You speak to your customers 24/7 via your website. But, do you know how to listen to what they have to say? The majority of executives falsely believe that their company website is a one-way communication street, as in, “We, the company, talk about stuff, and you listen.” But, the way your audience interacts with your website says a lot about you and your business.

The people here at WholesaleForum have been working hard to understand how you, the member, perceive us. We’ve learned priceless lessons in recent times. I won’t bore you with the details of how we implemented the tests, but instead, I’ll just summarize it. (If you’re still curious, we used click maps, surveys, analytic reports, etc.)

Here are the lessons we have learned from studying how our members use WholesaleForum:

Ask Why People Walked Away
We have realized that people love to talk about what’s wrong with your products or services. Ask them what they would like to see instead or what stopped them from completing the sale--it's the only way to innovate and move your company forward.

Speak in Terms the People Understand
We assumed that our members knew industry jargon like it was their first language. They don’t. When we changed our wording and phrases to match the ones they’re used to, we witnessed a rapid increase in linking, replies, and conversion rates within the forum. I know it’s nothing new about using language your audience understands. But, the Internet lets you quickly test, alter, fine-tune, and take the best routes to long-term success.

People Still Want a Personal Connection
The people who visit your company website love to see videos of your team hard at work. Time and time again, we realized that users love to hear a few words from the founders, management, and sales people talking about features and company perks. Five years ago, simple imagery and well-written content would turn casual browsers into long-term customers. Today, people are excited to see how other people run their companies. We now know that they love to see smiles on websites and that they’re quickly attracted to them.

People Still Want More
Sure, people love certain characteristics over the rest, but after looking over a couple of analytics reports, we know which ones they really like. By seeing which page visits correlated highly with purchases, we understand what motivates potential customers. From now on, we know how to highlight these particular ideas right from the start.

The days of just using your website to yell out to the masses are over. You now have to tweak your website so you learn from people, introduce interesting topics, and engage their minds.