Set Yourself Apart From The Ordinary

I have written at length about the need to anticipate your visitors' needs. I have talked about how the first screen of the homepage needs to connect immediately and directly with the task each visitor has on his or her mind. I have talked about finding the search words and phrases people use to find your site, so you can use these same words on your homepage. And so on and so on.

And I think it is all good advice. When visitors arrive at your site for the first time, the best outcome you can hope for is that they think, "Excellent, I'm in exactly the right place. I can find what I'm looking for right here."

The problem is, the more you write the page to suit the needs of the reader, the less character it has.

There is a danger that you will become like that person at a party who roams from group to group, agreeing with everyone and simply reflecting back everyone's opinions and views. People like that are boring and ultimately very irritating. They never risk expressing opinions of their own.

The same thing can happen with a website. The more you try to please people, the thinner the character of your company or organization becomes.

The web has always been a place where strong views and opinions are highly valued. Think about the newsletters you subscribe to and the discussion lists you take part in. The most valuable contributions are those that express real character, where people take a strong position and are not afraid to express it and stand by it.

So there is a balance here. Yes, write your homepage to appeal to the reader, but also let some of the character of your organization shine through. This doesn't mean adding the mission statement, or shoveling the latest corporate sound bites onto your site. Heaven forbid.

But you can express some character. You can say what you believe. You can take a position and let people know what you stand for, and what you stand against.

The benefit? You'll differentiate your site from others in the same space. You'll stand out from the crowd. You'll be recognized. You'll earn respect for taking a position. You'll catch people's attention. You'll make them want to tell their friends and colleagues about your site.

You don't have to take it to extremes. You simply need to write in a recognizable voice.

Enough to set you apart from the ordinary.

Nick Usborne is a copywriter, author, speaker and advocat of good writing. You can access all his archived newsletter articles on copywriting and writing for the web at his Excess Voice site. You'll find more articles and resources on how to make money as a freelance writer at his Freelance Writing Success site.

---

The Internet and Customer Care: Aid or Anarchy?

It was reported in 'Marketing' magazine this month, that Britain... Read More

Online Shopping: Legal Challenges for Taxing Authorities

E-commerce offers customers the chance to eliminate many stages in... Read More

The Check is in the E-mail

Have you ever had someone who owed your business money... Read More

What Does It Take to Make Money Online?

What a loaded question! Let's narrow that down a bit... Read More

How e-business and e-Marketing are Changing

Internet now days became a real marketplace and many many... Read More

Stakeholder Analysis and Stakeholder Management

What is a Stakeholder?Try "define: Stakeholder" in Google and you... Read More

How Measuring Key Performance Indicators Can Improve E-Commerce Strategy - Part One

The problem with most e-commerce marketing strategy today is that... Read More

How to Start a Business on the Internet

So you want to start a business? Good for you.... Read More

The House Of Print.Com

Publishing has always been a difficult business to promote successfully,... Read More

Tell Site Visitors What To Do

Your site visitors make all the choices when it comes... Read More

Database: The Secret of Success

BENEFITS OF A DATABASEBy maintaining your list as a database,... Read More

Implications Of E-Commerce For Tax Legislation

As e-commerce develops ambiguities in the current tax code in... Read More

Accept Credit Cards Online Without a Merchant Account

There are two major ways to accept credit cards on... Read More

Ecommerce Comes from Customer Satisfaction

Online shopping is convenient, but many companies whose web sites... Read More

Online Shoppers Say They?ll Buy from Small and Large E-Businesses Alike

As the holiday shopping season begins in earnest, consumers say... Read More

Is Your Business Afraid of the Internet?

My Business is Afraid of the InternetBill Gates, CEO of... Read More

Your Site is all Direct Marketing

This may not be a popular view, but I think... Read More

Selling Globally Through a B2B Exchange

Participation in B2B Exchanges is increasingly becoming one of the... Read More

The Webmasters Assistant

There are many tools available to a webmaster to analyse... Read More

Set Yourself Apart From The Ordinary

I have written at length about the need to anticipate... Read More

Dont Get Ripped Off Getting A Merchant Account

Far too many people get ripped off when setting up... Read More

Developing a Winning e-Commerce Strategy

One bright spot on the economic horizons around the world... Read More

Shopping Cart Usability

Usable Shopping Carts Increase SalesE-commerce has been around since 1993... Read More

6 Steps to Attracting Black Customers Online

by Jamila White, "The E-Commerce Diva"In the rush to keep... Read More

Dont give up on your business!

Summer must be when many work at home Mom start... Read More