StoryBrand

Does your website pass the grunt test?

Can a customer look at your website and in under 5 seconds answer these questions?

1. What do you offer?
2. How will it make my life better?
3. What do I need to do to buy it?

Donald Miller of StoryBrand calls this passing the grunt test. He asks:

“Could a caveman look at your website and immediately grunt what you offer?”

So head over to your website, look at your home page, and run it through the grunt test.

How does it hold up?

Ruby Slipper loves the Story Brand workshops and Donald Miller’s New York Times bestseller, Building A Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen.

A key takeaway is this:

All of us are inundated, bombarded, on a daily basis by hundreds of messages. Get succinct about your messages, make them short and easy, and your audience will be SO grateful. They will repay you by becoming your customer.

This book focuses on how to use the 7 elements of great storytelling to grow your business. Highly recommend!

We especially love their advice about 5 things your website should include:

1. An Offer Above the Fold

The messages at the top of your website – before people scroll down – should be short, enticing, and exclusively customer-centric. It must pass the grunt test. Donald Miller uses these examples: “We will make you a Pro in the kitchen.” “We Help You Make Beautiful Websites.”

The images and text meet one of these criteria:

a. They promise an aspirational identity (make you a pro)
b. They promise to solve a problem
c. They state exactly what they do

2. Obvious Calls to Action

Place your action-oriented buttons in the top right. In the middle of the page is an offer followed by another buy now button. Boom. You’ve gotten through the noise.

3. Use Images of Success

So incredibly important. See our article about Photo Resources for more.

4. A Breakdown of Multiple Revenue Streams

This particularly applies if your business is multifaceted. Find the overall umbrella message, and then separate the divisions under the umbrella. The key is clarity.

5. Very Few Words

Because people scan websites. They hit headlines. Text must be brief, punchy, and relevant to customers.

Learn more about Storybrand and their powerful workshops!