Your website might be losing you precious client leads. It’s true. Whether you are actively managing your website or not, it’s impacting how potential clients view your company and your products or services.
Here are 10 ways your website is losing you those precious client leads and how you can change that.
Outdated Website
An outdated website, especially if it isn’t responsive, makes your company look outdated. Even if you use the latest technology and are on the cutting-edge in your industry, if your B2B web design doesn’t reflect that, you are likely giving potential clients the wrong impression.
Fix it: It’s time for a new website. In many cases, you will have to start from scratch, but the end result will make you wonder why you waited so long.
Slow Load Time
Did you know that 47% of consumers expect a website to load in 2 seconds or less? (Source: Kissmetrics) Count it out: one-one thousand, two-one thousand. That’s pretty quick. If your B2B website isn’t loading in 2 seconds or less, website visitors may simply hit the back button or go to the next listing in the search results.
Fix it: There are a variety of ways to speed up your website’s load time including, cleaning up your CSS, resizing images, enable caching, and minimizing the amount of 301 redirects.
Poor Branding
If visitors to your B2B website can’t easily figure out who you are and why they should work with your firm, it’s likely poor branding. A strong brand is the core of any successful marketing strategy. Without a clear brand, you will be lost in the sea of your competition.
Fix it: Create a clear brand, mission statement and value proposition. This doesn’t happen in five minutes by one person in your company. Branding is a process that should be taken seriously and given the attention it deserves.
Unclear Messaging
Potential clients should be able to understand the value your firm offers and how it benefits them within a few minutes of being on your firm’s B2B website. A website with unclear or disjointed messaging confuses visitors and makes them work hard to understand. This is one of the most common ways that websites lose valuable client leads.
Fix it: Review your website’s messaging. Is it saying too many things? Is it saying things that are consistent with each other? Is it not saying much of anything at all? Tighten up your messaging, typically with no more than three value propositions and revisit how the messaging is portrayed on your website.
No Information
At the very minimum, a B2B website should be an online brochure that tells potential clients about the services your provide, the benefits of your services or products, and what it’s like to work with your firm. If your website has little to no information, your prospects can’t decide if they want to work with you. In many cases, if you don’t offer them information, your competitors do.
Fix it: If your website is only a few pages or only has a few paragraphs of text, it’s time to create new copy, visuals, videos, graphs, etc. Think about what your prospects need to know about your firm’s products or services and create content that addresses those needs. Take the opportunity to educate your prospects and existing clients.
Lackluster Copy
Do you get bored reading your own website? If you are bored with your own copy, then it’s likely prospects are bored too. No one wants to stick around on a site that’s boring.
Fix it: Write copy with your prospect in mind. What matters to them? What are their pain points? Interesting copy creates an emotional connection between your prospects and your products or services.
Lack of Case Studies or White Papers
A website should be a living, breathing resource center that provides all the information a prospect needs to become a client. If you aren’t sharing helpful, actionable information with potential clients, they will go elsewhere to get the tips and tools to perform their jobs better.
Fix it: Build case studies on successful client projects. Show the value of your products or services in these case studies. Create white papers that enable your prospects to do their jobs better.
Vague CTAs
Look at your website and ask yourself, “Does a prospect understand the next step they should take?” If the answer is maybe or no, it’s likely that the calls-to-action (CTAs) are weak.
Fix it: Create CTAs that are direct, clear, and definitive. Things like: Call Now, Schedule a Consultation, Request a Demo, Download Now, etc.
Poorly Placed CTAs
Do visitors have to scroll all the way to the very bottom of your website, or, even worse, have to click to a second page to even find a link to your contact page? All CTAs should be front and center in highly visible parts of your B2B website. If your CTA isn’t in a prominent place, visitors may not even see it before they leave your website.
Fix it: Put CTAs in several spots on your website. Make it easy for potential prospects to see the CTAs and complete the action.
Complicated Contact Forms
Contact forms that look like a college application will lose you potential leads. A long, complicated form with every field required can be overwhelming and off-putting. Even an interested prospect may think, “I’ll come back to this later,” only to never return.
Fix it: Simplify your forms. The easiest way to do this is to eliminate fields that aren’t essential or ask for information that can quickly be collected after the initial contact is made. Another way to simplify the form is to only make a few fields required for form submission.
A B2B website is a great tool for attracting, nurturing, and converting potential leads into new clients. Follow these 10 tips to turn your website into a lead generation tool for your firm.
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