Quick - what is it (exactly) that you want your website to do for your business? When I first ask my clients this question, the response I most often get is: "to provide information about who we are, and what we do."
And that's perfectly fine.
However, experience has taught me that what these service professionals really want from their website is a consistent flow of "warm" leads from prospects who are ready to do business with them.
Here's the deal: You're missing out big-time on generating more clients if your website isn't set up to do the following three things:
Number One: Your website MUST answer these two questions for your visitor (and very quickly I might add):
1. What does this service professional do?
2. How is this going to BENEFIT/HELP me? If your home page doesn't immediately intrigue your visitor and tap into their needs within those first critical 3- 5 seconds...they'll click away, and you'll lose them, most likely forever.
Number Two: Your Website must "capture" visitors!
Obtaining your visitor's email address prevents one-time visits. If you offer visitors the opportunity to "opt-in" to receive free, value-added information (such as an ezine, special report or e-course), and you provide truly useful information to them on a regular basis, in return you'll earn trust and build relationships with these folks. This greatly increases the chances that these very same visitors will buy from you over time. (Psst! Make sure you don't hide the opt-in sign-up box on your site!)
Number Three: Your website must motivate your visitor to take action. To do this successfully, the focus of the content on your site needs to change from being all about you, your company and your services, to being all about the needs of the visitor, their biggest problems and how you help them solve those problems.
It's important to keep in mind that the type of copy that motivates action is not overly "formal." Instead, reading the copy on your site should feel like a one-on-one conversation between you and the reader. The words need to invoke the reader's emotions and provide enough supporting details to enable him to feel comfortable making a decision to either buy online, or to call or email you for more information. In other words, make the content on your site a bit more conversational!
Incorporate these three things, and you'll soon see your website churning out more leads that turn into sales!
(c) Connie Scholl 2006
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About the Author:Connie Scholl of ConnieCoach.com provides self- employed service professionals with simple, effective and low-cost marketing solutions designed to quickly jump-start sales and consistently generate new clients. Get free marketing tips and "how-to-articles" at http://www.conniecoach.com
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