Here’s the kind of counter-intuitive discovery that I just love hearing about… because it just goes to show that what YOU (or I) think… may be far removed from what our target market thinks…

Let me tell you about Bev and Rob Clement…

Bev and Rob run a successful ghostwriting business called Ghostwriters International. Ghostwriters International gets most of its clients through the search engines, and for at least one of their targeted keywords, ranks at No.3 in Google.

Doing a little competitive intelligence, Bev and Rob decided to take a look at the websites of their first and second ranked competitors, along with those of the ghostwriters ranked below them. Interestingly, all of these sites: (1) offered significantly cheaper prices, and (2) were blog based websites.

Out of interest, Bev and Rob surveyed clients who had come to them via searching on the keyword in question and asked them why they had chosen Ghostwriters International over the other sites. Remember - these were clients who had no previous knowledge of Bev or Rob.

Overwhelmingly, the answer was the same. These clients had chosen Bev and Rob’s service because their site was… NOT A BLOG.

What? They chose Ghostwriters International because… their site wasn’t a blog? Am I being serious?

I am.

As many will know, blog based websites are much more “search engine friendly” than traditional, static HTML websites. For instance,  whenever you add content by posting to a blog, you effectively tell the search engines, including a range of blog-specific search engines, to visit and index your website (giving you more opportunities to increase your search engine rankings). Blogs also faciliate interactivity and back-links more easily than static websites. On top of that, blogs are typically much more easy to set up than traditional websites.

So it’s no surprise that Bev and Rob’s competitors were using blogging software to power their websites. But was this turning customers away?

When Bev and Rob delved a bit further to understand why their clients had been turned OFF the other sites because they were blog-based, they came across a startling finding: their clients associated blogs with “hobby” websites, not serious, professional websites.

In other words, because the Ghostwriters International website was a traditional website it gave the impression that Bev and Rob’s business was much more professional.

Interesting, huh? It just goes to show, once again, that each market is different and will respond to different triggers. In this particular case, a blog-based website was a turnoff for clients looking for professional ghostwriters. Or at least the clients who chose Ghostwriters International - it’s not clear whether Bev and Rob were attracting more clients than the other sites, just that a major reason why their clients came to them was that the other sites used blogs. It is interesting that Bev and Rob charged significantly more than the other sites, so they may well have been attracting higher paying customers. Whatever the case, Bev and Rob aren’t complaining - their business is booming!

Oh, just as an aside, there’s no reason why a blog need look like a blog. With some slick design and creative style sheet work, you can make a blog look as “traditional” or “corporate” as you want. However, many people tend to use blogs precisely because they aren’t web designers or don’t want (or can’t afford) to hire a designer - they can, instead, use one of the many free blog templates available. However, this, again, just may undermine the professionalism of their service and in turn, send customers away.

Click here for more information about Ghostwriters International.