Usually, when designing a website project, you probably even focus too much on the overall look of the pages: good looking pages are sure to bring in customers! First, the visual look is, of course, as subjective as any other creative project, and it may be impossible to measure. This problem can be somewhat alleviated by defining some objective measure to measure the success of a website. The indicators can be used to derive objective facts from subjective issues: for example, the color scheme of blue seemed to bring a slightly higher time to visit the site than black, even though the project manager thought black was better.
New websites usually fix the problem: old websites don’t bring in additional sales. Although the problem has been identified at an early stage, it may be forgotten as the process progresses. The focus shifts back to the subjective and the emotional. The designer thinks the new illustrations will increase sales, but it’s still just an opinion, not a fact. This is usually due to personal and biased views or lack of professionalism. Emotional experience and knowledge-based professionalism make a difference.
We approach website development in terms of experimentation and iterations. Elements that increase sales are easy to test; taking advantage of objective metrics, nothing has to be left to guesswork. When we start a new project, we start it with proven methods. However, nothing is done based on a feeling, but every detail of the site is tested.
Customer psychology
Step into your customer’s shoes. Who are they? What problems do they need solutions to? What kind of service do your competitors offer them, and why should they choose you?
Your customer is on the way from identifying the problem through supplier selection to the purchasing decision. Once you understand this, you need to be in the right place, at the right time. Your website (and your digital marketing) should support this strategy.
When a potential customer arrives at your site, it must become clear to them – in the least amount of time – the superiority of the service you provide to their situation. However, the customer also has their doubts: how does he know that you can be trusted?
Well placed “free return within 30 days!” will win you customers.
It is clear that describing the goodness of a limited-use product is easier than a B2B service, which has a myriad of main uses. It’s easier to sell a burger to a hungry person than a customer management system for a construction company. Formulating the right message in the B2B world is tricky. The attention of the Internet user is bouncing from place to place, and the competition for that attention is fiercer than ever before. If a potential customer reads the wrong message on your page, they will likely switch to a competitor.
If your company has multi-purpose products or services, you need to make sure that the visitor ends up on a product page tailored to their specific use. The customer’s journey should consist of as few clicks as possible and as little text as possible (studies show that 250 additional words are enough to reduce the chances of making a purchase decision https://unbounce.com/conversion-rate-optimization/what-is-a-good-conversion-rate/).
What kind of page is selling then?
Often a website is thought to be some kind of technical document that needs to be read in the slightest detail about the product. Or the site is full of something you like to talk about yourself. However, these things do not sell.
So what should there read then?
1. It is a customer journey
How did the customer end up on this particular page? If you have a marketing campaign that drives customers to you, your page should continue the story that the ad started with. What is the next logical step for the customer? For example, if you rent a car, there is an offer in a good ad. The page itself should continue with this offer and provide the customer with an easy way to proceed with, say, the big “Rent Now!” button.
Think about what happened to the customer before going to the page, and think about the next step.
2. Build trust
You can always say that your product is the best in town and you can have the finest website. However, it doesn’t matter at all if no one trusts you.
For example, you can win a trust:
- With customer stories: show who your customers are and what they think of you.
- Brand and Design: Bank websites are not very credible if they look like a toy store. Try to meet customer expectations and assumptions visually. Of course, it’s good to stand out from the crowd, but here’s not to shoot over.
- Certifications really exude professionalism.
- Highlight other benefits of the product: free trial, customer service and the like ease the customer’s doubts.
3. Traffic is not your best metric
Your visitors can be divided into at least three categories: Your Business, Your Customer, and the Unknowns.
Now we focus on the Unknowns: to them you want to sell. Your job is to offer them something they are interested in. If your product is not universally interesting to everyone, you need to make sure you are getting the right kind of traffic to your site.
It’s much better if you get 1,000 visitors to your site interested in your service than 10,000 random visitors. If the latter has become a problem, there are a few ways to find out the causes. If a lot of “wrong kind” people visit your site, the reason for that is usually found in your ads. It can also be that search engines put you high on the wrong keywords, so it’s worth considering your search engine optimization.
What can I do?
Check your ad: what kind of message do they convey, can they be understood in many ways? What kind of person would click on such an ad? Is your ideal customer different?
See from Google Analytics what sources your traffic is coming from. It may well be that much of your traffic comes from an irrelevant source. Of course, this is not a bad thing in itself, but it may explain the lack of customers.
See the Googlen search console to see which keywords are getting your clicks. Maybe your pages are high on keywords your customers aren’t looking for. For example, if we at Sterly were writing articles about coding and getting traffic from coding students and not from you – our potential customer – we wouldn’t be happy.
Note: we understand that not everyone uses the services listed above, so please explore the option that is right for you. If you don’t use any kind of analytics in your digital strategy and want to grow your business online, we highly recommend starting to measure. Data-driven decision-making is always better than guesswork.
4. Keep your websites simple
Less is better – a bit like this song. Less text helps increase a customer’s likelihood of making a purchase decision. A well-written sales text is easy to read, concise, and makes the reader easily understand the answers to the “What” and “Why” questions.
