How to "elevate" your visitors

The importance of creating a persuasive opening statement on your website's index page (in the section called "above the fold," which is the top section of your website's front page, without any scrolling), is increasingly higher these days.

Once a visitor hits your front page, the headline as well as the very first paragraph should be truly compelling in order to direct visitors into your site -- and buy your offering.

But most importantly, your opening statement should be brief since people are click-happy and have very short attention spans on the web. If your opening statement does not capture their attention in an instant, you will lose your visitors.

Your opening statement must grab people's attention and it must do so very quickly. To do so, create what is called an "elevator speech." It's a brief introduction -- almost a sales pitch -- about your business, website or product. Typically, it's about thirty words or less. Focus on what John Audette of http://audettemedia.com/ said: "Be short, pithy and punchy."

What's an Elevator Speech?

A show called "Ideas on Tap" is held each month in my hometown of Ottawa (also known as "Silicon Valley North"). Aspiring ecommerce entrepreneurs were given a soapbox (they stood on empty milk crates), a microphone and only 60 seconds to pitch their ideas to a crowd filled with venture capitalists, dotcom executives and so on.

The show was interesting. There were five contestants in all that night. Through an applause rating system, the crowd chose the most successful pitch -- and the winner received $100. But that sixty-second limit was strictly enforced. If a speech happened to pass that limit, the microphone was, mercilessly, turned off.

But as the crowd began to mingle after the show, one could instantly tell, by noticing where most investors were gravitating, who were successful with their pitches.

While I could certainly appreciate the majority of ideas that were proposed during that event (in fact, I thought that four out of five were really good ideas), only two entrepreneurs were able to successfully attract investors. (The one that I liked the most was a gent from http://www.runaware.com/.)

But the question is, "Why?" Successful elevator speeches were not successful because of their messages but by the way they were conveyed. In comedy, they say "it's all in the delivery." And in the case of elevator speeches, the same hold true.

Like with a person you've just met in an elevator, such as a potential client (or investor), you only have a few seconds to make an impact until she leaves the elevator. Therefore, your speech must be good enough and concise enough to capture, in just a few short moments, the attention of the other person.

In terms of your website however, your elevator speech signals to your visitors the main advantage they receive from it or at least in browsing further. How many websites have you visited in the last day or so? How many out of those did you read the front pages in their entirety? Not many, I'm sure.

So develop an elevator speech about your site. Write down a solid paragraph that tells people, immediately and in terms your visitors can understand, what you're all about.

If you need to write down more, do so. But try to be as pithy and as concise as possible. Don't say, "We solve problems" or "we offer solutions." They don't say anything! And don't say, "We're superior, the best, of high quality, unique, etc."

They all mean absolutely NOTHING!

Think about it: If everyone said they were the best, then who do you believe? So instead, think about what makes you the best. How are you unique? What do you specifically bring to the table that no one else does? Why should people enter?

Remember, when your visitors hit your site, they are easily distracted and annoyed. Why? It's because they're listening to their favorite radio station: WIIFM ("What's in it for me").

If your site does not tune in to that same radio station, you will have easily lost them. Visitors will either leave almost instantly or not fully grasp the true value of your offer.

Once you've developed your elevator speech, cut it down to a single sentence of ten words or less. This may not be an easy task. Try to distill your speech to the very core essence of what you offer. Cut out the generalities and the excess fat.

Think carefully: There should be only one important benefit that encompasses all others -- something that immediately captures the essence of all that you are. Ask, "What's the single, most important quality or benefit of my website?"

Once you're done, those few words with which you end up should become your front page's headline. The opening paragraph can then expand on it, but remember to focus on the core essence of your site and try to be as brief as possible.

Remember that we click in and out of sites as often as people enter and leave elevators. So, you need an attention-capturing, curiosity-generating and interest-enhancing statement -- one that is brief, terse and to the point.

As Jim Rohn once said, "Brevity has a lot of power in it."