When potential customers visit your website are you happy with what they see? Is your website portraying your business favourably to potential customers? Most importantly, are you missing out on potential customers because your website is scaring them away? These are just some of the questions you need to ask yourself to ensure your website is not leaking valuable customers.
Internet users have come to expect a certain level of sophistication and professionalism from websites they visit, regardless of a company’s size.
In fact, a OnePoll survey revealed that 70 per cent of consumers wouldn’t buy from a business with a poorly designed website (source: OnePoll). Poorly formatted images, a lack of content, unprofessional design, slow loading pages, inaccurate information and other factors may result in your website leaking customers.
When that happens, you will almost certainly become a victim of the “back button”…
How to keep potential customers on your website!
- The most important thing you need to do when building a website is to establish credibility. Credibility is the “king of conversion” meaning no one will call the number on your site if they don’t think your business is credible.
- When trying to build credibility on your website start by addressing common fears your potential customers have. For example – Mention your experience, qualifications, QBCC record, industry bodies you are a member of, positive reviews from happy clients, all of these “trust factors” will work together to build credibility in the minds of those visiting your website.
- How to identify if your website is leaking customers; set up Google Analytics on your website and pay close attention to your “homepage bounce rate” and “average time on site” metrics. Bounce rate measures the number of visitors that land on your site against how quickly they hit the back button to leave. If you discover that a high percentage of visitors are leaving quickly, it’s obvious that you need to make some adjustments. Average time on site measures how long on average potential customers are spending on your website.
Remember:
Despite the old adage, many people will still judge a book by its cover – at least with regards to browsing the Internet. Don’t let your website leak potential customers to your competitors.
