5 Ways Your Website May Be Turning Customers Away
So you’ve invested a decent amount of money into redesigning your website. It’s got all the bells and whistles, looks great on any device, contains everything anyone would want to know about your company but for some reason, it isn’t converting any customers.
The reason may be that you’re using a content strategy that doesn’t speak to the customers of today. It may have worked well in the past but not so much in today’s marketplace.
The days of simply putting up a website, filling it with industry jargon, how long you’ve been in business, and all the products and services you provide are gone. With all the competition from across the globe, customers are looking for more. If they come across 3 companies all selling the same products and services, why would they choose you over the others?
If they [a customer] come across 3 companies all selling the same products and services, why would they choose you over the others?
Here are 5 mistakes to avoid to help you convert more visitors into customers:
- You’ve positioned yourself as the hero.
- Your imagery is communicating a different message.
- You haven’t shown them a positive transformation of doing business with you.
- You haven’t given them the gift of going second.
- You aren’t asking for the sale.
Most of these mistakes can be resolved with little financial investment. Mostly it’ll be your time which may actually be more valuable. Just a shift in the way you communicate your message could set you apart from your competition. Let’s dive into each one.
1. You’ve positioned yourself as the hero.
One of the biggest shifts you’ll have to make is to accept that your customer, not your business, is the hero of the story.
We all wake up every morning thinking the world revolves around us and your customers are no different. Businesses often make the mistake of positioning themselves as the hero because they want to show their expertise, their authority, and everything they offer. The problem is when your customers see your business as the hero they don’t think to themselves “hey I need a hero just like me!” Instead they close the browser tab and go back to their search looking for something else. That something is a guide or mentor.
One of the biggest shifts you’ll have to make is to accept that your customer, not your business, is the hero of the story.
In the world of movies, its the same as Obi-Wan to Luke, Gandalf to Frodo, Dumbledore to Harry Potter. These guides help the hero along their journey. Your website visitors have landed on your site because they have a problem and they are seeking a guide, like you, to help them solve it. The trick is writing your website copy from that mindset. Since we all wake up thinking we’re the hero of our own story, it’s quite a challenge but with a little practice you can get there.
The harsh reality is your website visitors don’t care what year you were established, how many trained experts you have on staff, how many types of soda you sell. They care about one thing. Can you help me solve my problem? Once you make that shift in how you approach your content, you’ll start reaping the benefits of stepping down as the hero and stepping up as the mentor.
2. Your imagery is communicating a different message.
You’d actually be surprised at how often businesses miss the mark on this one. Let’s say you’re a sit-down restaurant and on your main image above-the-fold you have a slideshow of beautiful pictures of your entryway and dining area.
Most potential customers won’t care how exquisite the architecture is at your restaurant. They’re likely looking for a place where they can sit down, have a good meal, and enjoy the company of their friends and family. Instead of speaking to that desire, you’re communicating a different message. That message is “look at our beautiful building” and unfortunately you’re not in the business of selling architecture and construction services, you’re selling something more along the lines of “great food, great wine, and a great time.”
The best way to approach the imagery on your website is to think of the positive consequences of doing business with you or the transformation your customer goes through as the result of using your product or service. In the restaurant example, it’s a place where people can have great food and great conversation with the people they care about. So your imagery would look something like a group of friends around a table laughing during a meal. If there is a bar in the restaurant, follow it up with a group toasting to an occasion. You can always add photos of your establishment on a separate page of your site for those customers interested in taking that journey.
The best way to approach the imagery on your website is to think of the positive consequences of doing business with you or the transformation your customer goes through as the result of using your product or service.
3. You haven’t shown them a positive transformation of doing business with you.
This ties into mistake #2. When a customer reaches your website, they have a problem they’re looking to solve or a desire they want met. It’s the job of your homepage to show them that your products and services are the tools to help them transform from who they currently are (a person with a problem) to who they could become (a person whose problems are solved).
As humans, we’re designed to change and transform. We crawl, then walk, then run. We’re all looking to improve ourselves to better survive and thrive in life. We have to position our businesses as the guide or mentor with the tools to help our heroes succeed.
If your customer is an overwhelmed and overworked marketing manager that is frustrated because they don’t have the resources to achieve their marketing goals, then show and tell them how they can be transformed. Something similar to, “Say goodbye to overwhelming work stress with automation services to successfully achieve and track your marketing goals.”
We have to position our businesses as the guide or mentor with the tools to help our heroes succeed.
Most companies will use text like “our proprietary marketing platform AutoMarket provides 5 automation methods for your customer retention efforts” or “our award winning sales funnel automation strategy has been tested and approved by leading marketing experts.” See the difference there?
The first example positions the customer as the hero and speaks to their internal pains and how they can be transformed while the following two examples both speak from the position of product as hero.
4. You haven’t given them the gift of going second.
In our digital age, its undeniable, we love testimonials and reviews of products and services. We always want to know the struggles and successes of other people who have had the courage to take the plunge before us.
We value and appreciate their feedback and when we see a business boasting about their customer service but customer reviews paint a different picture, we lose trust in that business.
You don’t necessarily need to use testimonials or add a review section to your site. If you’re a B2B business, simply adding logos of previous clients is enough. What you’re trying to do is establish competence without having to say “we’re the experts, trust us.”
The most difficult part is often getting testimonials that are actually useful and don’t just say “wow, they were great to work with.” In order to get testimonials that actually help you convert visitors you need to provide your customers a set of questions to answer and then combine their answers into a testimonial.
The types of questions you should ask are:
- What problem did you face before using our product/service?
- How did that problem make you feel?
- What changed after you used our product/service?
- Are there any specific examples?
- If someone was unsure about using our product/service, what would you tell them?
You should be able to see how these questions are shaping into a story that touches all the points that potential customers would like to know.
5. You’re not asking for the sale.
I see this everywhere, and I mean absolutely everywhere. Businesses don’t have a clear, direct call to action above-the-fold on their homepage. Instead they have buttons like “learn more” or “contact us” or “join us.”
Obi-wan didn’t say to Luke, “learn more of the dark side.” He said he must defeat Vader to complete his training. It is a clear, direct action the hero has to take to get the outcome they desire.
A lot of us are afraid to directly ask for the sale because we have this inner fear of rejection or we feel like we are asking for too much, too quick. The thing we’ve got to realize is when you’re passive about what you want them to do, it comes across as not being confident in your products or services.
Businesses don’t have a clear, direct call to action above-the-fold on their homepage. Instead they have buttons like “learn more” or “contact us” or “join us.”
Another tip is you’ve got to make sure that call to action is eye-catching, big and clear. When you have a button that says “buy now” it is quite clear what you’re asking the customer to do. Don’t be indirect about it, be clear and call them to action.
If you’re concerned about customers who just aren’t ready to commit just yet, you can always provide a smaller type of commitment by providing something of value, like a how-to guide or ebook article, in exchange for an email address. You can continue to market and connect with them so when they’re ready to make that commitment, your business is top-of-mind. Along the way is your opportunity to provide continued value and convince them.
These 5 tweaks to your homepage will dramatically change how customers perceive your brand and encourage them to engage with your business over your competitors who are still doing it the old school way.
The best part about it is the biggest investment here is time. You probably already have an awesome looking website. Now all you need to do is tweak some copy, change a few images, and add a clearer call to action. If you do that, you’ll be well on your way to converting your website visitors into customers.
