Is Your Business-to-Business Website the “Front Door” or “The Kitchen”?

Julie Rogier, Principal of Rogier Communications, explains how your business-to-business website serves as the hub of all your online marketing efforts. I am always pleased to share her contributions on the j+ Media Solutions site.

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A business-to-business company may often think of its customer-facing website as the “front door” to its business. If given the chance, I would encourage these well-meaning companies to think of their business-to-business website less like a “front door” and more like the “kitchen.”

To me, the “front door” analogy assumes that a business-to-business website is simply a static on-line brochure where folks pass through on their way to somewhere else. The analogy also assumes that visitors enter through a website’s home page for the traditional welcome. We know from user data this is not the case. More and more, visitors land on a website deep within its pages, corresponding to a keyword search.

The Kitchen as the Heart of the Home

Most people would agree – the kitchen is the heart and soul of the home. It serves as the hub where folks gather, congregate, and return continuously. No matter where guests might go in your home, the kitchen serves as the true center. A business-to-business website is similar to a kitchen in that during the sales cycle, content on the website is returned to again and again during the purchase decision.

After prospects meet with a sales rep, see a company at a trade show, or view a webinar, they return time and again to the business-to-business website to look for product information, share webpages with others on their team, or even seek more information.

Three Key Questions

So in keeping with the “kitchen” analogy, business-to-business companies are wise to ask these questions:

1. Like an inviting kitchen, does your business-to-business website help visitors stick around? As we noted earlier, visitors rarely begin on a home page and navigate from beginning to end. Does your website make it easy for visitors to get around, encourage prospects to linger, snack on content and spend time exploring your pages?
2. Is the conversation engaging, as it often is in a welcoming kitchen? Some of the best discussions happen in a kitchen, so does your business-to-business website tell a compelling story that positions you against your competitors? Do you give your visitors a chance to provide feedback or comments? Make sure the website offers clear, concise information about whatever differentiates your company in a specific industry or niche.
3. Are you offering new snacks, like a good host? From an SEO perspective, it’s smart to update web content as regularly as possible. Like hosts provide for their guests gathered in the kitchen, do you offer something new each time a visitor returns to your business-to-business website — new blog posts, white paper downloads, product information or webinars, timely media coverage, new article links, company news, or other content? Do you offer a “call to action” inviting visitors to turn into leads by requesting the offers?

An Apt Analogy?

This discussion is more than an exercise in semantics. The care and feeding of a business-to-business website signals marketing communications strategy and relates directly to the success or failure of business growth.

That’s where the “kitchen” analogy comes into play. The website should serve as the focal point where prospects gather, congregate, and continuously return. No matter how prospects relate to your company, your website serves as the true center.

What’s been the experience at your b-to-b organization – does the kitchen analogy make sense for your product or service?

About Julie Rogier:

Julie Rogier is Principal of Rogier Communications and a marketing communications and PR specialist for business-to-business organizations. Follow Julie on Twitter @jrogier or connect with her on LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/in/julieroger).

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Images courtesy of Ambro and KROMKRATHOG/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net