Now, before you read this post, I recommend you read 5 Elements Every Successful Website Needs and The 7 Missing Pieces Of Your Website-You Didn’t know About, that's where the meat of your website is and where you will see the biggest difference in conversion.
This blog talks about the small finishing touches your websites needs to run the way you want it to.
Even though the following website elements are not part of your bigger website process they are still essential to the overall conversion of your website.
Your websites finishing touches...
- Evidentials- Helps your prospects trust your claims
- Testimonials- Helps your prospects envision how their life will be transformed with your product/service and provides further proof your product/service does what it says it does.
- Awards- Establishes you and your company as experts in the field and provides an extra layer of trust
- Client List- This is another trust builder. Helps prospects see who you have served. (recognized brand names are instant trust builders)
- Quantitative Proof- Proof with real numbers is always more believable than making generic statements like "we are the best in your city"
Let's get into it!
1. Evidentials
Evidentials prove to your clients that all the claims you are making (we are #1... top in the city...we have the best equipment) are TRUE.
People are over bombarded with companies making claims. Every company says they "Are The Best In The City!", which makes it hard for the prospect to differentiate between companies.
Prospects now need a reason for why you claim to "be the best" to fully believe the claim.
Only claims that are believed influence the buying decision
As we learned in the previous blog you need a value proposition for your company (the reason why clients should choose you over anyone else) and when you gave them that reason you then need to support that reason with evidence and that’s where evidentials come in.
Your evidentials support your value proposition.
For example, say you sell dog food, and your value proposition is extraordinary customer service.
now,
if you just state extradentary customer service on your site it means nothing to a prospect. Everyone claims to have amazing customer service.
What you need is evidence to back up your claim.
So, then you would give verifiable and quantifiable facts on how you have the best customer service in your particular industry.
Dog Food Store Example:
Rated #1 in customer service
We personally help you choose the perfect food for your dog based on various factors like breed, age, activity level, health conditions etc...
Next day free delivery- you never have to worry about running out of food!
Full Refunds- If your dog doesn’t like the food or develops allergies you can bring the food back for a full refund.
Evidentials can be in the form of:
- video
- pictures
- diagrams
- graphs
- quantifiable numbers (we're number one because we have served over 500 happy clients)
- bullet points
2.Testimonials
Testimonials are essential for making buying decisions.
People eat from places recommended by friends, buy from places their friends bought from and so on.
Therefore,
Testimonials act like a trusted online friend. We see other people had a good time at a local bowling alley and we assume we will have a good time.
there are two types of testimonials:
- story type testimonial
- high authority person testimonial
Story Testimonials:
It's important not have all your testimonials that say "great service"
in order to help people, make their buying decision we have to put detail and format it in a story type of way.
Now,
I don’t want to overwhelm you here on the entire story process (I will dedicate a separate blog for that)
For now, all you need to know is that the testimonial should have a
- Before: what was life like for your client before they bought your product or service?
- Crisis: The single even that forced him to solve his problem
- Afterlife: what is life like for your prospect after your product
Not every testimonial will be like this but its important to have a few that are.
High Authority testimonials:
the second type of testimonial is from a high authority person.
This doesn’t have to be a celebrity it could be an expert in the field or someone who is respected and seen as an authority figure like doctor or lawyer. having their opinion increases the creditability of your product or service by a lot!
3. Awards
This is where you can brag about your company.
Since most of your site is dedicated to your prospect, it’s okay to start talking about what makes your company so great!
4. Client list
A client list is important to display in the top 1/3 of your website.
You've served some amazing people and it’s time to show case them.
You can list:
Companies
Important People
Testimonials Here
This is how one of our clients showcases their client list. Its best to have your client list within the top 1/3 of your website, so people can instantly start building trust with your company.
5. Quantitative facts
Sprinkle quantitative facts everywhere. Displaying exact numbers is an amazing way to add trust to your website and make the buying decision easier for your prospects.
Example of the company Lean on Meals using quantitative facts to gain the trust of new prospects.
Jennifer Tiwana
Jennifer has experience in Journalism, Writing and Editing for National News Networks such as the Globe and Mail. Student of Leading Marketing and Advertising Experts such as Russel Brunson, Dan Kennedy, Joseph Sugarman, and John Caples. Responsible for Sales Letters that have generated over $500,000 in Revenue.