As the website owner, you can see how much traffic you’re getting. Maybe it’s pretty good.
So, if your traffic is good, why aren’t you getting many leads?
Let’s have a look at the possible reasons why your website visitors are clicking away.
Mistake #1: Your website doesn’t make a good first impression
1-30 seconds. That’s about the maximum amount of time it takes for your visitor to decide if your site is going to deliver what they want or not.
This is what will turn them away in those first precious seconds:
It’s badly designed
This is the first test… and it lasts just 0.05 seconds!
Now, I’m a copywriter, not a
But I can’t ignore design. You could have the best-written website in the world, but no one will ever know, because if the design is poor, it will never get read.
Let’s have a look at these two examples:
Now, if you were looking for someone to supply and fit a kitchen in your home, which one are you going to look at?
Well, hopefully, you’ll choose the second one. The first one looks dated. It’s bland. Boring. There are hardly any images and the images there are, are small.
You want to be inspired. You could spend thousands on a new kitchen so you expect to be impressed! But you’re not.
The second site is clean and fresh. The big image is inspirational. It makes you think your kitchen could be beautiful too. And it looks professional. You’ll be interested enough to keep looking!
Another point to consider is whether your site is mobile friendly or not?
Research shows over half of all internet searches are carried out through mobile phones. And Google actually prioritises mobile friendly sites in their search rankings.
And it’s no surprise. Have you ever tried navigating a full site on a mobile phone? This is what it looks like:
You have to zoom in and scroll from side to side to read the text.
It’s not user-friendly and I guarantee the vast majority of users won’t bother.
It’s not clear what you do
How often do you open up a web page and see a fancy worded headline that doesn’t mean anything to you? Or an image that’s unrelated to what you searched for?
The headline may sound clever or feel creative, but if your visitor doesn’t know what you do, they’ll think they’ve come to the wrong place.
It’s like my husband. He asks me where something is, and I tell him it’s in the cupboard. He opens the cupboard and then says “where?”.
Now, it didn’t jump out and bonk him on the nose. He’s not prepared to go looking for it. He wants an instant response otherwise he’s going to give up.
It’s the same with web visitors. They’re lazy like my husband.
So, make it clear exactly what it is you do. Put it there… right in your headline. Big and bold. Bonk them on the nose with it.
It looks like hard work
Web visitors like to scan. They want to find the bits of info they need straight away. If it’s buried in a long-winded paragraph or six, they’ll give up.
So, think about how the wording on your website looks visually. Are there big blocks of text? Does it look crammed like the one below?
To tackle this, break your text up with sub-headings. Then break the sentences between the sub-headings into shorter paragraphs – aim for around 2 sentences per paragraph.
This adds white breathing space around the text and makes it more manageable to read.
The images below both show a part of this blog. They say exactly the same thing but look very different. Which one would you rather read?
You can also use bullet points to make your words more succinct. And icons or images with a brief sentence to draw the reader’s attention to benefits you want to highlight.
Mistake #2: Your home page is all about you
You’ll see it all the time… we do this, we do that, our business started in 1996 and blah blah blah cue boring and irrelevant information.
The harsh truth is, customers don’t care about you… they care about themselves and what you can do for them.
Here are the mistakes you could be making:
You’re telling, not showing
So, what’s the difference?
When you tell you’re simply giving information and expecting the reader to draw a conclusion from that bit of information.
When you show you paint a picture without explicitly pointing it out.
So, for example:
Don’t tell them ‘we’re friendly.’ Show you’re friendly by the way your website is written.
Instead of telling them ‘we have lots of happy customers’ show you have happy customers by adding testimonials and case studies.
Don’t tell them ‘we’re an award-winning company.’ Show you’ve won awards by adding the certificate and the date to your website.
You talk about features, not benefits
A feature is a fact that describes something about your business. A benefit is how a feature helps your customers.
For example, you might be a flooring company. One of your features is that you have a mobile showroom. So, you state ‘We have a mobile showroom’ on your website.
But your visitor thinks, ‘so what?’
Don’t assume your website visitors will understand how a feature benefits them. You need to point it out.
So, in this example, you could say ‘No need to leave the house – we’ll bring our samples to you.’
Mistake #3: You don’t have an About page
An about page seems like on of the most obvious pages to have on any website, but it’s surprising how many websites don’t have one.
Without one…
Your business seems risky
This applies particularly if your company is small. You don’t have the reputation of the big players in your market, so potential customers are cautious.
After all, people do business with people, so if your website visitors don’t know who you are, how can they buy into you?
Use your About page to get your visitors to know, like and trust you. Give a brief summary of who you are and how you’re different to the competition.
And, remember, it may be called ‘About’, but it’s still about your potential customer, not you. So, show them how you can help them and how you solve their problems.
Also, show images of you – it’s a great way to give a sense of who you are.
Mistake #4: You don’t have social proof
When people are spending big money, they like to know they aren’t your guinea pigs. They want to know you’ve worked with other customers and that those customers were happy.
Research shows around 87% of consumers read reviews for local businesses and that they read an average of 10 reviews before feeling able to trust them.
This is why social proof is so important. If you’re not getting many leads from your website maybe…
You don’t have testimonials
Testimonials are the easiest way to add social proof. Some happy customers’ quotes on your site will go far.
To make them really powerful add the customer’s first and last name, say where they’re from and, if possible, add a headshot.
Also, add the date you did the work and update your website frequently with new testimonials. Have you ever visited a website and seen reviews that are a few years old? They don’t quite have the same power to them, do they?
Have a dedicated testimonials page, but also add a few to your home page, about page and services page for maximum impact.
And, you get bonus points if you can get your customers raving about your service on video!
Mistake #5: You have no call-to-action (CTA), or a weak call-to-action
I often see it on home pages. The page lists features and benefits, talks about the services, but then just stops. Nothing.
So, what does your visitor do? They click away onto your competitor’s site.
If you’re not getting any leads it could be because…
Your website visitor doesn’t know what to do next
For most service-based businesses, the main purpose of your website is to generate leads. If visitors aren’t buying anything directly from your site, you want to draw them into making contact with you.
Getting in contact may seem like the obvious next step to you, but your website visitors need to be told.
So, add buttons to every page of your site that link to your contact page.
Your call-to-action is weak
One word I see time and time again on CTAs is ‘if’…
“If you would like a quote please contact us.’
‘If you think we could help you, please send us an email.’
‘If’ sounds rather weak and apologetic don’t you think?
Be bold. Be confident. Why wouldn’t they want to contact you?
So, use ‘bossy’ verbs: Get a quote, Call us today, Contact us now… etc.
Put it in a clickable button that is big and bold – make sure it stands out.
Your call-to-action isn’t visible
You never know where your website visitor might be when they feel compelled to act.
Maybe you wooed them with your words half way down your home page. They might be at the top of your services page or at the bottom of your testimonials page.
Wherever they are, your CTA needs to be close. If they have to search for it, they may give up.
So, not only do you need CTA buttons on every page of your site, but they also need to be repeated under every section within each page.
The longer a page is, the more CTAs you should have.
Your call-to-action doesn’t address your visitors’ objections
You’ve got a CTA – great! But hang on… what’s the catch?
Your website visitors might be thinking:
‘If I contact you, will I be pressured into buying? Are you going to bombard me with emails and phone calls? I have no idea what it’s going to cost, what if I can’t afford your quote?’
So, when you write your CTA, address these objections.
For example, you may want to lead them to get a quote. But they might be thinking ‘if I press this button, I’ll be subscribed to a mailing list and get bombarded with loads of emails. I might be obligated to then buy from them’.
So, address those concerns. ‘Get a free, no obligation quote.’ ‘We promise not to send you any spammy emails.’
Mistake #6: They don’t know how to contact you
So, a visitor has been to your site. You’ve convinced them that you can solve their problems. They’ve got to know, like and trust you. And now they’re ready to get in touch.
But, there’s a problem. There’s no phone number. There’s no email address – well not one they can find anyway.
Don’t make it difficult for your visitors to find contact details.
Have a dedicated contact page and put it in the navigation bar.
And, as I explained in mistake #5, have CTA buttons that link to your contact page throughout the site.
Also, put your contact details on your home page ‘above the fold’ (that’s the bit you see when you first open the site – before you have to navigate to a different page or scroll down.
If you’ve managed to hook them in, it would be a shame to lose them at this stage.
Wrapping up
Your website is your businesses 24-hour, 7-day-a-week sales person and it needs to work hard.
By fixing these mistakes you’ll finally start to generate the leads you need to help your business grow.