Did you know that it takes about 7 seconds or less for a visitor to a website to decide if they want to stay on your site or leave by clicking the back button on the browser? If the visitor to your website does not feel connected to what you are offering, they will click the back button and be off somewhere else. Instead of your competitors being your greatest enemy, it could be your own website that is driving potential clients away. In today’s fast-paced digital world, there’s no tomorrow for developing a website for your business to attract your clients – it’s now or never!
Converting visitors into customers
In the case of most small businesses or sole traders, the people who become your customers will have visited your website first. It will have been at that point that they will have chosen you because your website resonated with them in some way.
In digital marketing terms, this is called the ‘conversion’ – turning people who visit your website into your customers. The trick with any website is including as many ‘conversion factors’ as possible so you can turn visitors into paying customers.
So, if you want a high conversion rate, you will need to develop a client-attracting website.
What makes a client-attracting website?
What attracts ideal customers like crazy to a website while another sits like a billboard in the desert?
Is it things like great colours, font type or graphics? Do you need to include video or have a great copy? Yes, of course – these are all important, but you should think of them more as the icing on the cake rather than the cake itself. If the ‘cake’ or the content of the website itself is not relevant to your visitors, then no amount of icing will get them to become paying customers.
So, while having an attractive website can definitely help attract customers, it’s not the first thing you should focus on. Before you get around to any of the ‘icing’ work, make sure that your content provides visitors to your website with very clear answers to these three questions:
- What’s in it for me?
- Why should I listen to you?
- What should I do next?
How to develop a website that is attractive
When someone arrives on your website, what do you do to get them to stay and become your customer?
Your content should always add value to the customer. When you develop your customer persona, you should have a clear idea of the challenges or problems that your target customers are facing and how your business can help them solve these. When you understand what your customers are looking for you will be able to tailor your content to answer their three most important questions – here they are again:
- What’s in it for me?
- Why should I listen to you?
- What should I do next?
Fortunately, there are a number of simple things you can do today that will transform your website into a client-attracting tool and greatly increase the likelihood of converting visitors into paying customers.
Download our eBook – 10 Steps Must-Have Website Checklist
Do these 4 things to your website and you will attract more customers
1. Make your call-out to the market absolutely clear
When your perfect customer arrives on your website, they need to understand at a glance that they have come to the right place. People want to work with someone who really understands them. So, if you can describe your ideal customer’s problem better than they can – as in the problem that you’re going to be able to solve for them – then you’ll have a winner on your hands.
Make sure your headline captivates them immediately by clearly communicating what it is you offer and what’s in it for them. In other words, it should clearly identify the following:
- Who this is for
- The problem that is being solved
- The result they will get from going with your product/service
2. Explain why customers should listen to / deal with you
This is all about establishing your credibility. People buy from people they know, like and trust – so it’s vital you do this correctly. People value expertise and will always go with a specialist rather than a generalist. Do you introduce yourself as a specialist and explain succinctly what makes you an expert?
Include testimonials or ‘social proof’ – people like to work with experts and businesses with success stories and happy customers – that provide specific results your ideal customers got from you. Customer testimonials are a way to establish a trust level that helps the visitor to your website with their decision-making process.
3. Give away something valuable
People love free stuff. So, perhaps you can offer a valuable giveaway – it could be a free consultation, free ebook or report, or a special discount. Make it something that they can claim straight away, and make it obvious and easy for them to do.
4. Have a very visible and clear call to action
The key to success is to ask website visitors to take one very specific action – that’s your call to action for them. Your call to action should be very visible on your home page – and it definitely needs to appear ‘above the fold’; in other words, it needs to be seen without having to scroll down.
The one action that you want people to take needs to be very specific and come with simple instructions – don’t be confusing. For example, for your landing page, your call to action will probably be a web form to sign up for your free offer – you want visitors to your website to fill that out so you can follow up with them later; on your ‘services’ page, on the other hand, your call to action could be instructions to call or email you to find out how they can work with you.
When your website clearly answers the question “What’s in it for me?”, explains why people should come to you to solve their particular problem, gives them something valuable and has a clear call to action, then you’ll be well on your way to attracting more customers.
Next steps
Of course, even a client-attracting website won’t do all that much good if people don’t know it exists, to begin with. Your website is only one part of your overall digital marketing strategy aimed at attracting potential customers, offering them the service or product they desperately want, generating leads, and ultimately converting them into paying customers.
So, in addition to developing your business website into a client-attracting tool, your digital marketing strategy will need to include social media and other digital marketing tactics aimed at directing targeted traffic (the type of customers you want) to your website.
If you’re struggling to develop a client-attracting website or you need help creating content that speaks directly to your ideal customer base or you want support to maximise your digital marketing efforts, then simply contact the team at Net Branding today. Our Auckland based team has helped numerous companies to effectively harness the full range of digital marketing tactics and grow their business.
Remember, in today’s fast-paced business world, there’s no tomorrow for developing a digital strategy that includes a client-attracting website – it’s now or never!
