Wikipedia, Technorati, and other massive information harvesters offer the world
nearinfinite information at near-instant speeds. When people hear about a company, they type
in the URL. Because of this, providing as much information about the business and its
offerings is a critical ingredient in successful websites and marketing in general—when
content is available, people will consume it.
Few sections benefit more from building content than the products or services. Not only
does it inform the audience, which is very likely the customer base, but it presents an ideal
marketing platform and selling opportunity. If people are already on your site, why not
push them into action?
The Products and Services pages should be built with a selling path in mind. A selling path
is an easily followed, short series of actions that leads people to initiate the sales process.
Ideally, this should be three tangible steps:
1.Landing page: People will find the products or services landing page, be enamored
with all the wondrous things the company manufactures, sells, or consults about,
and click on an item for deeper exploration.
2.Individual description: Prospects will find themselves on a singular page that
describes in no uncertain detail all of the salient selling points of the product or
service. This page guides them toward the final stage of the selling path: the sales
process.
3.Acquisition: After readers consume everything about the product or service that
catches their eye, they will effortlessly find themselves on a page that politely asks
them to finish what they started, either by making a purchase or becoming a qualified
lead by making contact with the company.
Products that can be sold on the Web: Just about anything that can be shipped and
delivered cost-effectively can be sold via an online shopping cart, from fruit
baskets to furniture to cars. These products do not need the help of a sales force.
Customers can make a purchase online without interacting with the company.