Does YOUR website have this?!

Posted April 2, 2014

A website is not just a pretty business card, its a highly important factor in your marketing tool bag. In fact its more than that, it’s your most important lead generator and conversion tool.

Today, almost everyone who expresses interest in what you do or sell say’s “I’ll check out your website.” Which means that your website must not only look good, it must also convert visitors in to customers (and make you money)!

SO HOW DOES A WEBSITE MAKE YOU MONEY?

There are a few simple strategies that are key to making this a reality.

Please note this article does not cover SEO or other strategies to direct traffic to your website, it only discusses what to do when they get there, because traffic to your website is irrelevant if they are not converting to $.

I have broken these strategies in to 3 categories:

Keeping them engaged
Building trust
Converting to customers

Depending on the types of products and services you are selling, the conversion strategies (no. 3) may change slightly, but even the basic principles are still the same.

KEEPING THEM ENGAGED

Without effective strategies to ensure your visitors remain engaged, they will disappear faster than you can say “Welcome to my site.”

To keep visitors engaged the content must be of high value and must be of the type they are seeking. For example, some markets will want high quality content, while others will want high quality images and a few will want interactivity. You must know your market well enough to provide the content they want.

What you place ‘above the fold’ (visible on screen without scrolling down), is critical to getting past that 2 second bounce rate and further engagement.

BUILDING TRUST

What you say and do must be believable. To build trust there are a few simple but important things you can include:

Easy contact (phone number in top right of screen)
Testimony
Examples
Guarantees
Badges, qualifications and industry recognition

That’s just a high level list, but if you include those you’re well on the way.

CONVERTING TO CUSTOMERS

This is ultimately what it’s all about. Know that you don’t have to go for the kill and try to make an immediate sale, but don’t prevent them from buying either. What you want is just for them to take the next step.

The next might be a sale sure, but it could be much more effective to offer a small buy-in of an entry-level test product, or better still a simple high-value free opt-in. They give you their contact details in exchange for something of perceived value.

For example, what if you were selling a brand new car, what could you give a prospect that was virtually free (for you) but of a high perceived value to them?

A large proportion of people shopping for a new car are actually choosing between 2 or more options. What if you knew that and you provided a comparison between your model and the competitions?

Or maybe something else? An article on “The 3 biggest makes new car buyers make”. A free test-drive from your own home. Maybe $1000 in bonus extras?

Whatever it is for you, taking this approach is critical when you understand that only 5% of visitors are actually ready to buy now, and the other 95% will be soon and are almost guaranteed never to return to the same website again.

CONCLUSION

So in conclusion, take care of all 3 factors and most importantly, your customers needs and they will take care of you.

Engage -> Build Trust -> Convert