I’m going to make a very bold statement. Most business websites are miserable failures.
They may look nice, have cool web 2.0 features and even tons of traffic, but a business website really has only one purpose; to make money. Each one may take a different approach, for example, you could sell products directly, promote affiliate offers or even generate leads, but at the end of the day, the goal is to convert your visitors into paying customers.
Most websites fail to do that.
There are lots of reasons, but here are the three most common, and what you can do to change them.
- Your copy sucks. You may be one of the top experts in your industry, but that doesn’t mean you can write compelling copy that makes people understand what you do or makes them want to buy right now. That job is best left to a copywriter…a real one, not someone you found up on Craig’s List. My recommendation is Phenomenal Content LLC, which offers, as you might guess, phenomenal copywriting and editing services at a great value.
- There is no call to action. When a visitors arrives on your website, you want them to do something specific. Maybe it’s to buy a product, maybe it’s to sign up for your newsletter or maybe it’s to call you. Tell them. Don’t expect them to be mind readers, and don’t be afraid that you might come off as pushy. Your job is to help people, and you can’t do that if they aren’t your customer.
- You don’t make it easy. Sure, you know your way around your own website, but do your visitors have to dig for contact information? Do they find your website difficult to navigate or is your checkout process a nightmare? You can get a pretty good idea of what challenges people have on your site by the questions they ask.
That’s the tip of the iceberg. Improving your website is an ongoing process that is never finished—there is always something that can be better. If you want a solid step by step checklist to get more traffic, conversions and revenue from your website, I recommend getting a copy of our 21 page website checklist!
