Infinite Path

It sounds obvious to state that nobody likes visiting an egocentric website, which contains hundreds of pages devoted purely to commending a company’s products and services. It’s an obvious statement to make because it appeals to common sense and to other areas of life. Nobody likes being stuck in a social situation with someone who is in love with their own shadow and doesn’t seem to care about the opinions or feelings of anyone else in the slightest.

However, what is particularly surprising given the obvious nature of this concept, is the number of companies which are still falling into the fatal trap of building egocentric websites, without even knowing they are doing such a thing. It’s scary how easy it is to wreck the reputation of your brand without even trying but there are some simple rules which can be followed to avoid this happening.

• Whilst devoting thousands of words to praising your products is not a great idea, it goes without saying that you should avoid the other end of this spectrum like the plague. Nobody would dream of building a website which condemns an important product or service with the intention of increasing sales. The key is to strike a healthy balance and occupy the mid-point of this spectrum. Clearly outline the benefits of your product or service but do this in such a way that shows you have taken into account the thoughts and feelings of the consumer. Explain how each benefit of your product or service has been designed to make an aspect of everyday life simpler or quicker. Do not just write a list of benefits in an attempt to impress potential customers. Show that you have already taken individual feedback into account.
• Your list of benefits should clearly be secondary to your list of reasons why the lives of your consumers will be boosted by investment in your company. With regards to this, you should exclude benefits which do not fit the pattern. Nobody really cares whether or not you used the latest manufacturing or engineering process whilst making one tiny feature of your product. What matters is how this tiny feature provides tangible benefits which can be experienced in reality. Make the benefits applicable to real life at all times.
• Websites which make grand claims about how much everyone loves them are annoying (and usually deceptive). However, this shouldn’t dissuade you from including some positive statements about your brand. There is a right way of doing this which shouldn’t irritate your potential customers. Rather than constructing these positive statements in the form of wild claims, model them in the form of mission statements about your company goals and objectives. This makes it seem like you’re continually striving for success in all areas and aren’t taking anything for granted. Mission statements show ambition and drive but also show that your company is still a work in progress and customers genuinely like to see this since it is something to which they can personally relate.
• If you make positive statements about the achievements of your company to date, provide evidence which clearly and unambiguously backs you up. Don’t include too many boring statistics. Instead, try to make your evidence tailored and specific and give it a human voice if appropriate. A nice quote from a previous customer will be received more positively than a confusing statistic which people cannot relate to easily.
• Design your website around the principle of feedback. A selfish, egocentric website will focus upon throwing information and wild claims at the consumer without encouraging feedback of any kind. Make it clear that you genuinely want to engage in dialogue with your customers. Ask questions in your content and encourage debate. Leave feedback forms at the bottom of your web pages and make it easy for people to contact you. Furthermore, if someone does leave a comment, respond to it personally and constructively.
• Finally, don’t devote an entire web page to listing your qualifications and academic background. Arrogance doesn’t go down well on the web and, if you really are well-qualified, the quality of your work should speak louder than a page-long list full of boasts.