Transactions
are possible only where a relationship exists.
Everything in
your web site affects the relationship between your business and
the visitor. The level of this relationship is often the
deciding factor in any action taken by the visitor.
Relationships
develop based on two simple concepts; trust and emotional
context. The visitor must have a certain level of trust for a
transaction to take place; trust that you will live up to your
word. Emotional context is the sum total of the emotional
interaction with your web site (and your business if they
have done business with you before). The more positive the
emotional context of their experiences, the more likely they are
to enter into a transaction.
By it's very
nature, your web site is a cold, calculating representation of
your business. This makes it absolutely mandatory to provide
proof that the user can trust you and to create as positive an
emotional context as possible.
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Relationship (trust and
emotional context) are created through the professionalism of
your site design, the simplicity of the navigation, the
viability and consistency of your content and even the colors you choose.
This is one of the most difficult aspects of web design if
you focus on trying to create a relationship. It becomes
much simpler when you focus your web site design on alignment
with your business goals, an obvious purpose for each site
section and creating visitor action. Creating content with this
in mind makes it much easier to focus on providing the
enticements necessary to create the preferred actions.
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Building online relationships