James Debono
On many occasions people say to us; we have a website, we have invested a lot in our website, our website gets a lot of visitors. While all of those statements may be true, very few companies that we speak to can tell me how many leads their website generates, how that equates to revenue / profit and how they track this.
Make an Immediate Impact.
Have you ever opened the door to a retail establishment or a restaurant, walked in, looked around and after taking in what was around you decided not to stay and left straight away?
On the internet this happens every hour of every day. It happens on some websites more than others and sometimes there are some very simple reasons as to why.
When a user finds your site and they get to the home page what do they see? What is above the fold? Is there a picture of your logo? Is there an explanation of what you do? Is there any mention to the type of person you help? Is there a telephone number or contact details which someone can find easily and use to speak to someone for more help.
When someone lands on your website you have a MAXIMUM of 10 seconds to get that persons attention. If you don’t provide them with the experience they were expecting when they came to your site they will leave and move on to the next site and that will be another potential repeat client that got away.
What is Next?
A person’s main reason for visiting your website is to learn more about how you can help them solve a specific problem. If your website does that, what is the next course of action?
Do they fill in a form?
Do they call?
Do they reach out on social media?
Is it clear?
What should they do first?
And, if they would rather a different way to contact you what is the second preferred contact method?
Think Of Your Home Page As A Receptionist.
When someone arrives at your offices or practice, their first port of call is probably the reception desk. A receptionist will ask them how they can help and then direct them onto the area of the business that can help them.
Your website needs to do the same. If you are a dentist and a patient has a broken tooth and they are in pain, then on your home page you could have a sign, banner or junction box that says if you are in need of emergency dental treatment call or click here.
When that person then clicks they are taken to a page that specifically highlights the problems they could be experiencing and what they can do to resolve it; i.e. call to book an emergency appointment today.
Navigation should be stupidly simple to ensure that all users can get what they want, FAST.
How Can We Help You?
Each and every page on your website should have a clear primary call to action. If you would like more help about “problem xyz” then please call us on “telephone number” today.
And also a secondary call to action which could be in the form of an opt in box where the user can leave their query.
It doesn’t stop there though, although the rest is probably for another post about conversion optimisation or maybe customer experience! What happens to that information, who handles it, who contacts the interested user? How are they contacted? By phone or email? Is there a script to follow in order to increase sales etc?
As you can see web design is part of the overall customer experience and chances are if a lead does not get contacted within a few hours they will lose interest all together and this will really impact your results.
Highlight the Benefits
Treat each and every page as if it is an “about you”, you being your customers, clients or patients. What are their problems? What are they looking for? What are the BENEFITS TO THEM if they select you as their partner of choice?
You have corporate offices overlooking London Bridge, Great how does that help me?
You use Nitrous Oxide on your patients. Fantastic, but what does that mean to me?
You will highlight all your patient’s joint dysfunctions. Thanks, and that helps how?
Remember nobody goes to buy a drill, they go to get a tool that will help them make a hole!
Use Video to Highlight How You Can Help Clients.
Video is powerful. Really, really powerful and consumers are watching more videos online each and every month. It is not just teenagers that are watching video.
80% of Executives are watching more video online than last year.
In fact don’t just read what I have to say watch the video below.
Users are more inclined to watch a video than read text. If that is the case then a short video explainer highlighting how you can help them will aid your conversion.
Video is a much quicker way of highlighting the problem your audience is experiencing and providing the proof that you have a solution that can help them.
Provide Social Proof.
Consumers, clients, patients all want proof. They want proof that you will deliver on time, on budget and more importantly, solve their problem. It is one thing you saying you can do it, but it is another thing if a client of yours says it for you.
Get feedback from your clients and use it as marketing collateral for your business. Over the past five years there has been an explosion in social media and online review sites where anybody can say anything about you, your business and your culture.
Make it your business to leverage the great work that you have done for others to grow your business. After all that is what word of mouth marketing is, this is just leveraging technology to do exactly the same.
Have testimonials on your home page, put them on your about us page. If you can, get video testimonials of clients talking about the excellent experience they have received.
Using testimonials and reviews will increase the number of website users that pick up the phone and call, book and become repeat clients of yours.
Think Mobile
Mobile web traffic is growing. More and more people are using mobile devices to search for information on the internet. If your website does not cater to those then you stand to lose out on a lot of traffic.
That is not a scare tactic it is fact. Google prioritises sites that are mobile friendly. Therefore if a website is not mobile friendly and user searches from a mobile device, your website will not get listed. And even if people who do know you are looking from their iPad or mobile phone then when they land on your site they have to pinch the screen and push to the side and up and down.
The user experience is absolutely terrible. Existing clients might put up with it but will new clients?
Make it easy for people: provide the ability for mobile users to click to call. Provide one click to Google maps to get directions from where they are. Provide clear and accessible buttons the users can click to get more details on whatever they need.
Mobile search traffic will continue to grow as users become more connected so arm your business website to accommodate these changes and satisfy the needs of your existing and potential clients.
If your website has all of these then great, the next step should be to focus on your conversions, understand your numbers; cost per client acquisition, life time spend of a client and then once you have these variables work out how much you can invest in marketing your business website; increasing traffic to drive business growth.
Change is not always for the better
At this point I am sure you are expecting me to say that if you don’t have all this then you need a new website immediately. Well I’m not.
Change is not always for the better. And if you don’t know your numbers to start with then what do you have to compare to if you decide to change provider or you make changes to your website?
How many new calls do you receive from your website each week? If you don’t have a phone tracking system in place then tell your receptionist that every time a new client calls to ask where they got your details.
How many email leads do you receive from your website each week? Do you know where the email goes? How long does it take for someone to respond with the relevant answer?
As a business owner you cannot manage what you cannot track.
If you have got this information but are struggling to understand the detail behind it, or if you’re not sure where to start with even getting hold of your numbers then contact us on 0161 851 403 and we will be more than happy to help you understand how your website could be helping you drive more business.
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