Your Web Site Isn't Finished

Usability guru Jakob Nielson suggested last week that B2B web sites create 'advocacy kits' to help customers arm themselves with the information necessary to convince the decision makers who must actually 'sign off' on these types of purchases. His point is that there are different types of people who might need different types of info to become confident or convinced enough to pull the trigger - product photos, white paper, press reviews, slide shows, demos, etc - and the web site should provide each of these supporting materials so the shopper can get the necessary approvals and the web site can 'get the sale'.

His general point - that your web site is not complete until it provides a full range of product and sales information - applies to anyone selling a product or service online, not just B2B sites. There are many reasons for this, but I think the main one is that web site development is considered a 'project' that gets a start date and end date and budget. Sites get built within these finite resource limits and then are considered 'done' until it's time for a major overhaul. But the reality of deadlines and budget limitations is that necessary trade-offs are made, shortcuts are taken, and only so much can get done.

Once the site is 'launched' its treated like a brochure that came back from the printer. That's what we've got until we do it again. Meanwhile, every day prospects come and go (just look at your log files or analytics) because the vast majority of them don't get enough information, aren't convinced, or worse just can't find or understand the material you are presenting.

Marketers need to take a critical look at their online sales materials and ask themselves: Is this everything I've got to say about that product (or service) to help a potential customer make their buying decision? And is what's there presented in the best and most understandable manner. If it isn't - and I think most marketers would probably say that only a small percentage of what they'd like to say to a prospect is included on their site - then a plan to iteratively improve the web site with more and better information and materials needs to be put in place. Time and money needs to be allocated on an ongoing basis until the web site does its job, which is to take as many potential customers as possible as far as possible through the sales cycle and right through purchase.

All of us know from our own online shopping experience, that more often than not you find a product or service of interest and do not find as much information as you'd like to have before purchasing. So we all wind up going back to Google, or visiting the manufacturers site, or looking up reviews in magazines or in user forums, and more often than not by this time we've either forgotten where we originally saw the product or stumbled on another seller that is either better or more convenient or just happens to be the there at the time that we're ready to buy.

Your site should be your ultimate sales person. The one that knows everything, and knows how to talk to just about anyone. The one that works 24/7. The one that closes more deals than anyone else. It can be, but just like the flesh-and-blood equivalent, it needs ongoing training and the best possible support materials or it just can't do the job you want it to do.

Unfortunately too many sites are treated like their human sales counterparts - they're barely educated about the products, not given enough or the right kind of sales materials, and then sent out there and expected to make sales. And just like in the real world, the result is a lot of missed opportunities.

Original Nielson link found via Brain Brew