A website is only as useful to your business as the number of people who visit and stick around long enough to result in a lead. If someone clicks off within 10 seconds of being on your website, it does no good.
Want to really get your phone ringing? Here are a few website tips and tricks that are sure to help.
Make Your Website Message Easy To Find.
One of the first rules of journalism is to never bury the lead, and it’s a rule you should implement yourself. Don’t make visitors dig through your site for the primary message. Make it clear right from the top. According to a Time Magazine article, 55 percent of people stay on a webpage for 15 seconds or less. What that means for you is that you have to grab their attention from word one. From the time you begin your web design remember your mission – anything worth saying should be near the top of the page. Otherwise, you are sure to lose visitors. No one wants to dig through a site to get to the main message.
Offer Plenty of Call-to-Actions.
In short, a call-to-action is an opportunity for a visitor to call your office, send an email, or learn more about your business. Your website should be full of them. For example, if you own a chain of auto repair shops you can say, “85 percent of cars either need repairs or maintenance each year. Call today to schedule an appointment for a free assessment.” Link that call-to-action to your telephone number in order to give your visitors a simple way to contact you.
A Word is Worth a Thousand Pictures.
The surest way to build credibility with a potential customer is to provide testimonials and reviews. These work for a couple of reasons. First, they provide what is referred to as “social proof”. Evidence from a third party with no stake in whether a visitor makes the call or not. And secondly, few things are more interesting than hearing someone else’s story. Visitors may not read through an entire advertisement, but they will stop to read another person’s story.
It’s all fairly straightforward: lead generation is spurred by web development that offers a clear message and plenty of call-to-actions. These are things you can easily do get that phone ringing again.