Creating a website comes with more choices than just which fonts and photos to use. The purpose of your site is to provide information about your company and the products and services you offer. It has contact info so a visitor can reach you to ask questions or make an order. It has content that conveys your professionalism and competency. It should give them a call-to-action or the direction they need to take the next step.
Converting a Visitor Into a Prospect
Ideally, your site has what it takes to make a visitor into a buyer. Primarily, your website has what the visitor is looking for to make a decision. Every visitor has a problem that requires a solution. Your site must answer, quickly and clearly, “Does this company offer what I need to solve my problem?”
Making it Easy for Buyers to Find Everything
Potential customers expect to easily find everything they need using the internet. This unrelenting expectation creates quandaries when developing your site. That brings to mind a few questions.
What information must I include? What’s the best approach for design and layout? What works for or against me with testimonials, blogs, and videos?
We’ve compiled a list of potential sticking points regarding your website strategy.
Should I show prices on my website?
Understandably, the key piece of information that a potential buyer searches for is price. For some businesses, it’s not easy to determine if showing prices is the best approach. Perhaps your prices vary depending on factors out of your control like the fluctuating cost of fuel or materials, seasonal availability, or weather impacts.
Advantages of Not Displaying Prices on a Website
If visitors can’t find your prices, they may just move on. But, if they don’t find a price, that could initiate a call that may lead to personal contact. Your sales force can take it from there.
Another way to see it is – depending on what the competition is doing – adding prices could set you apart. But seeing your prices can also stop visitors from shopping with you.
If you fear your prices may drive a potential customer away because they may not see the value of your product or service or realize the costs behind your business, then let readers know that every customer is different and they should call for pricing. Alternatively, you could list prices as a range ($1,000-2,000).
Not listing prices may send a signal that you have something to hide – in particular, higher prices than your competition. Let them know about factors like higher quality or better service that create value. Here are some other things to consider.
To further support your price:
- use testimonials that relate to the quality or value of your offerings
- add verbiage about possible discounts (as applicable)
- emphasize that lower-priced competitors are often not the best choice
- include differentiators like guarantees, reputation, and excellent customer service
- anticipate user’s questions and answer them
- you can list competitor prices (without naming names perhaps)
Show Prices After You Have Gathered Information
As a middle ground, add prices on your site but layer them behind a landing page or other information-gathering mechanism.
Knowing the right info to provide is one of many dilemmas you’ll face while developing your website. You might also be wondering about these things —
Here Are Some Other Website Quandaries
How many testimonials to use?
How many blogs and what kind?
What do I talk about in a video?
How do I make the site look professional?
What are the layout DO’s and DON’T’s?
Watch for an upcoming blog that addresses these website quandaries. Read this article about doing your own search engine optimization.
