First Impressions - What Is Your Site Saying About You?
| Category: Home Based Business - Marketing | Date: 2003-06-19 |
Im sure youve heard the saying "First Impressions, are lasting impressions". This saying is very true. Every time you meet someone for the first time an impression is made. Things are no different on the internet. Even though you, as a person, cant be seen, your site says a lot about you once it is visited for the first time. What type of impression are you leaving?
In our online experience weve clicked on many sites. We have developed first impressions on numerous occasions. Here are a few impressions a site may leave:
The Immediate Sales Site
How would you like it if you went to purchase a new computer and upon walking into the store the salesperson met you at the door with a computer in hand and escorted you to the cash register? You would turn around and walk out wouldnt you.
Well some sites are like that. As soon as you click on the URL you are immediately hit with a sales pitch. You dont know who the site owner is and youre not familiar with the brand of products being offered. They may be offering the type of product youre looking for, which is why youre at the site but you need more information before you make a decision and its just not offered. Like the computer example, youll probably leave that site.
A good salespeople introduce themselves, ask you what you are looking for, allow you to browse around if you want, give you directions to specific areas of the store that may interest you and are there for you when theyre needed. A site that doesnt have an immediate hard sales pitch, is user-friendly and introduces the owner of the site leaves a good impression.
Flea Market Site
This site occurs as a result of the associate programs wave. Im all for associate programs. I have signed up for a few also. The problem with the flea market site is everything is being offered on the same page. Its to cluttered.
When you first walk into a flea market youre presented with everything you can possibly think of. People are selling used items, collectibles, some new items, and everything else. Nothing is neat or orderly, its a flea market. Youre there to find bargains and no more.
Is that what you really want said about your site? You have a lot of good quality products to offer but the site needs some order. Ebay is an excellent example of a flea market site thats set up correctly. Even though they are offering a wide variety of items through their sellers, the site is set up with specific categories and everything is easy to find. They dont try to offer all the products on the first page. That would be overwhelming and
confusing.
Analyze your products and determine which ones have something in common. Divide them into categories. Put a headline and brief description of each category of products on the first page and put the products on other pages throughout your site. A well-organized site leaves a good impression.
Beat around the bush site
Dont you love going to the dealership to purchase a car. Once you find one on the lot you think you like and you ask for more information including the price, the salesperson will proceed to ask you questions about your employment and your ability to pay and go on and on about the quality, look and feel of the car. They dont want to discuss the price until you test drive the vehicle hoping youll fall in love with it and pay full or close to full price for it. Even after youve test driven it they will sit you in their cubicle, bring out all the paperwork hoping youre more concerned about qualifying for the loan than haggling over the price.
Some sites are just like that. They take you through page after page of promotions and information only to get to the end of the site and theres no price. The only way you can find out what the price is, is to click on the order button. By then they hope you will just proceed with the purchase instead of clicking away. After all you have invested a lot of time at the site.
A good site will give just enough information for you to make a decision. They will give adequate points about all the benefits of the product. They will also provide a way for you to obtain more information should you need it. Everything is up front and if after youve made a decision to purchase and change your mind its easy to make that change. An upfront, customer service oriented site leaves a good impression.
Im sure you have impressions of your own that you have experienced. Go to your site and analyze it. Do your customers know who you are? Are they able to browse around without a hard sales pitch everywhere they click? Can they make a purchase and make changes to the purchase if they change their minds? Is the site orderly? Make sure youre leaving a good impression.
© 2000 Jenean Matthews.
About the author.
Jenean Matthews is a businesswoman who believes in encouraging and helping others to accomplish their dreams. She believes people can overcome obstacles, rise to any occasion, and accomplish their entire dream with enough faith. She can be found accomplishing her dream at 1stshoppingavenue.com or subscribe to the newsletter for chances to win free gifts salespaper-subscribe@topica.com
jenean@justice.com
http://www.1stshoppingavenue.com
In our online experience weve clicked on many sites. We have developed first impressions on numerous occasions. Here are a few impressions a site may leave:
The Immediate Sales Site
How would you like it if you went to purchase a new computer and upon walking into the store the salesperson met you at the door with a computer in hand and escorted you to the cash register? You would turn around and walk out wouldnt you.
Well some sites are like that. As soon as you click on the URL you are immediately hit with a sales pitch. You dont know who the site owner is and youre not familiar with the brand of products being offered. They may be offering the type of product youre looking for, which is why youre at the site but you need more information before you make a decision and its just not offered. Like the computer example, youll probably leave that site.
A good salespeople introduce themselves, ask you what you are looking for, allow you to browse around if you want, give you directions to specific areas of the store that may interest you and are there for you when theyre needed. A site that doesnt have an immediate hard sales pitch, is user-friendly and introduces the owner of the site leaves a good impression.
Flea Market Site
This site occurs as a result of the associate programs wave. Im all for associate programs. I have signed up for a few also. The problem with the flea market site is everything is being offered on the same page. Its to cluttered.
When you first walk into a flea market youre presented with everything you can possibly think of. People are selling used items, collectibles, some new items, and everything else. Nothing is neat or orderly, its a flea market. Youre there to find bargains and no more.
Is that what you really want said about your site? You have a lot of good quality products to offer but the site needs some order. Ebay is an excellent example of a flea market site thats set up correctly. Even though they are offering a wide variety of items through their sellers, the site is set up with specific categories and everything is easy to find. They dont try to offer all the products on the first page. That would be overwhelming and
confusing.
Analyze your products and determine which ones have something in common. Divide them into categories. Put a headline and brief description of each category of products on the first page and put the products on other pages throughout your site. A well-organized site leaves a good impression.
Beat around the bush site
Dont you love going to the dealership to purchase a car. Once you find one on the lot you think you like and you ask for more information including the price, the salesperson will proceed to ask you questions about your employment and your ability to pay and go on and on about the quality, look and feel of the car. They dont want to discuss the price until you test drive the vehicle hoping youll fall in love with it and pay full or close to full price for it. Even after youve test driven it they will sit you in their cubicle, bring out all the paperwork hoping youre more concerned about qualifying for the loan than haggling over the price.
Some sites are just like that. They take you through page after page of promotions and information only to get to the end of the site and theres no price. The only way you can find out what the price is, is to click on the order button. By then they hope you will just proceed with the purchase instead of clicking away. After all you have invested a lot of time at the site.
A good site will give just enough information for you to make a decision. They will give adequate points about all the benefits of the product. They will also provide a way for you to obtain more information should you need it. Everything is up front and if after youve made a decision to purchase and change your mind its easy to make that change. An upfront, customer service oriented site leaves a good impression.
Im sure you have impressions of your own that you have experienced. Go to your site and analyze it. Do your customers know who you are? Are they able to browse around without a hard sales pitch everywhere they click? Can they make a purchase and make changes to the purchase if they change their minds? Is the site orderly? Make sure youre leaving a good impression.
© 2000 Jenean Matthews.
About the author.
Jenean Matthews is a businesswoman who believes in encouraging and helping others to accomplish their dreams. She believes people can overcome obstacles, rise to any occasion, and accomplish their entire dream with enough faith. She can be found accomplishing her dream at 1stshoppingavenue.com or subscribe to the newsletter for chances to win free gifts salespaper-subscribe@topica.com
jenean@justice.com
http://www.1stshoppingavenue.com
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