Fighting "Me Creep"

Every website starts off with the best of intentions. We have a vision for what we wish to convey to our visitors. We know their needs, wants and fears, and we're ready to meet them head-on. Most websites do this very well out of the gate, but often, we slip up and fall into some nasty, but easily curable practices. One such practice we'll discuss today - the website that's all about me. We call this Me Creep.

Me Creep happens when we forget that our visitor doesn't so much care about our organization, but comes by to learn how we can solve his problem. The typical narcissistic site will often contain more links with the word "our" than any other type of link. Links such as "Our Philosophy", "Our Company", "About Us", and other such topics riddle these sites. With a bit of introspection (and even more extrospection..is that a word?) we can help these lost souls find their way back into the hearts of their visitors.

To help fight off this behavior, it helps to look at your website with a fresh set of eyes at least once monthly. Imagine that you are the visitor. You have arrived at the site with a burning need for a solution - fast.  The visitor is not necessarily seeking to purchase your product or service quickly, but they need to readily identify if you can provide an answer to their current question. Too much fluff about you and they will move along every time. Keep the language focused on their problems, on solutions to their needs, and upon how you can get them out of whatever jam they may be in at the time. Make it clear that they have arrived at their destination. Talking about your corporate philosophy can happen during the pitch, it's the job of your website to get you in front of the visitor for that pitch as effectively as possible.

Now - drop over to your website as your visitor. Does the site give you the impression that you have the answer to their questions? If not, it's never to late to make the adjustments.