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  8-Minute Read  

4 Ways Your Website Is Losing Leads And How To Fix It 

The purpose of a website has changed dramatically in the last 5 years. Where a website was once a storehouse for information about your company, it’s now your first destination for people to take their next step with your business. 

 

As such, it must be simple and compelling. If you are not sure what makes a website effective, you run the risk of losing sales and new customers. But there's no need to fear. I'm here to make sure you avoid failure and start winning. 

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Step #1

AVOID THE CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE

The curse of knowledge happens when a business leader knows so much about their products and services, they project that knowledge on their potential customers. Google Statistics show us that you have less than 2.3 seconds to keep someone on your website once they land on your home page. This means you have to avoid bogging new customer's with your story, how you started, and other non-essential info. This most often adds too much info and creates confusion. Yes, there is a place for this, but definitely not upfront - the bottom drawer, or footer of your website is most suitable for those elements. One of the first things your customer should see is "why" and "how" to do business with you. With that said, keep scrolling down to see what trap to avoid next. 

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Step #2

NO EASY-TO-UNDERSTAND TAGLINE

Most customers will only give you a couple seconds to make your pitch, and that means it needs to be easy to understand. The best way to be easy to understand is to say it in clear language.

 

What’s the message of your brand? Hopefully it’s about what you offer and what it has to do with the customer. If you’re a plumber, you fix anything that leaks and you do it at a shockingly competitive price. If you’re a life coach, you get your clients back on track so they can achieve more this year than ever before. If you’re a writer, you write chilling adventure stories that will make our summer-reading lists sizzle. Whether you realize it or not, every business does something that can be and should be communicated in a quick easy-to-understand tagline.

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Take Action: Come up with a tagline for your brand and make sure it’s easy to understand. That’s the first thing you’ll need on your website.

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Good Examples: 

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  • We Clean Gutters.

  • Get Fit With A Personal Trainer.

  • We Cut Grass. Make Your Lawn Look Better Than Your Neighbors.

  • We Coordinate Weddings. Give Us The Details. You Enjoy The Big Day.

  • We Serve Coffee. Enjoy The Best Roasts While You Work Or Socialize.

Step #3

HAVING NO CLEAR CALL-TO-ACTION

Let's say you walked into a retail store, but couldn't find the cash register. After completing your shopping, you wouldn't be able to purchase the items you came for because you didn't know where to take your next step. Every store you walk in has the cash registers directly in your line of sight - some even make you walk directly by the registers on your way in! That is because the company understands that customers need to know where to complete their call-to-action. In a website, you want to treat your call-to-action as your virtual cash register.

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Whatever it is, that button should be the main focus of your website. Consider making it a bright color or putting it in the top right of your website. And make sure it’s on every page so customers never venture too far from being able to press it. You’d be amazed at how many sales you’re losing because you’re making your customers work too hard to buy the thing they really want from you.

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Take Action: Determine what primary call-to-action your customer needs to take. 

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Good Examples: 

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  • Book Now

  • Get A Quote

  • Get Directions

  • Plan A Visit

  • Buy Now

  • Call Us

  • Sign Up

Step #4

POOR VISUAL PLACEMENT

If you're standing in a pitch black room when a light appears out of no where, your brain is wired to focus on that light. When you pull up to an intersection and see red at the light, you've been conditioned to slow down and stop at the command of a color. Have you ever read a book from right to left? Probably not. Your eyes naturally scan left-to-right.

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An efficient website takes advantage of these visual cues and tendencies to help people better identify the call-to-action and do business with you. Ever noticed why a call-to-action is in the top right corner of websites? You can bet it's because we can count on a customer scanning the screen left to right - which leads them directly to their next step (call-to-action) within the first 1.2 seconds of their visit. 

 

How your site places colors, fonts, or buttons helps you trigger your customers psychological cues to navigate your site with ease. If you want better sales and more customers in your door, you want to be conscious of visual placement - or at least have a designer who is. 

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Start Winning

Now you know some of the foundational elements to make your website increase sales and gain customers. You're on the right track! The best part is you don't have to do this alone.

 

Get a certified guide to make you and your business the hero of your story with a website that really works.

 

Ps - Need a guide to help you identify your company's brand and marketing strategy? We can do that too.

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