There’s a lot of discussion about what the customer wants.
That discussion is fine on the surface. After all, if you’re not providing something that another person wants to purchase you’re not going to be in business very long.
But should you do something simply because the customer wants it?
Even worse, should you do something because you think the customer wants it?
No.
Sales and Profit
The goal of design is to make your business goals happen.
In basic terms, that means generating sales and profit from your website.
There’s more to it than that. There is a sales funnel or process customers go through to make a purchase. Your business has its own unique funnel and you know it best.
That’s why it’s important for you to work on each page of your website with your designer so you’re achieving your business goals with the ultimate goal being a sale.
In this post we’re going to review 7 tips for creating website pages that convert.
We’re talking about all pages and all conversions.
From a link to your services page from the home page to an email signup on your blog posts – these conversion tips will help.
1. Consider The Real Life Customer Path
The crazy thing about creating a website is that most businesses don’t realize they are pros when it comes to selling their service in real life, but don’t know how to take that sales discussion online.
The role of your designer will be to help you with this.
Think back to a recent real life discussion you had with a prospect that became a customer. Use the steps in the discussion (Their questions, your answers) to create the customer path on your website.
The more you understand your customer the more conversions you’ll get.
They have questions. You have answers. You just have to communicate those answers on your website.
2. Answer Common Customer Questions
One of the biggest issues with websites is confusion.
Confusion leads to potential customers leaving your site.
Most often the issue is that you’re leaving important information or answers to important questions off your website.
I’m in favor of answering as many questions as makes sense on your website, but my business is built around online conversions.
If you’re trying to get phone calls you’ll probably want customers to call so you can answer those questions via that medium.
But don’t confuse your visitors. They’ll end up leaving the site.
3. Make Your Offer Clear
Sometimes when we stumble on new websites we really don’t know what the business does or what they’re offering.
It’s kind of crazy, but go to a website and see if you can figure out what they do within a few seconds.
Make it clear what you do and what you’re offering right away.
Each page should have a clear call to action. The visitor will want to know what you intend for them to do.
Again, if customers are confused they’ll leave your website.
4. Use Visuals To Enhance The Information
Designers are great with visuals.
The thing with visuals is that they should be used to enhance the information you’re providing visitors.
Sometimes text just doesn’t cut it when you’re trying to answer a common question. Use your designer to make your answers crystal clear to your visitors.
5. Have Primary Actions and Secondary Actions
Each page on your website should have a primary call to action.
Remember, you’re in charge. You want the customer to do what you want. You want them to move down the sales funnel to a sale.
Make sure it’s obvious that on each page the visitor has a clear understanding of what they should do next.
The caveat is that you don’t want to trap them. This is where secondary actions come in.
Let’s say a customer finds himself or herself on your services page. The primary action will be to contact you, but some visitors may want to visit your about page to learn more about you so they can become comfortable with who you are.
Don’t hide the about page link. Make it visible, but not in-your-face on the page.
6. Offer One Call To Action (CTA) Early and One Later
Sometimes it will take a customer a few times to come back to your website before they purchase.
I like giving those people an early call to action on the page.
“Contact Us” is right there on the homepage. It also gives new visitors a heads up on what you want them to do.
Also put a CTA at the bottom of the page. This gives your visitors a chance to read through the information on the page, become comfortable with it and comfortable with taking the next step.
7. Make The Call To Action Clear
Finally, confusion is the number one conversion killer as mentioned earlier.
Make your CTA clear. Don’t have pages that don’t call on the customer to do something.
Always have a purpose for a page and always move the customer down your sales funnel.
Even confirmation pages on eCommerce sites should have CTAs.
My favorite is to ask the visitors to follow you on social media after they’ve made a purchase.
Conclusion
Every page on your website has a purpose (or it shouldn’t exist).
That means that each page has a call to action.
Use the tips above to help each page on your site convert.
Do that and your entire website will work to get more visitors down the sales funnel to becoming new customers.
