"WEBMARKETING
TIPS"
Is Your Web Site Customer
Centric?
Whether they come to buy, learn, download, or
for any other reason,
every Web site visitor is a potential customer.
As a Web site owner,
your job is to keep those customers coming back
time and again. To do that, your site needs to
be customer-centric.
What Does "Customer-Centric" Mean?
Customer-centric" means creating a Web site that
is centered around customer wants and needs.
Savvy businesses are realizing that focusing
their site on customer benefits and ensuring its
visitors a unique experience are key drivers of
sales, loyalty, and much-desired word-of-mouth
advertising.
By proactively considering the needs, wants, and
beneficial preferences of your customers, you
can make more effective decisions about the
content, offerings, design, and processes
available on your site.
The Customer-Centric Quiz
Take a hard look at your Web site and ask
yourself the following
questions to see how it measures up to
customer-centric ideals.
Does your home page describe how customers will
benefit from your
content, your products, or your services? If
they can't figure out
what's in it for them, visitors aren't likely to
stick around.
Is contact information always just one click
away? Don't make visitors work too hard to reach
you. They might not bother, and you could miss
out on important contacts.
Is your site content clearly organized and
easily navigable? People
don't have time to decode silly names, wade
through a confusing maze of information, or
remember where they last saw a link to some
other part of your site. Organize your pages
into plainly-named categories, provide links to
every category on every page, and place those
links in consistent locations.
Is your original content free of spelling and
grammar mistakes? Nothing is more annoying than
having to trudge through content riddled with
misspelled words, poorly written sentences, and
misused homonyms (their, there, and they're, for
example). Nothing will seal your fate as an
amateur more than poor writing. If you aren't
sure about your abilities, get a knowledgeable
person to review and correct the content you
create. Also, consider taking courses or reading
books that will help you improve your writing
skills.
Do your provide a way for customers to give you
feedback on products, services, or your site
itself? You should always be interested in what
your customers have to say. If you avoid their
opinions, you're likely to end up with products
and services they don't want. So, give them a
feedback form, conduct surveys, or invite
opinions so they can tell you what they think.
Does your site make it easy for the customer to
get what they want?
If it's too complicated to download a file,
order a product, or find
information, customers will simply click over to
another site where
it's easier. Reduce to the bare minimum the
amount of information you require from a
customer, as well as the number of steps needed
to complete any process.
Does your site make it easy for customers to get
support online? One trade magazine recently
referred to customer service as the Web's new
killer app. A customer-centric site will give
customer service a starring role. At a minimum,
customers need an email address or phone number
where they can reach you. In-depth, well-written
FAQs can help reduce the need for one-on-one
support by providing answers to the most common
questions. Interactive problem-reporting
databases can automate the documentation and
tracking of issues that need attention.
Conclusion
Success is all about meeting a need better than
anyone else. By
focusing every element of your Web site on
meeting customer needs, you're much more likely
to become and remain a preferred provider in the
vast, competitive Web marketplace.
SK Kor
Internet Marketing Consultant
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