How to sell software over the Internet. Episode III - Product Site
Let's start with the question.
To create or not to create a website for a software product?
If the product is produced by a company that already has a website, then the majority tries to put it in one of the items in its menu. I think this approach is fundamentally wrong.
Firstly, in this case, the company is chasing two hares, unwinding its product, it is trying to promote its company. But you know what this race can lead to.
Secondly, there is a defocusing of attention of the visitor of the site. He needs to remember not only the name of the product, but also the name of the company. Or he is lost, that the product or the company is more important for him. Moreover, when creating a separate website for the program, we can choose a suitable domain, similar to the product name, which will be easy to remember. I will not cite statistics, but there is an inexplicable desire of people to bookmark only the main pages of sites.
')
Thirdly, you are trapped in the structure of an existing company site. No opportunity for
brighter and more focused product delivery.
My unequivocal answer is to create a separate site for the product.
What should be the structure of the software site?
Take as an example kzk2.ru. (For those who like to see hidden PR in everything, I’ll immediately say that there is a highly specialized product there, and this audience does not fall under the notion of “target”, therefore the current topic is completely devoted to the disclosure of the topic written in the title).
So:
The menu should be stupid, stupid enough to be effective.
To do this, let's answer the question: “How many times a visitor visits the site?”.
We answer, the visitor, visits the site more than once. The first time, he comes to get acquainted with the product, and download a demo. The second time, she comes in to buy a product. Many, when creating a website, do not pay much attention to the second entry of a potential buyer, and that is, the moment when he came to buy a product.
Therefore, we must create a menu such that it suits both the first visit and the second.
Virtually any software falls under this menu:
Product - Download - Buy - Support - Contact.
This menu reflects the sequence of actions of the visitor. He comes in, reads about the product, downloads a demo version, tries it in action, returns, buys the product, gets support. The only thing that falls out of a coherent logical chain is the “contacts” item, but here’s the golden rule: “contacts must be accessible from anywhere on the site.” It turns out that the general rule for building the main page is quick access to the above items.
What to write on the home page of the software product?
You can, of course, put all the technical documentation, which is written by the product developer, but this is wrong. On the main page there should be arguments in the utility of this product, i.e. lists the benefits of the product, the result of its use, the reasons prompting him to buy.
Effectively make a block called "Five reasons to buy ...". So say neuro-linguistic programming: When I say five, you want to buy my product, one, two, three, four, five!
The presence of the software box is required. Generally, why do we need a box? If we discard all banality, that the user must feel the material embodiment of the intangible product, then I can say that the legal entity needs a box in order to credit the goods, and serves as proof of its costs.
If you still have one version of the product, then immediately divide it into two, and preferably into three, but no longer needed. In order not to lose low-paying customers, we release some light version, such as Lite or Basic, with reduced functionality. It is very easy to create such a version; you just need to make one extra check in the program and close some of the functionality. That is, the effort to create this version will be minimal. In principle, the distributions of software versions are no different. Basically the difference between them is only in one file or byte. Thus, software companies share the target orientation of the product. For example, make a product for the home, more budget, and for the office, more expensive. I remember, there was a patch that turns Windows XP into a Windows Server, changing only one dll.
Thus, on the main page you need to display that you have several versions, and everyone can choose for themselves the best option. Usually each version is accompanied by text that highlights its merits, in the form of a separate block with the image of the box of this particular version. Even if you do not have a box, you can still draw it somehow schematically, for example, the way masterhost.ru did.
I summarize. The main page is the face of your product, how you make it, such is and the impression about your product.
Conclusion
All of the above is a radical IMHO. Waiting for your comments and comments.
For those who have mastered this text to the end, I suggest a small surprise.
Go to kzk2.ru , wait for the second bookmark banner - photos of the developer, and click on the word ALF.
To create or not to create a website for a software product?
If the product is produced by a company that already has a website, then the majority tries to put it in one of the items in its menu. I think this approach is fundamentally wrong.
Firstly, in this case, the company is chasing two hares, unwinding its product, it is trying to promote its company. But you know what this race can lead to.
Secondly, there is a defocusing of attention of the visitor of the site. He needs to remember not only the name of the product, but also the name of the company. Or he is lost, that the product or the company is more important for him. Moreover, when creating a separate website for the program, we can choose a suitable domain, similar to the product name, which will be easy to remember. I will not cite statistics, but there is an inexplicable desire of people to bookmark only the main pages of sites.
')
Thirdly, you are trapped in the structure of an existing company site. No opportunity for
brighter and more focused product delivery.
My unequivocal answer is to create a separate site for the product.
What should be the structure of the software site?
Take as an example kzk2.ru. (For those who like to see hidden PR in everything, I’ll immediately say that there is a highly specialized product there, and this audience does not fall under the notion of “target”, therefore the current topic is completely devoted to the disclosure of the topic written in the title).
So:
The menu should be stupid, stupid enough to be effective.
To do this, let's answer the question: “How many times a visitor visits the site?”.
We answer, the visitor, visits the site more than once. The first time, he comes to get acquainted with the product, and download a demo. The second time, she comes in to buy a product. Many, when creating a website, do not pay much attention to the second entry of a potential buyer, and that is, the moment when he came to buy a product.
Therefore, we must create a menu such that it suits both the first visit and the second.
Virtually any software falls under this menu:
Product - Download - Buy - Support - Contact.
This menu reflects the sequence of actions of the visitor. He comes in, reads about the product, downloads a demo version, tries it in action, returns, buys the product, gets support. The only thing that falls out of a coherent logical chain is the “contacts” item, but here’s the golden rule: “contacts must be accessible from anywhere on the site.” It turns out that the general rule for building the main page is quick access to the above items.
What to write on the home page of the software product?
You can, of course, put all the technical documentation, which is written by the product developer, but this is wrong. On the main page there should be arguments in the utility of this product, i.e. lists the benefits of the product, the result of its use, the reasons prompting him to buy.
Effectively make a block called "Five reasons to buy ...". So say neuro-linguistic programming: When I say five, you want to buy my product, one, two, three, four, five!
The presence of the software box is required. Generally, why do we need a box? If we discard all banality, that the user must feel the material embodiment of the intangible product, then I can say that the legal entity needs a box in order to credit the goods, and serves as proof of its costs.
If you still have one version of the product, then immediately divide it into two, and preferably into three, but no longer needed. In order not to lose low-paying customers, we release some light version, such as Lite or Basic, with reduced functionality. It is very easy to create such a version; you just need to make one extra check in the program and close some of the functionality. That is, the effort to create this version will be minimal. In principle, the distributions of software versions are no different. Basically the difference between them is only in one file or byte. Thus, software companies share the target orientation of the product. For example, make a product for the home, more budget, and for the office, more expensive. I remember, there was a patch that turns Windows XP into a Windows Server, changing only one dll.
Thus, on the main page you need to display that you have several versions, and everyone can choose for themselves the best option. Usually each version is accompanied by text that highlights its merits, in the form of a separate block with the image of the box of this particular version. Even if you do not have a box, you can still draw it somehow schematically, for example, the way masterhost.ru did.
I summarize. The main page is the face of your product, how you make it, such is and the impression about your product.
Conclusion
All of the above is a radical IMHO. Waiting for your comments and comments.
For those who have mastered this text to the end, I suggest a small surprise.
Go to kzk2.ru , wait for the second bookmark banner - photos of the developer, and click on the word ALF.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/15225/
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