1. Easy to Find
We all only view a very small portion of the existing World Wide Web. There are trillions of pages, but we can only view a very small portion of the web made up of the websites we can find.
In B2B, prospects have to be able to find your website to validate your organization and lower their risk. A search marketing effort is no longer an option, as a lack of inclusion in search excludes your site from the research buying process that most B2B buyers follow.
2. Easy on the Eyes
So they can find you, now what? Your site does not have to knock people’s socks off, but it does have to be appealing to the majority of visitors. New visitors weigh the look and feel of a site heavily in the first 10 seconds of their visit and during that time, an appealing site will lower risk and build trust. At ll+ seconds, the user experience shifts to answering the question, “why am I here?” and that is where most users use the navigation and site offerings to answer that questions. It is only after over 22 seconds on the site that the value of your content becomes more important than the template, navigation and offerings.
3. Easy to Use
The longer a user stays on your site, the greater impact usability has on their experience. For returning users, a common demographic on B2B sites, ease of use becomes very important. The ability to easily relocate, compare and share content will make any B2B experience easier. Delivering your content in an environment that makes comparison an intuitive process will help you positively influence research buyers.
4. Easy to Share
Creating unique content has always been the foundation of internet marketing, but if you cannot share it, you are missing much of the value. When content is easy for people to share with their peers, Facebook friends, Linkedin network, Twitter followers or even through trusty old email, you now gain more than that one user – you also gain their sphere of influence. When you encourage users to share your content you reach out to a much wider group of potential prospects. You also become a a pre-qualified information source thanks to the endorsement of the person who shared your content to begin with.
5. Easy to Understand
Keep it at 10,000 feet to start with. Deliver information generally at first and then more in depth the deeper a user goes into the site. Define industry specific terms so all users, no matter where they are in the professional lives, can follow you.
In-depth content is great, but a very small number of users will actually read a page of web text. Most users scan the site navigation, user conversion offerings and bold text. If your site can meet the needs of the scanner you will influence more visitors.