A great website can be your secret weapon. Crafting a responsive website that speaks to your ideal customers will bring you qualified leads that mean business. A “website” isn’t a one size fits all. It absolutely needs to be custom designed to your specific messages and ideal customers making it authentic and fit for purpose.
Let’s take a look at your website and how it’s performing now. It’s the starting point to find out where you can gain an edge, hone your approach and create a responsive website that’s magnetic.
Here are a few pillars to making a truly effective website and gaining a competitive advantage.
1. Add value (before asking for the sale)
Unless you sell a product that someone is looking for there and then, you need to make sure you add value – most visitors aren’t ready to buy from you right away.
Big brands have the budget and brand recognition to not worry about brand loyalty. But for us mere mortals you can’t rely on people remembering your brand – you need to give them a little help. One of the best ways to do this is to give something useful, to add value. If you can, capture leads so you can stay in touch with your prospect until they’re ready to do business with you.
Ways that you can add value for your website visitors :
- Provide a resources section with free downloads of ebooks showcasing your expertise.
- Create a ‘gateway’ product that you can sell (or giveaway) that gives an indication of what you’re about but it’s less of a commitment than your main offering.
Have an irresistible offer that makes it a no-brainer for people to sign up to your newsletters or email lists (one of our favourite websites that does this beautifully is Marie Forleo).
2. Get crystal clear on how you help customers and why they should choose you
We’ve all heard the stats on how many seconds you have to impress people when they land on your website. In our ebook, six easy ways to get an ROI from your website, we have a significant section dedicated to ‘bounce rates’. We can’t underplay how important first impressions are, having a ridiculously effective home page is mission critical as it doesn’t take long for visitors to hit that back button!
Ways to show how you can help prospects :
- Preparing well-written copy that frames your offering to your customer’s benefit. It’s well worth the investment having a copywriter review your headlines and copy.
- Showcase your credibility in the best possible light. Whether it’s case studies, clients you work with, awards, results. Make sure that it’s front and centre.
- When was the last time you did an audit to make sure your website, social media and online profiles are all cohesive, well branded and have a consistent tone? Consistency builds trust and is a key part of your overall brand strategy.
3. Make sure your website WORKS
As well as great design, brilliant headliners and content – making sure it works and is a responsive website is by far one of the most important things to test in your business. We know bad experiences spread faster than good ones so don’t let your brand down by annoying visitors.
How to make sure your website works:
- Test your forms regularly, make sure they all work and go through to the right person or your CRM system. You don’t want valuable leads slipping through the net.
- Check your site on your mobile. With new devices being launched all the time it’s important to plan regression testing from time to time.
- Have you checked how reliable your website hosting is? It’s vital to make sure your virtual shop window is secure and available 24/7.
4. Be proactive in answering possible objections
What are the potential barriers of visitors becoming your client or customer? What are their thoughts and feelings on each step of their journey? By identifying these you can be proactive in moving your business from the ‘risk’ to ‘reward’ category in the mind of your prospects and convert more visitors into leads.
You’ll need to have a brainstorm as every business is unique, but what are the types of ‘risks’ potential customers foresee? Maybe you’re relatively unknown, people are unsure of the quality of what you’re offering, don’t know what the spend and ROI might be etc. When you have a list you can start to create a strategy to overcome those risks and build trust with your visitors.
- Do you have any awards or accreditations that you can display?
- Do you have real photography that gives a face and personality to your business showing it’s real and authentic?
- Have you got case studies or ways to evidence how you deliver?
On our form submission or thank you page, we’ve got a little FAQ download offering clients information that will help answer concerns and give them an idea of what it’s like to work with us.
Over to you…
Set aside some time to review, plan and execute changes to your website and turn it into a magnet for qualified leads and clients. Implementing changes and frequent updates will give you an edge over your competitors and present your brand in the best possible light. We wish you every success!
