to visit, include written maps and driving directions.
4) Consider offering information on related resources that may be of interest to your customers/clients. EXAMPLE: If you are a destination site, it may make sense to offer information on local restaurants. Explore ways you and restaurants could cross-market.
Website strategies work in two ways:
- DIRECTLY – providing information and resources
- INDIRECTLY – the emotions you are evoking through that information and those resources
Every part of your website (images and written words) reflects on you, your business, and your attitudes. While these can be very subtle, they can also be VERY powerful relationship builders.