Getting people to your homepage is only half of the battle. What do visitors see when they get there? Many factors contribute to whether a visitor will immediately leave your site or stay and engage with you. In this post we’ll cover a few ways to make sure your visitors stick around. While reading this post and evaluating your own homepage, try to put yourself in the shoes of your visitors. Look at your website with fresh eyes, as if you are a brand new visitor.
It’s not clear what you do, or who you serve.
This is the biggest mistake that will turn people away. Include a statement prominently on your homepage that establishes what you do and who you serve. Too many websites use metaphors or confusing jargon. If it’s too difficult for someone to determine these two things, they likely won’t spend the time to decipher whether you can help them or not.
You don’t have a lead gathering system.
The majority of the time your website visitors are not ready to become your customer. They don’t know or trust you yet. They’re not ready to call you on the phone or even submit a web form to get more information from you. This where your lead gathering system can help. Offer something for free to your website visitors, such as an ebook, whitepaper, or instructional video, in exchange for the person’s email address. This is an easy first step to gather information from your prospective clients.
As you gather these leads from your website, you can continue to send valuable information to them so they can get to know you better. You’ll stay top-of-mind for when they need your service in the future.
Your website is outdated or amateur.
If your website is more than a few years old, it probably shows. Even though the content of your site is more important than the design, it’s still a good idea to make a good first impression with a modern design. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, or responsive, that is an even bigger issue. Mobile web browsing is more common now than desktop browsing, and Google even favors websites that are mobile-friendly.
You haven’t given your website visitors any reasons to trust you.
When someone lands on your homepage, they want to know that they can trust you. There are a few things you can include to build trust. Try to use as many of these as you can, or that are appropriate for your business:
Take an honest look at your homepage to evaluate whether you’re making these mistakes. There’s always room for improvement. Try implementing one or more of these ideas to increase the number of leads you get from your homepage.
