Every website produces a tone that hopefully resonates with, rather than repels a visitor. But many Website owners unwittingly undermine their own site because they are either unaware of the need for establishing the right tone, or the tone they choose fails to align with the message being delivered. To understand whether your website has the right tone, first ask yourself, if you believe that your site visitor will respond to an aggressive, friendly or smart tone. If you know the answer, you're half way home. The other challenge is to achieve that objective.
An aggressive tone is directed at the impulse buyer. It works well for direct mail and e-commerce situations where the objective is to get someone to click on the Buy button NOW! The content of a website has to set the tone using images and copy that would make the visitor's head spin with tantalizing must-have now offers.
A friendly tone suggests a softer approach. The messaging is more about "what I can do for you" rather than "I have what you need." The feelings this tone generates are comfort, rapport, safety, and kindness. The friendly tone develops trust and loyalty, before engaging in business.
The third option is the smart tone. The images and text create a high level of competency and expertise. The messaging is "I know what you need to know" or "I am the one you need to know" or "I have the knowledge you need to hire."
Most business sites do none of the above or choose the wrong tone. For example, sites that should be selling their expertise, are designed like catalogs. They simply display their products and services, expecting the visitor to contact them because they have products and services the visitor needs. Unfortunately, many other sites have the same stuff. So without the right tone to differentiate from competitors, a site visitor does not experience a compelling engagement.
At TransitionITnow we not only build award-winning sites, we create the tone that a business needs to resonate with their prospects. Because we are a content development firm, we provide and manage content-ready websites with fresh writing and images produced for our clients,
Getting the tone right also serves to properly brand the personality of a company to its customers, employees and vendors. Sending out the wrong tone can be costly, but few executives can see that cost because accounting methods don't measure revenue they failed to earn.
Why do you need a website? For some it's just a matter of showing that your business exists.
For others, it's like a billboard to let passersby know what it offers...The usefulness of a website to any business comes down to it's contribution to the revenue generation of the business. Is there anything more important to a business than making money? The question to ask, therefore, is what is the right thing to do that would leverage a business site to make money.