Peter was pulling his hair out (I felt sorry for him, because he was a little bald already).
He had spent a princely sum on a new website from a really good designer. His site was beautiful.
Yet, it wasn’t doing anything for his business.
No one was grabbing his free offer, so it wasn’t building his database. His phone number was prominent, yet no one was calling either.
And, frankly, when we look at his analytics, something even more frightening was happening.
His visitors were only staying for seconds.
They were leaving at a remarkable speed.
Was his site beautiful? Yep.
Did he make a great free offer? It was pretty great.
Yet, no one was staying long enough to read anything he was saying let alone grab his offer.
Pretty is nice. But give me an effective website any day over one with blonde hair and a gleaming smile.
Like your site, our site and Peter’s site…every website really…visitors will only give you seconds (like 3-to-7 seconds) to decide if they will stay and look around or hit the enemy of every site—the back key.
If this is happening to you, it’s most likely because you’ve created the site from your point-of-view.
You begin by telling the visitor what YOU WANT THEM TO KNOW.
What a waste of their time! They want to know what they want to know.
And you’ve got to tell them fast, or they’ll be gone.
Your classic time wasters look like this:
- The first copy they see says Welcome! (you don’t need to welcome them and you just wasted 2 of your 3-to-7 seconds)
- You launch into a story about yourself (they don’t care about you…yet; they care about themselves)
- Or you launch into details about your products and services (don’t care about them yet either)!
- You have so much copy on the page, the visitor can’t find the starting point
Here’s your sin: you’ve written and designed your site to tell them all about what’s on your mind, what you want them to know and are eager to share immediately.
Here’s the fix (and it’s cheap): follow the “thought sequence” of the visitor. Rewrite your home page copy. Tell them what they want to know within those 3-to-7 seconds.
What do they want to know? Three things immediately:
- Where am I? (your logo—readable—in the upper left hand corner, the first place the eye goes)
- What can I do here? (what kind of a solution are you offering…solution, not product)
- Why should I do it here? (what’s the outcome of working with you)
Yes, there’s more to a great, effective website than simply following the thought process of your visitor by addressing these three questions immediately.
But you can’t get to those other things until you have them engaged.
An engaged visitor gets their questions answered fast and then will be willing to look around.
How about I make you a deal right now?
I’m going to verbally make-over 3 websites in March on Facebook Live.
Each Thursday this month at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific.
Would you like to be one of them? I’d like you to be one of them.
Here’s how:
- Head over to our Facebook page by clicking here
- Become a follower of Wide Awake Business
- Then type in the comment space that you want to be considered for a make-over AND leave your website address
Even if your site isn’t chosen, you’re still going to know the three questions you will apply to your site that will improve your results.
You’ll know what good sites do…and what poor ones don’t do.
You’ll understand why people engage…or leave. Quickly.
You’ll be able to get your website to DO SOMETHING besides sit there taking up space in the Intergalactic Web.
Whether you’re one of the three make-over people or a listener on the Facebook Live broadcast, you’ll come away with just what we always promise you…
…an easier, simpler, more profitable business just by improving how your website engages with its visitors.
Let’s get your website soaring rather than snoring.
Go forth and do great things,
Martha Hanlon and Chris Williams
P.S. How’s your website performing? Can I help you improve it? Scoot over to our Facebook page and raise your hands for the complimentary website make-over.