Over the past couple months I’ve been reviewing a lot of our customers’ websites and I’m seeing the same mistakes again and again.
The 3 most common websites mistakes I see are:
- No compelling offer
- No clear call to action
- No lead generation
If you’re making these same mistakes then you could be losing sales every day without even knowing it. And in this article I’ll explain how to fix these problems, so you start generating more leads and sales from your website every day.
No Compelling Offer
The #1 website mistake I see is not having a compelling offer prominently displayed on the website. Without an offer, there’s no urgency for the prospect to contact you immediately. And if your prospect doesn’t contact you right away and instead clicks to another website, then she is probably lost forever. It’s just too easy to shop around and everyone has ADD when it comes to surfing online.
You need an offer that your prospect can’t refuse, so you don’t miss out on the fleeting opportunity to make a sale. This is what we call an “irresistible offer” and every website needs one.
An irresistible offer should include as many of the following components to increase your website conversions:
- Name your offer (i.e. if you’re a dentist, then you may offer a special “Summer Smile Cleaning & Whitening”)
- Define the price (i.e. normally $300)
- Guarantee (i.e. whiter smile or your money back)
- Reason for your offer (i.e. look great in your summer photos)
- Deadline (i.e. offer ends Labor Day)
- Call to action (i.e. Call 555-555-5555 to schedule your Summer Smile Cleaning & Whitening today)
Go through the list above and think about what you can offer to your prospects to get more of them to contact you from your website.
No Clear Call to Action
The second mistake is not having a clear call to action. Some businesses take time to create great offers for their prospects, but all that work is wasted because it’s not obvious how to contact the business.
There’s a great book about website usability that I recommend every serious online marketer and business owner read called, Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug. As the name suggests, it’s all about how you want to design your websites so your visitor does NOT even have to think about what to do. If your visitor gets confused, then she’s going to quickly leave and find another website (i.e. your competitors).
You need to make your website brain-dead simple and ensure your call to action is glaringly obvious. That means your offer and directions (e.g. to call or complete a web form) should be prominently displayed “above the fold” – which means your prospect doesn’t have to scroll down in their browser.
To test your call to action, I recommend you stand up and walk about 10 feet away from your computer monitor. Then look to see if you can see your offer and call to action. If you can’t, make it larger and more obvious on the page.
No Lead Generation
The third mistake is not using a “lead magnet” to generate more leads on your website. A lead magnet can be a free report, video, webinar, coupon, demo, or anything else that has enough value to your prospects that they will give you contact information in exchange for the “lead magnet.”
The fact is, the vast majority of people who visit your website will NOT be ready to buy from you. That means your irresistible offer might not make sense at the time they stumble across your website. For example, the dentist offering the “Summer Smile Cleaning & Whitening” deal is great for prospects looking for a dentist. However, some prospects are not quite ready to schedule an appointment, but they would complete a webform to receive a free report called, “5 Tips to a Brighter Smile.”
Once your prospect enters her email, then you can follow up to nurture the lead until she is ready to schedule an appointment. Not only do you collect valuable contact information, but you also position you and your business as the authority in your industry. So everyone who requests and reads your report will be more likely to do business with you versus all of your competitors.
