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August 05, 2016 By Hendrik-Jan Francke

How a Homepage Can Deliver Credibility

Ding! The bell rings, the crowd roars, and round one has begun:

Your homepage has only 5 seconds to put up a fight and defend its credibility. Or else...

And it’s not as simple as writing a winning headline that shines with professional style. Creating a credible homepage takes conditioning from the headline to the footer.

Step-by-Step Website Credibility Conditioning for Your Homepage

Start with a 5-12 word sentence that clearly states what your business does

Imagine you’re meeting someone for the first time, and they ask you what you do.

You wouldn’t want to blab on for two minutes about all the different aspects of your job and blah, blah, blah. Instead, you give them your a very brief introduction. Now, the ball’s in their court to ask more.

These social rules also apply to building website credibility for B2B websites.

On your homepage, briefly tell the user what you do.

Write one pithy 5-12 word sentence that clearly explains who you are and what you do. Your website credibility hinges on the first few words they read, so make it short; make it sweet; and make it relevant.

Intellitec_Solutions_Headline.png

Intellitec Solutions does an excellent job telling you clearly and descriptively what they do in only 10 words: they provide "financial and customer relationship management that work the way you work." Right on the money!

Support with a Statement that Shows How You Solve Pain Prospects Have

Back up that pithy headline with more detail. With a few more keywords, prospects will understand that they can rely on you to solve their pains.

Will you make my team more efficient? Will you provide organization or advice? Tell me how you can help.

This statement can serve as the...

1. Subheadline within the hero tile, or

2. Intro for the next section

In the above Intellitec Solutions example, the supporting statement holds up a more simplistic headline by explaining the "how". How will they manage my customer and financial relationships? Through intelligent reporting and meaningful data.

When it comes to your homepage as a whole, you can follow the journalist’s inverted pyramid: your first statement should be the broadest, the second gets slightly more precise, and what follows should be the most specific yet - your features and benefits.

Bullet Your Features & Benefits

Once you tell them what you do, move onto the features and benefits you offer that help solve their pains. Showing how you can help grows website credibility for your homepage.

List 3-4 key points that reflect what they came to your website to understand. For example:

example-of-homepage-bullet-points.png

This company lists 4 great benefits of their Payroll solution. You can bet that automation, mobile abilities, and benefits are three top concerns! “Packed with features” is claimy, but the subtext backs up the claim nicely.

“Claimy” copy is an inbound marketing term we use often to describe content that is trying to say “We’re the best” without backing it up. First, don’t write claimy copy - be specific and focus on the benefit.

But one form of content that isn’t claimy? Testimonials.

Include Testimonials to Encourage User-Trust

We know you believe in your company and its ability to help prospects, but your website credibility depends on proving that others believe in you, as well. You need to assemble the fan club!

To best demonstrate that support, your testimonials should prove that others have used you, and that they were satisfied. Let your prospect think, “hey, that happy client could be me!”

But, a testimonial saying they were simply “satisfied” is kind of lukewarm. The ideal testimonial would communicate specific positive outcomes, such as improved sales, employee productivity, etc.

It’s okay to massage your client’s testimonials to add more detail, too. When a client gives you kind words, paraphrase their statement and send them an email saying…

Thanks so much for those kind words! Would you mind if I paraphrase them to add a little more clarity and contribute more to the website? Here is what I’d like to include.

And add their quoted testimonial with just a few keywords that will resonate with your audience.

better_testimonial.png

This testimonial identifies key attributes that the team offered: timely, efficient, friendly, professional, flexible, and personable. That is one loaded compliment! Even better, Pam mentions that they helped her de-stress.

I think it’s a safe bet that stress, in general, is a common pain point amongst users.

But, testimonials won’t address all of the pain points your target audience encounters. By knowing an array of pain points, you can create a common understanding between you and the prospect.

It’s Time to Whip Your Homepage into Shape

Now that we’ve run up the stairs leading to the entrance of credibility, it’s your time to take charge. Follow these steps to increase conversions, and come out of the five second-round victorious.

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