Many website design [http://soaringhigherconsulting.com/learning-center/website-strategies/] agencies are great at making visually appealing websites but, they suck at making websites that convert traffic into paying customers. This is because most web design companies are not Internet marketers.
The Mistakes
Many business websites have one or more of these five mistakes in their design, mistakes that are costing money on a daily basis.
A Great Offer
A business website needs to produce results for the business. These results need to be paying customers. People like a good deal, so give them a deal that will make them pull out their wallets. This can be a discount or an added value bonus to the main item or service purchased.
A Strong Call To Action
People want to be led. So many websites have a good deal or great information but, there is no call for an immediate act. When people are not ask to act now, they will usually put off making a decision until later. Unfortunately later never comes in most cases.
Make sure your copy has a immediate call to action for the visitor to make a purchase, or at the very least, to call for more information.
Clear and Precise Instructions
This seems like a no-brainer, but go look at some of your local business websites. You will soon see that clear instructions are not very common. Don't lose the sale here after you have spent the energy and money to hook the prospect.
Make sure it is easy for the customer to complete a purchase. Give the visitor clear step by step instructions to what they need to do to complete the transaction. Make it as easy and simple as possible.
Limit The Offer
The emotion of potential loss is one of the most powerful motivators you can use. People are hardwired to not want to lose an opportunity. Use this to your advantage in your sales copy.
Limit either the time they have to respond or the quantity of items you offer at the special price. Another method that works wonders is to up the price after so many are sold. The first five could be $9.99, the next five $19.99 and so on.
Collecting Contact Information
It is a well known fact that the money really is in the list. Your customer is the most important asset that your business has. A list of customers that has their up to date contact information along with permission to email them is a gold mine.
The ROI for email marketing is around $48 for every $1 spent according to the Direct Marketing Association. It is also a proven fact that it cost five to eight times more to sell to a new customer verse selling to an existing customer. With a ROI like this your business can not afford to miss out on this avenue of marketing.
Use an email capture form on your website to collect your visitors name and email addresses. Giving them a coupon, free report or online only specials is a good way to get them to give you their email address.
Conclusion
For existing business websites, make sure that your website is up to date and is not making any of the five mistakes we have discussed here. If it does have one or more of these mistakes, correct it.
If you are in the process of having a website designed, make sure that the website design company is experienced in direct response web design.