Is your website turning customers away?

mattsuth · 10th Nov 2016, 06:43 AM

As it is becoming increasingly easy to create your own website with template builders available from online companies such as GoDaddyand Wix, businesses, particularly startups are commonly bypassing hiring a designer and doing it themselves. This is great for budget, but if you dont know what you're doing then it could be costing you customers. Here are a few common things that I've come across over the years which are actually making people click off of your website and over to the competitor.

There's too much going on.
By this I mean that youve got a lot of information, and not much clarity. Too much text, too many mixed images and basically a whole lot of noise. You need enough copy to keep the search engine robots happy and to tell your future customer what you do and how to help them, and a few well placed and relevant images. Don't go overboard with information because you'll just overwhelm people and send them elsewhere.

There's no call to action.
Once you've convinced someone that they need your product, you then want to tell them how to get it. If you dont have clear instructions on how your customer can make their purchase/subscribe to your service, they'll go elsewhere. If someone has found your site through a Google search, they're already to buy so make sure you have that step very clearly laid out for them.

Broken pages.
Make sure you've tested your website and regularly continue to do so. There's nothing worse than waiting for pages to load and broken links. It screams unreliable to your internet viewers and can be a reflection on you and your product.

You don't explain yourself properly.
There's a thing called the Curse of Knowledge which I'm sure you've heard of. It means that you already think that people have the samelevel of understanding as you do about your product or service. You have to remember that people who don't have a clue what you do could have landed on your page so you need to break it down for them. Go back to basics and imagine you're explaining your service to your Gran step by step!

You're not giving them any benefits:
Telling people not only what you can do for them but also how it will make their life better is key to a successful website. People are only interested in what's in it for them, and if you dont tell them directly, it's unlikely that they'll hang around too long.

These are just a few basic tips that I've picked up over the years which some people new to their industry might find useful.

10th Nov 2016, 06:43 AM	#1
mattsuth Active Warrior Join Date: 2016 Posts: 61 Thanks: 60 Thanked 23 Times in 15 Posts	Is your website turning customers away? Share on: As it is becoming increasingly easy to create your own website with template builders available from online companies such as GoDaddyand Wix, businesses, particularly startups are commonly bypassing hiring a designer and doing it themselves. This is great for budget, but if you dont know what you're doing then it could be costing you customers. Here are a few common things that I've come across over the years which are actually making people click off of your website and over to the competitor. There's too much going on. By this I mean that youve got a lot of information, and not much clarity. Too much text, too many mixed images and basically a whole lot of noise. You need enough copy to keep the search engine robots happy and to tell your future customer what you do and how to help them, and a few well placed and relevant images. Don't go overboard with information because you'll just overwhelm people and send them elsewhere. There's no call to action. Once you've convinced someone that they need your product, you then want to tell them how to get it. If you dont have clear instructions on how your customer can make their purchase/subscribe to your service, they'll go elsewhere. If someone has found your site through a Google search, they're already to buy so make sure you have that step very clearly laid out for them. Broken pages. Make sure you've tested your website and regularly continue to do so. There's nothing worse than waiting for pages to load and broken links. It screams unreliable to your internet viewers and can be a reflection on you and your product. You don't explain yourself properly. There's a thing called the Curse of Knowledge which I'm sure you've heard of. It means that you already think that people have the samelevel of understanding as you do about your product or service. You have to remember that people who don't have a clue what you do could have landed on your page so you need to break it down for them. Go back to basics and imagine you're explaining your service to your Gran step by step! You're not giving them any benefits: Telling people not only what you can do for them but also how it will make their life better is key to a successful website. People are only interested in what's in it for them, and if you dont tell them directly, it's unlikely that they'll hang around too long. These are just a few basic tips that I've picked up over the years which some people new to their industry might find useful.