Marketing
5 Disastrous Ways Your Site Isn’t Converting Leads
By Flying Hippo
Your website is not just a glorified brochure. It’s a living, breathing entity that needs nurturing.
If you’re neglecting to maintain your site, it might be doing more harm than good. Having a crummy web presence that lacks inspiration and nuance can spell disaster for your brand.
So how do you get your site to turn visitors into sales?
No One Knows What The Heck You Do
Imagine: one day, you decided you wanted a widget, so you walked into a store called “Des Moines Widget Emporium.” You’d expect them to sell widgets, right?
But what if they don’t? What if they’re just in the widget distribution business? What if they really sell pizza ovens instead of widgets? That would be pretty disappointing.
If your business doesn’t concisely and accurately explain what you do on your website, how can you expect your clientele to know? Your customers will flock to the company that fills their needs, not the one that confuses them right off the bat.
Your site should explain what it does immediately. Hooking your customers with a pithy, catchy description of your company is a great first step for lead conversion.
No One Knows What The Benefit of it is
Nike doesn’t sell tennis shoes. They are a tennis shoe company that sells the freedom of running on the open road, self-empowerment and the benefits of living an active, healthy life.
Country Time doesn’t sell lemonade. They are a lemonade company that sells sitting on the porch with your family, basking in the summer sun and listening to the faint chirp of the birds in the distant trees and the ice cream truck in the distance.
Bic doesn’t sell pens. They are a pen company that gives you the opportunity to sign a mortgage on your first home or close a huge business deal.
Get the picture? You’re not just selling widgets, you’re selling the indirect benefits of that widget. Your site isn’t converting leads because you’re focused on the product, not the benefit of the product for the end user.
You Don’t Bring Up The Elephant in the Room
When you go to Pizza Hut’s site, you’re probably not there to learn about their supplier code of conduct or some other inconsequential thing. You likely want hot pizza within arm’s reach as soon as possible.
They know that the majority of their customers just want some pizza, so they skip to the point and get right to the elephant in the room: the cost, how much delivery is and how much it costs for triple-extra pepperoni.
Your site should not hide the elephant in the room. Get right to the point by keeping your fees, timeline and anything else your customers need to know front and center.
Contacting You Is Hard
“Our site makes it easy to get a hold of us,” you might say. “All the visitor has to do is click ‘Contact Us’!”
Wellllllllll it’s not really that easy. Then they have to fill out a convoluted contact form, or copy/paste their email address or (perish the thought!) pick up the phone and call someone. The more obstacles you place in the way of someone, the less likely they are to contact you.
Streamline the contacting process: an easy, concise online form is probably your best bet to converting leads that otherwise would have abandoned your clunky interface.
You Offer Too Many Options
So you’re a pizza parlor that sells pizzas, calzones, sandwiches, hamburgers, french fries (organic and non-organic options), gyros, bulgogi and Mongolian beef? That might be a little over the top—and a little overwhelming to your clientele.
In order to get your site to convert, narrow your product or service offerings. Don’t give too much valuable space to products and services that aren’t big sellers.
