We’re a two person business. What would happen if our website made us look like a huge corporation that showed off trendy tricks and widgets and presented a false image of who we really are? We pride ourselves in working with our clients each on a personal and custom level. By promoting ourselves as something that we’re not, our most loyal customers would be missing the personal and custom appeal of small business! Presenting an inflated image of who were are would only serve to alienate our existing customers and build up an artificial relationship with new ones.
Creating deep connections
Authenticity is important for attracting the right people to your business. Being polarizing is actually better than trying to appeal to everyone. Appealing to the masses seems like a great business strategy, but you won’t be able to create the authentic relationships you need to sustain their business. People buy from people they know. They don’t need to know you personally, but they do need to feel like they know you. They need to know what you’re about and make sure they can trust you.
Think about it this way – for every person you repel, you will attract a person who is a better fit for you and your business. By being authentic, the people you attract will be able to create a relationship with you just from the common ground you’ve laid out in your content. Attracting these people creates a stronger connection and can lead to lifelong business.
When writing your copy, you need to think about who you’re appealing to. Write your own content rather than copying from another successful business’ page. Chances are your audience will be different and people will be able to see right through it! The same applies with pictures. Sometime you need to use stock images, and that’s ok. But, try to mix it up. Add some original pictures into the queue! Crafting content for your specific business is so valuable.
If you are genuine, people will respond!
Before, I used to feel that it was important to make our company appear larger than it is. To drive home an impression of a larger agency, I would use concepts like “our” team, staff, director. I wanted to” maybe use the word “we” instead of “i” because I thought it would help me compete with the big boys. In terms of talent, we believe we can. Our long term clients know what we bring to the relationship. They know that we respond personally to requests and issues whenever possible. They also know that we take off holidays and to not expect immediate action on weekends of after hours. One client that we had served for more than 15 years decided to go with a big agency for their development and marketing needs. We parted on friendly terms. I even helped with the transition.
Less than a year later, I got a call from their Vice President asking if we would be interested in providing a quote for redeveloping their website and marketing their products. It doesn’t always work this way, but people are drawn to people who they know and who listen to them.
Trust comes from authenticity
In relationships and in SEO, trust is critical. Solid foundations are built on rock not sand. If a website is positioned as an authority about building tools for electricians but actually sell service contracts on those tools, people will quickly see through the disguise. They might sell some contracts to electricians who happen to need service contracts, but they won’t honestly attract an audience seeking those specific tools. Google will definitely see through this charade. Google has many algorithms that reward authenticity of a website. It uses many factors to determine this, but one of the bottom lines is authenticity. Is the website what it claims to be? Does your content reflect what you say you do, wha you are, what you sell? Do links that point to your website reflect the authority you claim? All of this is critical and a close second to your website content. Don’t ignore the authenticity factor of your website. She’s queen for a reason.