1. Make It Easy For People This first tip is pretty simple. As the saying goes, the simplest ideas are often the best. Rather than increase the number of visitors to your website, you should work to get a higher percentage of leads or customers from your existing traffic. Small tweaks to text, colors and pictures can make a HUGE difference.
2. Don’t Waste My Time This one is a huge mistake made on the majority of websites! Better yet, this tip is a 2’fer. As in two-for the price of one. Don’t give too much information and don’t ask for too much information.
Studies show you have less than 7 seconds to give a user what they are looking for. If they do not find it they leave and don’t come back. Make sure the text on your website is short and sweet. People will not read pages of technical data about your products or services. Most people just scan text. Bullet points and short sentences or paragraphs will greatly increase the number of people who actually make it to the CTA (call to action).
The same rule applies to forms or checkout pages on your website. The longer the form is the less people will actually fill out the form. If you have a lead generating website it can be a good idea to just ask for the bare minimum you will need to contact them. Don’t add prequalifying question. Use the form as a way to start the conversation. Note: Check out the form below for an example.
3. Help People Trust You Most people are very cautious when giving out any personal information. And they should be. Between the rise of identity theft and email viruses we must all do our part to ensure our websites and the places we store information are secure. Secondly, we must make sure we show and tell our website visitors why they can and should trust us.
People love it when websites clearly explain what they are going to do with the information I put into a form. This can increase conversions dramatically.
Are you a member of any well known local or national organizations? Are you listed on the BBB? Have you been in business for a while? Does your site have a security certificate? These are all things you should communicate to your website visitors.
4. Be Memorable & Look Professional A lousy website tells people what products or services you offer and includes a catalogue. A great website educates and explains the differences, benefits, gives advice and offers free articles to assist people in their decision making. If you can leave a good memorable impression on your website visitors early in the decision process, they will return.
Being memorable and making sure visitors return requires having a few ducks in a row. You will need to make sure your website is clean, professional and easy to use. Your photos, logos and branding must also be top notch. A good impression won’t matter if they can’t remember who you are.
5. Know Your USP This is one of the greatest tips for both online and off-line. Many of you already know what USP stands for. For those of us that need a reminder it is simply the Unique Selling Proposition. This is an old school business term and it carries more weight now than ever.
Almost every market and industry has been interrupted by the infinite choices the internet has to offer. So, it is now more important than ever to clearly tell your visitors why they should do business with you. What makes you unique or different or better?
Bonus Tip: Don’t Forget everything you know about business. It amazes me how many of our successful clients forget everything they know about selling, customer service and follow up when discussing websites and internet marketing.
The fundamentals will never change. Rules are rules. Some of the old adages in business are as old as the stone tablets Moses carried down from the mountain top! Stick to what you know about your business and go with your gut.