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If you have a Website, you’re headed in
the right direction. But, does your Website get enough visitors?
Are they the right visitors for what you sell? And even if
your website does get the right visitors, it’s clear that
just having a Website isn’t enough anymore. If your Website
doesn’t give buyers the details they need to make a decision,
they’ll hit the “Back Button” to find another supplier.
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of buyers visit the Web and eliminate potential suppliers
before they even think of picking up the phone. They are
cutting you out of the loop. |
Develop a marketing strategy that helps you:
To win the business of industrial buyers
on the Web, it’s critical that your strategy meet both of
these goals.
The best thing about the Internet –
the single most important thing about the Internet –
is that it’s great for getting things done fast. You
must bear in mind that most of the people who come to your
Website aren’t surfing. They’re working; they’re
busy; and they’re in a hurry. Whether your Website leads
to a sale, or drives a dissatisfied user elsewhere, boils
down to two simple considerations: Do you offer what the user
is looking for? And is it easy for the user to find?
According to research on buyer behavior,
the foremost feature of a successful Website is search functionality.
70% of visitors use a site’s search function, and 43%
of online shoppers rank it as a Website’s most important
element. Search capabilities are particularly important for
suppliers who offer multiple products in numerous categories,
or whose products are selected according to specifications
such as length, width, diameter, or other quantifiable attributes.
If prospective buyers can’t quickly find the products
they need, they’ll move on to another Website.
| On average,
you have five to eight seconds (including the time it
takes for your home page to load) to captivate a visitor
and pull the user further into your site. If, in that
time, users can’t figure out if your site might
fulfill their needs, they’re gone. (Note, though, that
they don’t leave the Web; they just leave your Website
for one of your competitors.) |
In a survey of business users of the Web
by Enterpulse, 89% pointed to inefficient navigation as a
Website’s fatal flaw. Web users expect interactive tools
designed to help them locate information that will guide their
purchase decisions. Easy searchability draws users into your
Website by immediately establishing credibility. According
to a Stanford University study, 46.1% of Americans associate
the design of a company’s Website – its structure
and navigation – with the company’s credibility.
In a survey by ISM/Forrester Research, only 11% of 350 supply
management executives rated their current preferred suppliers’
Websites as “very good,” while three times as
many – 33% – rated their suppliers’ Websites
as “very bad”. And according to Enterpulse, 66%
of survey respondents rarely return to a site once they’ve
had a bad experience there. |
