I see a lot of websites. Seriously, a LOT of websites.
And you know what? Nearly all of them fail this basic test.
What test?
What happens when someone goes to your site and they don’t buy anything or contact you?
Well duh… they leave.
Yes, that’s exactly the problem. Nearly all websites have only ONE action people can take. And that is making a purchase, or at least start the process by making an enquiry.
But there’s a lot of people who go to a website just because they’re interested in what you do. Clearly they’re thinking about a purchase at some point – it’s just they’re not ready yet.
Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
While they may have gone to your site today to find out about the types of products and services you supply … by the time they’re ready to spend money they’ll almost certainly go somewhere else.
Fact is, your website ain’t that memorable. Yes, it’s probably a great site but when people go to dozens of websites every single day the odds on them remembering you 3 months down the track are very slim.
But … I can hear you say … what can I do if they don’t want to buy?
Well consider this.
There’s two reasons people go to your site. Either they’re ready to purchase or they’re just doing some research.
So if they’re ready to purchase then fine. I’m sure you’ve got shopping carts, descriptions of what you do or sell, contact forms, your phone number or whatever else you use to get customers in all in place.
However if they’re just after more information then why not give them a ton of information in exchange for their email address?
Once you’re armed with their email address you’ve got permission to continue emailing them. And if they’re after information then there’s a great chance they’ll give you their email address to get it.
And of course this means you can keep in front of them every week with news, information and occasional offers.
The best part of which is when they’re ready to buy a few weeks or months down the track they’ll remember you. And they’ll know you’re an absolute expert in your field.
Plus because you’ve given so much to them they’ll almost certainly give you a shot to reciprocate.
And what can you give them from your website that’ll encourage them to leave their email address?
It could be a free report, a video series or a whitepaper. It could even be a webinar or audio program.
Whatever it is, make sure the information is top quality so you’re seen as the expert in your field. And make sure it, along with the emails you follow up with has a clear and compelling ‘call to action’ such as a free consultation or a special offer of some sort.
Do this and you get two bites at them. Fail to do this then there’s a lot of potential business coming past your website which you aren’t grabbing.
Get this in place and you’ll build a hugely powerful, highly responsive email list of high quality buyers.