How Does Your Website Design Make Me Feel?
When people think of website design and Internet, they think of technology. When people hear that I’m a website strategy expert, they see me as a “technical type”.
But to me, the most interesting aspect of your online business is not the technology. It’s about human connections and how you can make them in a virtual environment.
It is generally understood that “people buy emotionally, not intellectually”. Even when people think they are making rational decisions, powerful subconscious factors come into play. To sell effectively, we are told to anticipate our customers’ needs, to show that we “feel their pain,” and to respond to cues in their body language and tone of voice.
In the “real world” we do this very well. And we know that if we can have a direct face-to-face conversation, there’s a pretty good chance we’ll close the sale or keep the customer happy.
For an online visitor, your website is the best thing to have a one-on-one conversation with you, your colleagues or employees. And with so many people searching for products and services on the web, it’s important that your website has maximum impact and convinces them to take the next step with you.
So how does your website connect emotionally with your visitors? Do they feel listened to, understood and appreciated by your online presence? Are you instinctively meeting their real needs? Do your existing customers feel supported and appreciated when they interact with you online?
Or are you failing to evoke the crucial emotional responses that can dramatically increase your response rates, sales, and ongoing ROI on your website investment?
Critical emotions for website success
Since 1995, I have been working with clients’ web strategies in a wide range of industries. Based on this experience, I have identified some key emotions you need to evoke in your online visitors to create and maintain a profitable relationship.
How well your Website does this can make all the difference to your visitors’ gut reactions and their propensity to buy or connect with you.
In total, I have twenty criteria for emotional connection that I suggest for any website. There are too many to discuss in this article, but let’s take a look at a few of the highlights:
Do I feel recognized?
When we first meet in a business setting, we are introduced or introduce ourselves with some statement about what we do and why we should connect with each other.
When talking to customers or potential customers, it is important to show very quickly that we understand their problems and needs and that we have ideas and solutions to solve them.
The most important job of your homepage is to make that initial introduction. You’ve heard the “ten-second rule” about how long a visitor will stay on a website that doesn’t engage them.
Does your homepage really tell me what you do? Does it speak to me in specific terms that make it very clear what services you provide and what type of customers or clients you work with? Does it use language that I will understand even if I don’t know the jargon of your field or specialty?
Does it sound simple?
There are a staggering number of websites that do not provide basic information on the home page.
If your goal is to get a customer to visit your store, does your home page clearly show your location and how to get there? Every time you force a visitor to make a decision, such as “Should I click on the Contact Us page to find their address?”, you’re opening up the possibility that they’ll make the wrong decision (from your perspective), or worse. they just leave anyway.
And it’s clear to me if you can – or would like to – help me? Are you targeting corporate wholesalers, small businesses, or both? Do you operate nationwide or only in your immediate surroundings? Will your visitors know what you mean by general terms like “business systems” or “total business solutions” or should you be more specific about what you offer?
Do I feel engaged?
As we continue our “real” conversation, we begin to find common ground, whether personal or professional. We start to feel like we can connect with each other and that helps build our business relationship.
So your website must make the visitor feel like they want to know more about your business, your products and services, but again from the point of view of their needs and interests. And you need to give the visitor a clear sense that you want to find these connection points and learn more about them.
If a visitor doesn’t feel invited in, if they feel left to fend for themselves – if they’re overwhelmed, confused or simply not interested in your site, they’ll leave.
Does your site present an overwhelming array of manufacturers, products or options without any guidance on how to choose from them? Think about a conversation you would have with a customer in your store. You would find out what they were looking for and then ask them a series of questions to help them find the right system logic solution for their needs.
So how can you mirror this process online? You can offer a “Help Me” page that guides visitors through some frequently asked questions or other options and provides links to recommended products based on their answers. You can incorporate interactive chat with a customer service agent during business hours or access to a searchable knowledge base.
Do I feel confident?
When a visitor sees your business for the first time, they need to feel that you are who you say you are and that you can deliver what you promise.
One of the most important elements in establishing this part of the connection is to show the “faces” of your business. Have you noticed how many websites don’t name any of their owners or the people their customers will interact with? It’s so much easier to have a conversation when I know who I’m talking to!
Customer testimonials and other third-party testimonials are critical elements in building trust—they say a lot more about you than your own marketing statements. How many sites have we all seen trumpet a “nationally recognized” or “leading provider of . . .”? Prove it!
Include client offers and success stories right on your website where they are front and center as visitors engage with your content. If you win an award, tell the visitor what it means to them in terms of how you were rated.
Do I feel motivated?
By the end of our “real” conversation, we’ll hopefully close the sale or talk about next steps, or say “Let’s keep in touch.” In order to do this with our online visitor, we need to convince them to buy something or tell us who they are and give us permission to reconnect with them.
Too many web pages end without a call to action or instructions on where to go next. If you don’t issue a clear invitation, you’re once again leaving it up to the visitor to decide what to do – and you risk losing them.
At every point on every page where a visitor might think “Tell me more” or “How do I get this?”, provide a clickable link to the next step, shopping cart, newsletter sign-up page, or whatever you want them to they did. Don’t wait for the bottom of the page – they might never get there! Look for emotional “tipping points” on each page where they are ready to talk to you more and catch them in the moment!
Connection thinning
Of course, it’s all too easy to undo all that good feeling we create by frustrating or annoying the visitor, or simply giving them a dead end.
One of my favorite bugbears is the site’s search engine, which allows me to type in a query and then tells me, “No results were found. Please try again with different search terms.”
How is it supposed to make me feel? What was wrong with my keywords or parameters if the search page allowed me to select them? I’m dumb? Or do you really not want to help me?
Your visitor is clearly looking for something and has taken the step to connect with you. How about a results page that lets them know you can’t answer their question right away, but offers a link to your contact form so they can send a question or some tips or suggestions on how to find more information.
A top customer service feature is an opportunity to interact with a live assistant – if your website offers this feature, the search results page is the perfect place to maximize its visibility.
So how “emotionally connected” is your website?
I hope I have piqued your curiosity enough to check out your website again.
Think specifically about why visitors are coming to your site, what they might be thinking, and review your text and navigation accordingly. Think about new and existing customers, employees, media – anyone who might have a reason to visit. Are you doing everything you can to create an “emotionally connected” experience for everyone?
The right combination will bring you significantly more time spent on your website, more calls from pre-qualified leads, more signed contracts, happier repeat customers, attention from new markets, offers for strategic alliances and collaborations, and insight into creating successful new products and services.