Want 12 awesome tips that will improve your websites visitors experience, lead to more sales and greater return rates; which are also easy to implement - well here they are:
1. Add a Value Proposition
The value proposition, or mission statement, tells the visitor what you do and why you do it.
Put your value proposition on your home page, in your headline if possible. Add it to your blog or about page. Let the visitors know exactly what they will be getting if they come to you, buy your product, subscribe to your newsletter or read your blog.
Your message should include:
[our company] is where
[our audience] gets
[what information] that offers
[what benefit].
2. Website Navigation
The navigation on your website serves two purposes;
- it helps the user find what they’re looking for
- it helps your search engine rankings
Your visitors should come first, search engines second. Be human. Use descriptive navigation instead of generic “What We Do” text. Use words that your visitors would use and words that your visitors are searching for. It’s fewer clicks for the user and helps search engines indicate your relevance.
3. Call to Action Text
The call to action, or CTA, is huge. You’ve got your users on the site, they’re interested, now what do you want them to do? Tell them!
Buttons are for actions, like “Get a quote,” “Download,” “Open an account,” “Go to checkout.” The text on the button should begin with a verb. Otherwise it’s not a call to action, just a button with some text on it. “More information” for example, is not a call to action. – David Hamill
Use the 1st person voice (I, me, my) to let the users tell the CTA what to do. Example: BOOK AN APPOINTMENT WITH ME.
4. Call to Action Colors
Find an accent or contrasting color for your call to action buttons. For example, if your site is predominately blue or light blue, find a nice yellow or a warm orange that accents your color palette, while calling attention to itself.
If you can give your user a better idea of what they can click on and what might happen when they do, they’re going to be more likely to take the risk.
5. Try The 10-Foot Test
Ok, time for a little exercise. Pull up your home page. Now get up from your desk and take ten steps back from your computer. Can you tell what your company does at a glance? Better yet, have someone else try it. Can they?
If not, you need to tighten up your messaging. Be specific. Don’t try to be clever.
6. Social Proof
Use social proof to entice people to sign up for your newsletter or download an ebook. Have influencers in your industry provide a quote or testimonial like Ian Cleary of Razor Social does.
7. Testimonial Pages
Let’s face it, no one is going to go to your “Testimonials” page. When was the last time you clicked on someone else’s? Exactly.
If you have great clients that say great things about you, that’s amazing and it should be seen. Get them on your landing/home page, or scattered in places with heavy traffic.
8. Team Pages
People want to know, like and trust you before they buy from you. Let the visitor know who’s behind the scenes in your company and what your culture is all about. At the end of the day, people do business with people so let your visitors see who they’ll be doing business with.
9. Mobile-friendly
Having a mobile-friendly site used to be a “should have,” now it’s a “must have.” On April 21st, Google updated their mobile search rankings algorithm. Mobile-friendly web pages will now rank higher in mobile search results versus non mobile-friendly pages.
10. Internal Linking
Don’t let your visitors hit a dead end on your site. Always keep them (and search engine robots) moving. On your service pages add a simple call to action with a link to your contact form.
11. Email Sign Up Forms
Your sign up forms should contain the 3 P’s: visually prominent, offer proof and promise something. Make it obvious and clear what they are signing up for. It’s better to have a smaller amount of engaged users who are there because they want to be than a large pool of folks who were baited.
12. Forget The Fold
People tend to get stuck in this mindset that no one scrolls below the fold. That’s not true and there are many studies that prove this.
Scrolling is the single most natural action users take on the internet. Yes, more attention is paid to things above the fold because it’s the first thing you see, but that doesn’t mean people don’t scroll and it doesn’t mean you have to stuff everything “above the fold.”
Put your most important messaging at the top and give your users a reason to scroll if needed.