Every website leaves fingerprints. Yours!

Your personality is all over it. Whether you mean to or not, your site reflects you in ways you might not notice: sometimes good, sometimes bad. While personality peccadilloes can be endearing in social situations, minor personality flaws can destroy your website.

So before you get out your keyboard, get out a mirror.

Why not see if any of these 3 personality traits are seeping into the design and copy of your web site:

• Insecurity
  
• Pride
  
• Anxiety
  

Insecure people create timid sites

Most people are insecure in certain situations as they chameleon their image to gain the favour of others. Nothing kills a website faster than trying to be a people pleaser. Insecure people create timid sites that try to be all things to all people. Instead of declaring, “Here’s who I am,” insecure sites tentatively plead, “I can be whatever you want; hope you find something you like.” How forgettable and phony is that?

A special kind of timid site pretends it is not selling something at all and masquerades as literature hiding behind big words and long sentences. And it works too - if not-selling-something is what you want to achieve.

Secure people on the other hand have learned to get real. Some people like them; others don’t. Their sites stand out because their authors stand up. They are memorable because they are authentic. Does your site take a stand or does it sit on the sidelines wanting to be liked? Is your site real or real phony?

Proud people produce narcissistic sites

While timid sites aim overly outward, narcissistic sites look too far in the other direction.

Business owners have a justifiable pride in their business. Sorry to say this pride can be the undoing of their site. Many owners lost in their delight often boast, “Look what I can do,” instead of proclaiming, “Look what you get.” These sites tend to focus on features instead of real customer benefits. They highlight trained staff rather than peace of mind. Missing are empathy and impact. Nothing kills internet rapport like a one-sided relationship. Does your site brag about you or resonate with strangers?

Anxious people make nervous sites

Nervous sites are the most common offender. They don’t gaze outward or inward; they look nowhere, all hurried and patchy. The visuals are the first give-away - a little red here and dash of purple, a touch of bold with a smidgen of underlining, a bevy of random quotations and isolated graphics.

Where’s the rhyme? Where’s the reason? Where is the message? The copy reads more like a digital ransom note than a calm presentation of a distinctive value proposition.

The sad part is these sites frequently betray an honest business person who is just not comfortable about expressing his business. These sites unfairly depict sleaze and incredulity.

Sometimes the anxiety is driven by a specific learning style. A number of individuals are more comfortable with trees than a forest, preferring details to the big picture. That’s too bad because site visitors crave the big picture before they invest their care and clicks. What image does your site convey – calm or chaos?

So you’re not perfect. What can you do about it?

Everybody is a bit insecure, a tad proud and slightly anxious. The trick is to keep these failings from invading your site. So what can you do?

Your human shortcomings might populate your site because you are just too close to the data to detect your demons creeping up the keyboard.

You’ve got to get some distance. First have a third party who’s not a family member play site doctor, looking for symptoms of insecurity, pride and anxiety in your site design and copy.

There’s nothing like conducting your own foible check to be sure you parked your issues at the curb. Here are 3 questions to ask:

• What exactly does my site stand for? Can 4 people out of 5 tell me?
  
• How do my visitors see themselves? Ask them?
  
• How have I organized my design and copy?
  

If these tactics don’t help, you could either see a qualified psychiatrist or hire a good copywriter.

Paul Matthews, The Rezon8or gets business. He specializes in writing high resonance copy that sells …all click, no slick. Paul Matthews, The Reson8or, gets business. He is a proven freelance copywriter who crafts believable messages that sell - all click, no slick. His clients exploit the persuasive power of resonance in their websites, brochures, sales letters and advertisements.