Four simple tips to turn the ship around
It's the million-dollar question that everyone should be asking: Is my website design holding my business back?
Here's why it's worth a million: Because if your website design is holding you back, you'll probably never get feedback from people about it. They'll simply bounce off your site.
Permanently.
Which can easily cost you a million in the long run.
You might call this "funnel failure". It's a shudder-worthy affliction that even the best and brightest companies can suffer from.
Let's say you have an online presence that does a great job of finding people. But if your website design is a less-than-impeccable diplomat, those people quickly (and often quietly) slip away.
Of course, if your website design is failing to convert visitors to buyers, for any reason, it's officially diagnosed with the condition "Holding Back Your Business."
Thankfully, the cure can be simple.
Here are the top 4 reasons why your site might not be converting visitors to buyers - and the fix for each:
1) Lack of clarity in your message
Your message is what your website is designed to deliver. If your message isn't crystal clear, then nothing you build will be effective.
Clarifying your message comes down to one simple question to hammer out before you spring for a fancy website:
What is my business selling ?
Believe it or not, being succinct about this point is hard to achieve. You likely have several target markets, and many options about what you could sell online.
Every page needs to clearly define what your visitors can do to take one more step closer to a sale.
This includes compelling delivery of information regarding:
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Main items to sell
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Package deals
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Promotional offerings
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Offers for an extended relationship (aka they give you their email address)
2) Your website design is overly complicated
Let's face it. If your website is confusing, it's killing your business.
Here are a few things to check for - and fix - to take your site from Dr. Seuss-like contraption to streamlined business machine:
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Is your text content presented in small chunks?
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Does your homepage offer only enough to encourage visitors to click deeper into your site?
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Are your buttons and pages simple, clear and easy to understand?
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Do your visitors see exactly what you want them to do next?
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Is there visual clutter that gets in the way of your message?
3) Your website doesn't work on all platforms and devices
Oy! This is a good reason in itself to keep things simple. There's no better way to alienate all those potential customers you worked SO hard to bring in than to have elements of your site that don't work on their smartphone or ipad!
Luckily, troubleshooting your website design for bugs is pretty simple. Just gather up your friends, family and biggest fans and have them check out all pages of your site on their various internet-savvy devices.
Of course, then get in touch with your website developer and have the issues fixed PRONTO. It's better not to offer something at all than to have it become a technical hangup for an otherwise awesome customer.
4) Lack of calls to action
Want to know the cardinal Call-To-Action rule?
Every single new click on your website constitutes a "YES" from your visitors.
So be sure to include varied calls to action on every page, including:
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Buy something now!
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Click for video or pictures
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Sign up for a newsletter or e-book
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Call for an estimate
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Your business hours of operation and directions
Not sure exactly how this looks in action?
Check out some Catalpha Web Design that really sells!