The power of ‘why.’

How to make your website visitors curious

Visitors come to your site searching for answers, but answers mean little without understanding the questions. Those coming to your website may have questions…but are they the right questions? Yes, you should provide the answers they need, but you should frame these answers to help visitors develop a deeper understanding of the questions that leads them to ask more.  

The ‘why’ counts

The products and services you promote on your website may not perfectly align with the expectations of your site visitors. Your website is the first (and often ‘the only’) chance you have to adjust their expectations. Explaining why you offer the products and solutions you do (instead of other solutions) is your opportunity to open site visitors to new ways of seeing a problem. The right content makes their mind more observant of new ideas and fuels more profound discovery.

Human nature

As humans, we associate knowledge of something with power. The knowledge you provide on your website can be seen as a gift and act of generosity by those who read it. These gestures help build trust and faith. It’s how you build a relationship and trust with an individual before you even have a dialogue.

1,2,3,4

It takes, on average 4 engagements with a brand or organisation online before a person reaches out. Your ‘why’ can fuel those 4 engagements. Suppose you create your website and content to understand that all who do a search and land on your website are at different stages of discovery. In that case, you have a much greater chance of driving those 4 essential qualifying engagements.

One question leads to the next

There are few times in life when we only have one question. Mostly one question leads to another, then another, and so on. If this is the case, why is it then that most website content sounds very much like the writer is not interested in helping the reader dig deeper? To many of us, much of the content on a website is a dead end. It either doesn’t answer my question or fails to inspire me to seek more answers from this source. It’s why 2 pages per session are considered a good result by industry standards. It’s also why a reasonable return visitor rate is 30%. Imagine if you could get something as simple as 3 page views and 50% return visitors. What could that look to you in terms of revenue?

‘Why’ why?

All inquiries start with a ‘why?’. Don’t take for granted that those visiting your website know what you know. Some visitors may know more. However, most will know a great deal less. Make your first act in these new relationships one of generosity. Help readers better understand the question and then provide answers with a why. Why do you give the solutions of the products or services you provide? Why is what you offer better? Why is the risk of engaging with you lower? Why is the reward higher? Why should I trust what you say or do?

A resource, not a brochure

Start a conversation online by simply creating a website that is a valued source of information. Somewhere a potential customer can know to become more informed. Somewhere they can start to build faith in you, your brand, your products, your services your solution. Create a world where both the beginner and expert find value. Use your specific ‘why’ to tell stories that are informative, engaging and even occasionally entertaining. Do all of this and what happens next.