Meet Mike & Jane

Mike and Jane wanted to turn their backyard from a weed-infested, hot and dry cluttered mess into a relaxing, cozy environment where they could spend quality time with the kids, chill out and entertain.

But they had no idea where to start or what they really wanted.  They couldn’t visualize their ideal backyard landscape.

Sitting on the couch watching evening TV after the kids were tucked in bed, Jane on her iPad and Mike on his iPhone, the couple set off to doing some research to find their ideal backyard oasis.

Their search commences

Jane started her search on Pinterest and Houzz, searching for images that seemed to hit the mark of what they were looking for.

Meanwhile Mike took to Google to start searching for local landscapers who could do the job they needed and start judging their work by the quality of their gallery and what their clients are saying about them.

The couple both work full-time and take home a healthy 6 figures combined so they’ve determined that a $60,000 budget for the backyard is reasonable.

Discovery!

Jane found some stunning images on Pinterest and has some really interesting ideas and after digging into Houzz she was able to identify a few local companies that could do the work.

Coincidentally, Mike has already landed on those same websites and both are now fully immersed into their research to see if these companies can do the quality of work they are looking for.

First they land on “Backyard Gurus” website.

It’s a bit annoying to use the site on the iPad and iPhone because it’s not mobile friendly, so there’s some pinching and sliding needed to actually see the words on the site.

The pictures look pretty good; some even look professional.

The content on the home page has very little content at all, a few pictures and a menu button.

There’s a “Why Choose Us” button on the menu, which seems like a reasonable place to start.

So Jane clicks on it.  Now Mike is peering over Jane’s shoulder because the site is too small to see on his iPhone.

Jane & Mike get scared

The content goes something like this “Backyard Gurus has built a business based almost solely on referrals because we are committed to giving unparalleled customer service.

Not only do we love landscaping, but we love our clients and that passion transcends into your home…”   The content goes on talking about all the wares of their business and why they are so great.

Jane and Mike shift a bit in their seat wondering what company wouldn’t say they are great, but really what’s in it for us.

How can you help us create an amazing backyard that we will love and enjoy with our family and friends?

The next page is “Benefits to You”.  That seems to be what they are looking for so they click on it.

It contains 4 links to articles on other websites; one of them is a broken link that just shows “404 error”. There’s no other content on this page.

What next?

Jane looks at Mike and says “why would they have a page about the benefits of their product to us and then actually tell us nothing about how their work will benefit us?”

Mike shrugs and says, “Maybe we should go to a different site”.

Now they’re onto something

Jane and Mike are making a huge decision with an investment of $60,000.

Do you think that a few nice pictures and a “we” focused mission statement is going to inspire them to fork the money over to you?

Jane clicks on another site.

It looks great and seems to work properly on the iPad.  Mike clicks on the site with is iPad and has no trouble reading the content.

The home page has 5 little visual boxes that feature some of the main services the company offers.  It’s apart from the menu and has pictures that coincide with the service.

The first box is “Lawn Care” with a picture of a beautifully trimmed lawn.

Mike thinks to himself how awesome it would be to have someone else cutting the grass and wonders what a service like that costs.

He decides that right now is not the best time to bring it up but bookmarks the site so he can take a closer look later.

The second box is “Outdoor Living Spaces”.  No need to look at the other 3 boxes right now because that’s exactly what they are looking for!  Mike clicks on that on his iPhone.

Jane on the iPad scrolls down a little and sees a section that gives a quick overview of the “Residential Services” and “Commercial Services”.

Residential Services starts off like this:

• “Why try to keep up with the Jones’s when you can be the Jones’s? Extend your living area into the outdoors and give yourself the perfect outdoor haven by taking advantage of our landscaping company’s professional design and maintenance services”…. and goes on to list off the various services.

Jane reads the content and thinks to herself; wow this one seems to be in tune with what I want!

Just above the paragraph is a picture with the words “view our residential portfolio” and an arrow on it.  Jane clicks on the picture and it takes her to the gallery.

For the next hour Jane and Mike continue deeper into the site reading about how their new backyard will enhance their lifestyle, make them feel great, have more fun with friends, take all the stress in their lives away and make them more fun to hang out with….

Guess what you just did?

How much content is too much content, you ask?

You just read 941 words of content to get to this point.

Was it interesting?  Did it draw you in?  Did it make you want to learn more?

As long as your content is relevant, interesting and can be absorbed in pieces that helps visitors gather information so they can make important decisions, then it’s never too long.

But if you are just putting words on pages because you think Google likes that or you are talking all about how great you are, it’s not worth the effort.

And if you are being overly verbose in your writing just for the sake of having more words, you risk losing your audience with boredom.

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