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Search Your Soul: The Psychology Of A Search Engine
About the Author: Before joining http://www.iconinteractive.com Russell had ten years of television advertising, sales and marketing experience. His television experience includes editing and producing several well known infomercials and bringing them to market in the US. He has consulted with fortune 1000 companies including Corporate Express, TV media creative
If this were true, you would be very careful what you put on your website. Popularized by movies like the "matrix" the theme of digital 'soul' has become more common. Seldom do these fictional themes create practical application that can explode your business.
If the old adage is true "it's all sales all the time", then everybody who owns a business is on a crusade whether he wants to be or not. If you are not on a crusade you will probably not be in business for long. Converting customers and keeping them is the name of the game. Therefore you must resist the temptation to assert your charismatic Brand dogma to drive your Internet campaign. You must instead provide your customer with information, substance, and experience. You must give them Value.
The problem with sales crusading, institutional branding and "tooting your own horn" is that it really doesn't work that well on the search engines. This is because the search engines are all about the customer, not about your crusade. Institutional Branding, while it has its place, will not draw your ideal prospects at a reasonable cost, and it will not re-initiate the interests of your current customers.
It is all about what the customer is looking for. You must focus on optimizing your website based on providing the type of information your ideal prospects are actually seeking. If you do this you have effectively pre-qualified your ideal prospects by providing them with valuable and authentic information about issues relevant to them. This helps them buy your product while developing trust at the same time.
A transactional relationship founded on an educational process lasts much longer and has a much higher net revenue over the lifetime of the customer. It has been shown that giving a potential customer valuable information and getting him to enquire about further information is the most effective direct response method ever used. And when done properly, the search engines will reward you for it.
So perhaps, in a crude sort of way, your website really is the 'soul' of your business as seen through the eyes of the search engine. It is also the Intrinsic Value of your business as seen through the eyes of your ideal prospect.