WIIFY?

What's in it for me? 

I was reading "Made to Stick*" yesterday evening and came across an interesting "word" - WIIFY (pronounced "whiff-y") which stands for "What's In It For You." Great question! WIIFY is what you may think every time you are looking at buying new products or enlisting new services.

If every website was written for the visitor, answering the WIIFY question, a lot more people would be doing business online. Sadly, most websites are written touting the features, laudes and history neglecting the all important benefits oriented approach. Even more so, sites should show the benefit of the benefits as well. For example: This time tracking software will help you be more accurate when billing a client (benefit) , which will translate into more revenues because you won't miss a minute (benefit of the benefit).

This may seem like explaining the obvious but remember that the best way to get conversions on the internet is to tell visitors what you want them to do and make it easy for your visitors to take that action. It stands to reason then, that further explaining the benefit of the benefits will help visitors connect the dots quickly and easily, further increasing the appeal of your product or service.

So along with all the other things an ideal website should be, add WIIFY to your list!

*"Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die," by Chip & Dan Heath. It can be purchased online at Amazon.com - my favorite bookstore.