3 October 2017 - Richard Shire
The entire purpose of your website is to create customers and there are essentially 2 steps to this. Firstly you need to bring in traffic and then convert that traffic into customers. Now attracting visitors to your website requires an entirely different blog post, today we will share 3 of the best ways you can turn website visits into conversions once they have arrived.
Your website must perform on a basic level. It is easy to get distracted by all the marketing jargon and flashy sales funnel concepts. You can have the best marketing strategy in place but if your website doesn’t do the basic things and perform as visitors expect, they will simply leave.
To do this, keep your site updated and ensure that it loads quickly, any more than 3 seconds and the modern customer with their short attention span will seek their solutions else-where. Also check to see if it looks good and is easy to navigate on a mobile and desktop.
People do not have time to waste looking around your website to ascertain if you can help them. If anything is ambiguous you will lose their interest. Make sure that your visitors can ascertain quickly and easily if your business is able to provide the solutions they are looking for.
Remember that regardless of what you sell, your visitor comes to you with a problem; they are looking for a business to solve it. You need to demonstrate very quickly that this is you.
The copy on your website needs to talk directly to your ideal client. It needs to recognise their problem and offer the solution but there is more to a website than just words. You want to use images and graphics that complement the copy and also appeal to the ideal client. These images should represent your brand and your solution and be specifically chosen to create an emotional reaction in your visitors.
Don’t worry about converting every visitor to your website, when you start to think about everyone, you stop focusing on your ideal client. It is these people who you need to design your website for as they are most likely to use your product or service.
Having clarity about how you see the journey of your visitors from their first 3 seconds to conversion is paramount. You need to imagine how your potential customer will explore your website and consider what they need to know and when.
Understanding this, impacts on several aspects of the website design, consider the following.
Adding contact details – don’t make it difficult for your visitor to contact you. Make sure you have a contact page but you can additionally put your phone number clearly on the top of the Home page or in the footer of each page. The same applies to social media links and other ways for your visitor to contact you away from the website.
Call to action – make sure each page has a call to action. You need to consider what you want the visitor to do next and instruct them accordingly. Don’t sacrifice the value of the page by overtly selling but make sure each page reminds them of the next step and guides them gently towards your paid services or products.
Add a book-in form – if a customer is ready to convert allow them the opportunity to do it easily at any time or place. The best way to do this is through a booking form. You can add one to your website or include a calendar link so that you will be notified immediately when you have a conversion.
Collect leads – a conversion doesn’t always mean a paid customer. Your website collects a lead when your visitor inputs their details. You then have this information to follow up on. Usually this is done through an automated email marketing campaign.
Most people won’t just give you their details; instead they will exchange them for something useful and free. This is called a lead magnet. The benefits of a lead magnet is that it gives you the opportunity to show your expertise, build a relationship with the visitor and bring them into your sales funnel. Once you have their details you can offer them paid products later on. You could also consider the simple process of offering your visitor the opportunity to subscribe to a newsletter.
The main objective here is to establish a relationship with the visitor so that they don’t simply leave and forget all about you. Remember that your website should represent you and your brand and provide your visitors with valuable information about how you can help them. It is not about pushing sales but providing a service to those who need it.
Here at Aspire Shire, we specialise in providing websites that convert. If you want a website to grow your business and your profit margin then we can help you. Contact us here for more information.