Many web sites I visit are great to look at and have a lot of interesting information. But what is it you really want your visitor to do when they are at your site? Do you want them to sign up for a webcast, download information or ask you to call them? Do you help your visitor make a decision or do you leave them with too much information?
Your web site needs to lead your visitors through the site with the purpose of helping them decide what action to take depending on where they are in the sales cycle. If you let the visitor wander aimlessly without a clear path, you run the risk of them getting confused, frustrated and leaving before they tell you who they are. Web site visitors are amazingly impatient. If they don't see exactly what they are looking for in a few seconds, they will leave. However, once they find something that interests them (like your blog for example), they will stay for a while and come back for more.
When planning your web site, ask yourself the following questions:
- Why do people visit your site? Can you provide them with what they need so that they are satisfied?
- Are you holding their interest and making them want more?
- Is everything they are looking for easy to find and presented in terms they understand?
- Are you wasting their time with elements on the page that don't add value?
Asking the Visitor to Take Action
A "call to action" in marketing refers to active copy that compels a user to take action. When developing your web site, think through how you want to weave effective calls to action into its structure. You want to do this because if you don't, you are leaving it up to chance that they will figure out what they are suppose to do and actually do it. The obvious ones are "register for this seminar", "subscribe to our newsletter", "buy now", or "add to shopping cart".
Other more subtle or non-invasive calls to action are those used to move the visitor through the site on an information gathering process. Hyperlinks that help the visitor walk through a set of pages, next and back buttons, or hyperlinked phrases such as "read our success story" are all considered calls to action that get your visitor to stay at your site longer.
Use a clear call to action on every page of your web site and interspersed in the copy. Don't leave the path to success up to the visitor - guide them through the process with a flow that takes them to a decision. Understand the process you use to get new clients and develop your site to mimic the process as best as you can. You still need the great design, clear content and a professional image for your web site, but don't forget to tell your visitor exactly what you want them to do.