With Halloween just over a week away,there’s a lot of talk these days about fear.
Fear of ghosts. Fear of zombies. Fear of pouty, pretty-boy vampires annoying us into an early grave …
But lately, when I talk to clients about their Web content, I’ve started uncovering a very different kind of fear:
Fear of revealing what they specialize in.
Curious, but true. Many business leaders are so beset with fear of being pigeonholed, of being lumped in with their competitors, or of … hell, I don’t know what else, that they curl up into a nondescript ball and hope the prospect will make a lucky guess at what their true superpower is.
The result? A website that’s rife with floppy words like “optimize,” “resources,” “leverage,” “development,” “opportunities,” “solutionszzzz …”
Whaddahuh? Oh, sorry. Dozed off for a second there.
Case in point: Last week I spent several hours with a new client to kick off a content redesign. This company offers several different products and services, but there’s one area that represents 80% of their revenue, if not more. So here’s a visual representation of what this client’s actual business looks like:
And here’s what their actual Web content looks like:
Yes, they’ve taken the one thing that drives a huge majority of their business and buried it under a pile of side jobs.
Folks, this is a no-win approach to online marketing:
- Prospective customers lose because they really need that superpower of yours … but looking at your website, they’re just not sure if it’s your thing.
- You lose because those prospective customers wander away from your site in search of a hero who can solve their problems—one who says so in no uncertain terms.
So do yourself a favor: Grab a piece of paper and write down the main problem that you solve for prospects. Not all the problems you solve—just the one that has brought the majority of your clients to your door. Now pull up your website and count how many times the words on your paper come up. If you find the results … well, frightening … it might be time for a content overhaul.
So, how good is your website at highlighting your business’ specialty? Share your thoughts with us in the comments—we’d love to hear from you!
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Content Curator Rachel Parker
Rachel Parker, Owner and Chief Content Strategist of Resonance Content Marketing, brings a track record of success in brand messaging to her work with forward-thinking businesses of all sizes. With over 15 years experience as a brand strategist and marketing writer, Rachel has worked with some of the most prominent companies in Houston, including Hewlett-Packard, SYSCO Foodservice, AIG American General, Methodist Hospital, Reliant Energy, Honeywell, and many others.
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