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On Priority Pursuit, we have spent a lot of time talking about SEO lately. We’ve talked about keyword identification, how to better your E-E-A-T, and what kind of content you can create to improve your Google and search engine rankings, reach your best customers, and create consistent, sustainable business growth.
But, here’s the thing. SEO can’t convert prospects into paying customers. SEO can get prospects to your website, but it doesn’t actually make sales. That’s your website’s job.
You see, your website is the foundation of all of your marketing and communication efforts.
Yes, social media, email marketing, SEO, and other marketing tactics and tools are important, but these tools arguably all exist to drive traffic to your website, which is where your customers will buy now, schedule a discovery call, or do whatever it is you want them to do. In other words, your website is where your ideal clients will actually convert.
But, what if you’re already ranking well on Google? What if social media is driving consistent traffic to your site? What if your click-through rates are looking good…but you still aren’t seeing sales?
If that’s the case, chances are there’s an issue with your website that NEEDS to be addressed. Something about your site is discouraging or preventing your ideal customers from taking action. To help you understand what could be going on with your website, on this episode of Priority Pursuit, Victoria is joined by Treefrog Content Director Angel Tobey to discuss seven reasons your website isn’t converting and how to fix it.
7 Reasons Your Website Isn’t Converting
There are seven reasons small businesses’ websites fail to convert and don’t deliver the results and sales they should.
1. Your messaging isn’t clear or customer-focused.
One of—if not the—most common reasons small businesses’ websites don’t convert is because their websites don’t include clear messaging.
Clear messaging is communication that your ideal customers can understand quickly and easily, and whether you’re working on your website or any other aspect of your marketing strategy, clear messaging is the key to effective marketing.
This is because research shows that people don’t buy the best products and services, they buy the ones they can most easily understand.
Now, on your website specifically, if it takes longer than five seconds for website visitors to understand what you offer, how you can help solve their problem, and how they can work with you, prospects are more or less guaranteed to leave your site.
However, when your website has a clear message that helps prospective customers quickly and easily understand how you can help them and how to work with you, they’re much more likely to buy, schedule a discovery call, or do whatever it is that you want them to do.
So if you want your website—or any aspect of your marketing—to be successful, you have to clarify your messaging. You have to determine exactly what your ideal customers need to hear to make them want to do business with you and put this language on your website.
You can create clear messaging by writing your Marketing Guiding Statements.
Now, to clarify your message, you can write what we call your “Marketing Guiding Statements.” Marketing Guiding Statements are written guidelines that position your brand and business as a trusted partner. The process of writing these statements gives you the information you need to write clear, concise, effective messaging for your website and other marketing assets—like social media, emails, and everything else.
Because we know that small business marketing cannot succeed without clear messaging, we put together a free mini course—”The First Step to Effective Marketing for Small Businesses: Writing Your Marketing Guiding Statements”—that walks you through exactly how to write your Marketing Guiding Statements.
Your website will not be successful—meaning it won’t convert your ideal customers—if you don’t have clear, customer-focused messaging. So, before you spend another minute or dollar making changes to your website or on any aspect of your marketing for that matter, please take the time to write your Marketing Guiding Statements.
2. Your website doesn’t include the right information.
Another reason you might not be experiencing conversions is because your website doesn’t include the right information.
It’s important to make sure that your site includes the information your ideal client needs to make them want to do business with you. If a prospective customer comes to your website and can’t find answers to their questions—such as cost or how to work with you—they’re practically guaranteed to leave your site without making a purchase, scheduling a consultation, visiting, or doing whatever it is you want them to do because you failed to give them the information they were looking for.
So, to avoid this mistake, be sure you understand what your customer is looking for and what questions they need answered as they’re researching and comparing products and services like yours.
Your Marketing Guiding Statements will be a big help during this process because they outline exactly what problem your ideal client is facing and how you can help them solve their problem.
But, there are also eight things that every business’s website NEEDS to include to convert site visitors into paying customers. If you’d like to learn what those eight elements are, access our free guide: “8 Things Every Small Business’s Website MUST Include to Convert Visitors into Paying Customers.”
3. Your website includes too much information.
Another possible reason your website isn’t converting is that it includes too much information.
Big blocks of text and unnecessary details can overwhelm prospects, which will likely result in them leaving your site and not doing business with you. So, while it’s important to include the right information, your web copy needs to be as concise and easy to follow as possible.
Make sure your website copy only includes the information your ideal clients actually need. For example, your best customers likely don’t need to know what every member of your team’s favorite color is on your “About” page or how you used to offer X but now you offer Z.
As a general rule of thumb, fewer words—assuming they’re the right words—will lead to bigger results.
While the mini course and website guide will certainly help you determine what information to include on your website, if you’d like to learn the web copywriting process or formula Angel and her team use, check out “Episode 107: How to Write Website Copy for Your Small Business.” In this episode, Angel breaks down exactly how to write website copy of your home, service, and about pages.
4. Your website offers a poor user experience.
Another common reason that small business websites fail to convert is that they don’t offer a great user experience.
If your website is slow to load, difficult to navigate, doesn’t perform well, or requires site visitors to do a bunch of clicking or detective work to find the information they’re looking for, prospects aren’t going to stay on your site because it’s frustrating.
If you want your website to convert and be your most powerful marketing tool, it has to be user-friendly.
Your site visitors need to be able to find exactly what they’re looking for quickly and easily without experiencing friction or frustration and before you lose their attention.
So, make sure your website loads quickly. Make sure your site design is cohesive with your brand. Make text easy to read and digest by using things like headings and bullet points and limiting script fonts. Make sure your design is responsive and mobile-friendly. Basically, just ensure that using your website is an enjoyable experience and that your site visitors can easily find the information they need.
5. Your site doesn’t help build trust.
Now, speaking of trust, another reason your website might not be converting is that it fails to build trust and establish authority.
Chances are, there are a lot of people and businesses that do what you do. As a result, it’s important that your website helps prospects see why they should work with you—as opposed to someone else.
To add authority to your website in a way that isn’t braggy or salesy, we recommend including testimonials from happy customers, links to publications or awards, client logos if you work with businesses that are recognizable, a portfolio that showcases your work, and/or case studies that show the results you deliver for your customers.
This will obviously look a little different for every small business. But, showing authority on your website—without blatantly saying it or making yourself the hero of the story—is a great way to build trust with your prospective customers and increases the likelihood that your site visitors will convert.
6. Your website & brand don’t look professional.
On that same note, another reason that prospects might be hesitant to trust you and convert is that your website and brand don’t look professional.
If your website isn’t polished and professional-looking, whether consciously or unconsciously, prospects will question the quality of your products or services. First impressions matter, and your website is one of the first interactions someone has with your business. So, if your design looks outdated, clunky, or disorganized, potential customers will likely assume that your work will be the same.
While we highly recommend working with a professional web designer, if you aren’t there yet, please know that creating a professional-looking website doesn’t mean you need to spend a fortune on design. It simply means ensuring your website looks cohesive, is well-organized, is visually appealing, and is easy to navigate.
A clean design with quality images, clear branding, and attention to detail can go a long way in establishing trust and making a strong first impression.
So, as you update or redesign your website, remember that consistency is key. You want your visual brand—from your logo to your fonts to your colors—to be uniform across your website and marketing materials—so social media, ads, emails, print materials, and anything else.
And, as you work to determine why your website isn’t converting, look at your site and visual brand as a whole through a potential customer’s eyes. Does it look professional? Does it feel cohesive? If not, it’s time for a refresh or redesign. Otherwise, you’ll likely continue to miss out on business simply because your website and visual brand don’t instill trust.
7. You aren’t giving prospects a clear call to action.
Last but not least, if your website isn’t converting well, it might simply be because you aren’t telling site visitors what to do next. You aren’t giving your prospects a clear call to action.
Your website needs to include a direct CTA where you clearly invite your website visitors to do whatever it is that you ultimately want them to do—like buy now or schedule a discovery call.
So, a simple way you can drastically improve your website’s conversion rate is to add a clear CTA to your website.
To do this, we recommend making your CTA stand out and actionable by putting it on colored buttons throughout your website. Now, your CTA should be as concise as possible—no more than four words—and fit nicely on a website button. Again, think “buy now” or “schedule a discovery call.”
So, as you update or build your website—or have a designer handle this for you—put your CTA on buttons, use color to help those buttons stand out, and make sure every CTA button links to a page where site visitors can take action. For example, if your CTA is “Schedule a Discovery Call,” make the buttons take prospects to a page where they can schedule a discovery call.
And, chances are, you need to include these buttons way more often on a page than you think. You see, as people explore your site, they’re going to be ready to take action at different times. For example, someone will need to read testimonials before deciding to work with you while others will need to see pricing.
As such, we recommend including colored CTA buttons in the top right corner of your menu and throughout your website. By placing CTA buttons strategically throughout your site, you ensure that your website visitors can easily take action whenever they’re ready—making them much more likely to inquire or purchase before you lose their attention.
And, on that note, be sure to use the same CTA. Remember, your website needs to give visitors clarity. If every button gives site visitors different instructions and takes them to a different web page, you’ll only cause confusion and increase your chances of losing a prospect. Instead, use the same CTA over and over again so that website visitors know exactly what they need to do.
If you’d like to see an example of how to use CTA buttons, visit our website. Our CTA is “Schedule a Discovery Call,” and if you look, you’ll quickly notice CTA buttons all over our site telling prospective customers to do exactly that.
Remember, if you’re leaving room for uncertainty on your website by not clearly telling website visitors what they need to do, you’re drastically increasing the likelihood that people will leave your site before taking action. In other words, without a clear CTA, you’re missing out on business!
Your website is your small business’s most powerful marketing tool.
And there you have it! Seven reasons why your website might not be converting and how you can fix it.
As we conclude this episode, we want to remind you that more often than not, people don’t buy the “best” products or services; they invest in the solutions that they can most easily understand.
As a result, when you have a website that answers your ideal customer’s questions, establishes trust, and serves prospects well, you can almost guarantee higher conversion rates and business growth.
Remember, your website is your small business’s most powerful marketing tool. In fact, after identifying your ideal client and clarifying your message, website development is the FIRST thing we recommend that small businesses invest in from a marketing perspective.
With this in mind, do not put off either updating your current site with the information we discussed today or investing—whether it be time or money—in a new, strategically built website.
At Treefrog, there’s nothing we want more than to see your small business succeed, and the truth is, you need a website that converts. Because, without one, you’re limiting your company’s growth.
So, make your website one of your top marketing priorities!
Links & Resources Mentioned in This Episode
- ”The First Step of Effective Marketing for Small Businesses: Writing Your Marketing Guiding Statements”
- “8 Things Every Small Business’s Website MUST Include to Convert Visitors into Paying Customers”
- “Episode 107: How to Write Website Copy for Your Small Business”
- Receive 30% Off Your First Year of HoneyBook
- Learn More About Treefrog’s Small Business Marketing Resources & Services
- Join the Priority Pursuit Facebook Community
- Follow or DM Treefrog Marketing on Instagram
- Follow or DM Kelly Rice on Instagram
- Follow or DM Victoria Rayburn on Instagram
The Priority Pursuit Podcast is a podcast dedicated to helping small business owners define, maintain, and pursue both their personal and business priorities so they can build lives and businesses they love.
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