“This website is bland. It has no personality.”

Recognize that criticism? You probably have heard it, said it, or at least thought it when visiting a B2B website. Who knows? It might even have been your own company’s site.

With all due respect, that comment is simply not true. Every B2B website has a personality. They can be bold or geeky or verbose—some are even a little schizophrenic.

In short, lack of personality is never the problem with B2B websites. The trouble starts when the site’s personality doesn’t match the brand you want to project. If that’s the case, your website will be an awkward representative for your company and it won’t speak to your prospects and customers on their terms.

Thankfully, you can mold the personality of your B2B website to ensure it makes the right impression when important visitors unexpectedly pop in. All you need to do is answer the following question.

If your B2B website was a person, who would you want it to be?

That sounds like metaphysical nonsense, but it’s actually a common sense starting point. Before you do the deep dive into the sitemapping, content strategy and design options, it pays to select a role model to base the website’s personality on.

This person can be real or fictional, but he or she should have distinct personality traits that you want to see reflected in your website.

Here are a few personality examples that translate into very different website approaches.

Your best salesperson

What makes your sales leader so strong? Chances are it’s a combination of traits: an industry expert who knows the customer’s pain points; a problem solver with practical products ready to go; a trusted advisor that customers rely on in a pinch. All of that can be translated into a B2B website. And here’s a tip to make it happen: Sit down with your best salesperson before you ever get started on website planning. Ask about customer needs, objections, eye openers and what information sales wishes every prospect knew before the sales call. You’ll leave that meeting with ideas and insights to shape an informative and transactional website.

Your favorite college professor

Truly inspiring instructors know how to explain the most complex subjects and keep an audience captivated. They answer questions before you even think to ask them, and always make students part of the experience. The result is that their students learn the essentials—then want to learn more. Imagine if your B2B website had that power. You could nurture prospects, dissolve their doubts, and transform them into engaged, educated and qualified leads. It’s possible with smart, relevant content and a seamless user experience. It also helps greatly to have compelling teaching resources on your website such as explainer videos, infographics, case studies and customer testimonials. They all work together to teach valuable lessons about your B2B brand.

 Your local librarian

You walk into the public library on a quest and time is short. You want to find an obscure novel that defies classification and you’re not certain how to locate it quickly. What’s your first step? You could try a fruitless search on your own or settle for a different book. Or you could ask that patient, all knowing literary savant behind the big desk. When you do, the librarian will direct you to the subject of your search. That was easy and rewarding. Now you trust the librarian as the source for answers. You can see where this is going: A B2B website that acts like a librarian will guide visitors right to the content they want. This requires a simple home page that offers multiple content paths, a well-designed site architecture that serves up content in the fewest clicks possible, and clear navigation. When you combine all that, the busy visitor gets what they want and may even bookmark your site as a go-to resource.

 Your fearless cousin

Every family has someone who defies precipitous odds but always manages to come out on top and smiling. This individual embraces challenges, pushes the envelope, boldly states difficult truths and does it in their own unique style. Why do they survive and succeed? Because of a steadfast belief in their own abilities, a clear understanding of the situation and a penchant for indisputable facts. When it comes to B2B websites, this can be the perfect personality for startups, smaller firms and underdog brands. If you want to grab market share from the giants it takes courage. You also need to understand what makes your brand special and own it. There must be reasons why a prospect would partner with you over more established firms. Exalt those differentiators and leverage your facts. Remember, you shouldn’t be afraid of the industry giants, but you can give them reasons to fear you.

 There you have it: Four very different personalities and each serves a specific purpose for B2B brands. Even if none of these choices was close, there is a good fit out there for your B2B website. Once you determine the right personality, it will give everyone involved in creating the website a real representation of the tone and attitude you desire.

If you want to talk about optimizing your B2B website, we’re here for you. Simply contact Boomm. We think you’ll find we have the right personality for the project.