How to Drive More Business With Your Website in 2021
Your website has to be set up to quickly do a good job of promoting your product or service to prospective customers. Most business websites do this poorly. Read on to discover why...
It is estimated that over 85% of customers today will look up a business online before they buy. This isn’t too surprising because one of the four major triggers that make people buy is social proof, or recommendations, whether that recommendation comes from a friend, a colleague, a peer, a family member, or a stranger they met online.
Now that portable devices and the internet are a major part of our lives, going online to look up a business, even if that business is the corner store, isn’t only natural, it is a wise thing to do for many reasons but also because it’s probably the fastest.
And so, your web properties, especially your website should be set up to be not just the face of your business online, but your trusty 24/7 advert that promotes your product or service day and night, even while you sleep.
The question is, is your website really set up to do that?
To answer that question, let’s first answer this other one… “At what point in the purchase process are the prospective customers at when they look your business up online?”
And the answer is that at this point they have decided they want or they need what you offer, but they haven’t decided where to buy.
They’re looking for information and reviews, and to be helped to make a decision where to buy.
This is why your website should do this job really well – and real quick!
Quick because:
1. Your prospective customer today has too little time. According to this report on Forbes for example, "A delay of only one second in loading time [of a website] can decrease conversion rates by 7%."
2. Your prospective customer may have decided they will look at a few websites before they buy.
3. Your prospective customer will be expecting businesses to be sloppy – and so they expect to have to dredge through a lot of content before they can make a decision.
If you’ve ever gone to a website and you had to scroll maybe a foot or more before you could find their phone number or their email then you probably know that this happens a lot – and why I’m saying that many businesses are assumed by default to be sloppy!
The fact is that customers have come to expect poor service from businesses, in all its forms – customer service, support, post-purchase, follow-up etc.
So, how do you ensure that your website educates your prospective customers real quick?
Below are some website features and factors that will do this job for you, with explanations on each, as well as recommendations.
