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Where’s the Business? - Part 2

Last week I started a 2-part article about reasons your website might not be getting you the business you desire. This week I will talk about two additional, related problems.

Poorly Converting Message

Related to your branding message and missing calls-to-action I discussed last week, if your sales text isn't converting your visitors to customers, you might want to look at it closely.

First of all, you need to be clear about what the purpose of your website is. What are you selling? What is the price-point? How is it delivered? There is a big difference between selling a $14.95 book and a $5,000 coaching program.

If you are selling big-ticket products or services (generally asking customers to agree to a $1,000+ purchase), it will be very difficult to convert someone who doesn't know you at all into a buyer using just the text on your website. Usually, unless you have a very compelling product, a strong reputation, and dozens of glowing testimonials, you won't make many sales directly online. Most likely you will need to develop the relationship with your prospect further, and possibly have a conversation or two with them before they will be comfortable making the purchase.

In this case, the purpose of your site is to develop the know-like-trust factor with your prospect. You need to introduce yourself and your services. You want to explain what you are offering and the benefits it provides. You can make the prospect feel comfortable about working with you by showcasing testimonials from your best clients or examples of the results they have gained from working with you. This is also where you can establish your professionalism via your branding message and other credibility factors (the number of years you have been in business, certifications you have, etc). You also have the opportunity to share your expertise via articles, audios, videos, and other content.

If you are mainly selling lower-priced services or products, your website needs to present those items clearly and provide a clear call-to-action: "Buy Now" or "Call today to make your appointment." In addition, since many visitors won't be ready to buy the first time they visit, you should also provide all the relationship and reputation building material mentioned previously.

Regardless of what you are selling, it can take seven to ten exposures to you and your message before someone will be comfortable making a purchase from you. How can you give prospects those extra exposures? One way is to have compelling, frequently updated content such as articles and/or a blog that will bring them back to your site over and over. The other option is to reach out to them directly.

No Way to Gather Leads

Your website in-and-of-itself might not be enough to convert a browser into a buyer - especially on a first visit. As mentioned above, it might have to do with it being a big-ticket sale. It could also just be timing. Perhaps your visitor is just starting to think about obtaining what you offer and is in the research phase. Maybe he just made a large purchase and wants to wait a few weeks or months before making a similar financial commitment again. Maybe she is going on a two-week vacation tomorrow and isn't ready to make a decision about this before she leaves. For whatever reason, you visitor just isn't going to buy from you today - But that doesn't mean they won't want to buy from you tomorrow or next week or next year.

Many visitors will come to your website, whether from meeting you networking, referred by someone else, an online search, or a link from another website, but you might never know who those visitors were, or whether they could have become a client.

The main reason for this lack of knowledge is that you never asked them to identify themselves to you!

You need a way to capture contact information (at least an e-mail address) from your visitors. Once you have that information you can reach out personally and/or add them to some type of automatic follow-up system or e-zine list.

Now you can continually remind the prospect about you and what you offer. This continues to build that know-like-trust factor mentioned previously. Plus, when they are ready to buy, you want to be top-of-mind and the most appealing choice.

Web Action Steps

  • Become clear about the purpose of your website - is it to make a sale directly or build a relationship or both?
  • Examine your website text with your goal in mind. Does your content clearly support your goals?
  • Are you sharing the benefits of what you offer in a clear and compelling way?
  • Do you provide enough background information to make a prospect feel comfortable buying from you?
  • Do you have a mechanism to gather leads on your website? If not, explore ways you can best do that.

Sometimes only simple tweaks need to be made for your website to start bringing in the clients you desire, other times a complete overhaul will be required. If you are ready to generate more business from your website and online presence, contact me for a complementary strategy-session today.