Should Your Company Website Have A Mission Statement?

David Leonhardt

Every organization, every team should have a mission statement.  This is not for the public to view, unless that is part of the PR plan.  It is for team members (staff) to understand the bigger picture context of what they are doing.  The bigger the workforce, the farther away the peons are from the corner office, the more important it is to have a missions statement on which everybody can hang their hats.

In the absence of a mission statements, team members will revert to the default missions statement: “We strive to increase the wealth of our stockholders, so that they might indulge in additional fantasies.”

Tim Fehraydinov

I don’t really think that a business website should have a mission statement/manifesto. Most missions I saw sounded too pretentious. Moreover, I don’t think it may impress your visitors. Our website has a mission statement but… well, you can read it here. It’s short, and it shows what we think about such statements.

Unless you run a non-commercial or charity website you don’t need a mission.

3 Ways A Mission Statement May Be Effective

In my research as a writer and a business owner myself, I studied several mission statements or pages and I found some that were not just enlightening about the company I was reviewing, but also found me so fascinated with the values and approach of the company that I wanted to learn more — Atlassian’s Values page is a good example in this sense.

In other words, the mission statement was so engaging and well written that it created a connection.

This is what you want to do with your company’s mission statement — connect to your prospects.

Here are 3 ways a mission statement can work for your business:

1. It positions your company in the eyes of the prospect

What sets your business aside from others in the same category? What does make it different? How can the prospect (your potential customer or user) tell it’s you and not some other brand? What values do you abide to and that you want to convey?

Answering these questions alone will give you the skeleton of your mission statement.

2. It gives your brand a face and not just a name

Your brand name may inspire trust, but the prospect will not give you 100% of their trust until they can learn more about your brand, acknowledge the benefits, see your face.

It’s like when you want to friend someone on Facebook or other social networks — you take a good look at the photo and read more about the person. You don’t stop to the name, that may or may not inspire your trust.

A mission adds a face — and a personality — to an otherwise semi-neutral brand.

3. It adds credibility to your overall product/service offering

A mission statement tells the prospect you don’t just work for money but even for human values you believe in, and that you care about the end user of your products or services.

Answer these simple questions: why do you offer these products? What’s your vision?

If your customers or users leave testimonials, add them to your mission page. If you have none, ask your current and past customers to leave one.

A note of caution: don’t use flowery language in your mission — it’s a turn-off for your prospect and mines your brand credibility. State what you do, talk to your prospect, help them feel home and trust you. Know your audience inside out before you publish this important page of your website.

What’s your take?

Do you use a mission statement on your business website? How does it affect the way your brand communicates with your customers or users?

Share your views in the comments below.