I see a lot of brands out there that are all business. Go to their website and you’ll see an opening statement that says something like, “We are a widget manufacturer that produces next-gen widgets”.

I find myself thinking, “You must be very proud” – as I exit their site.

Beware the self-proclaimed gurus

I’ve seen self-proclaimed marketing gurus tell us that the first thing your website must do is tell people who you are and what you do. It has to be that basic. Honestly, I think this is lousy advice. 

First of all, people are not coming to your site without some intent. In other words, there is a very slim chance that an ideal prospect just stumbled upon your site. They most likely did a search, looking for a solution category (widgets) or options (widget manufacturers). And in doing a search, they saw the snippet of text in the search result that gave them an idea of who you are.

Why would you use the valuable real estate at the top of your home page to tell them what they already know? 

Second of all, people don’t care about your brand. Because you haven’t given them a reason to care. And when you lead with who you are and what you do, you’re just delaying things. Not to mention making them work too hard to figure out why they should care. In fact, that’s why they bounce.

So you’re probably saying, “Okay smart guy, what would you do?”

Well, I would use the opportunity (and valuable real estate) to spread a little joy.

What the heck do you mean by ‘joy’?

Your prospects have a lot of options. Those options are just a Google search away. So what’s going to get you on their shortlist? 

A little joy.

It could be something that’s playful. Or provocative. Or maybe it’s humble and helpful. Whatever it is, it’s something that surprises and delights. It is something that makes them smile, or better yet, leave your site open in a tab.

There are two crucial points here. First, it can’t be sensational just to be sensational. In other words, it must be relevant to your brand. And second, it must be focused on them and their needs, desires, challenges, or aspirations. It absolutely can’t be about you.

Nobody finds joy in listening to a company blather on about how great it and its widgets are. But they will experience that joy when you find an interesting way to relate how those widgets help them with something important to them – like an aspiration.

Our world is overflowing with ‘what’. What you are. What you do.

It’s rarer to find the ‘why’. Why we should stop. Why we should care. (And yes, a great outward-focused purpose is one of the most powerful whys you can share.)

Let’s quit spending our time on the what and start sharing the why. And start spreading the joy.