You’ve put a lot of time, money and effort into your website. Your writing is compelling. Your design is professional. And thanks to the bits of marketing you’ve done, your site is getting traffic. Yet so many people leave your website.
So they why aren’t more people signing up for your list or calling you about your service?
I get asked about this every single day. Most people see their website like that quote from the movie Field of Dreams – “if you built it, they will come.” Unfortunately people signing up for your list or contacting you for help requires a special combination of factors.
The problems I see daily are the mistakes you’re making that cause people to leave your website. So if you’re having trouble getting people to take action on your website, consider whether you’re site has one or more of the following problems:
Here’s 9 reasons people leave your website before taking action.
1. Your website design is outdated.
Whether we think so or not we all judge books by their covers. If a website looks old or outdated then people assume that the site isn’t kept up. They may even assume that you’re out of business. So having a website design that’s modern and up-to-date is vital to keeping people on your website.
Now does that mean you need to latest trendy look? Of course not. Yet, your website’s design should look as though it’s fresh and professional. It should feel to people ask though it’s cared for and up-to-date. And it should leave to question whether you’re still in business or not.
I get asked a lot, ‘how often should I update my website?’ And while there’s no hard-and-fast rule about how long a design will last, I think it’s a good idea to update your website’s design every 2-3 years – even the updates are minor. So if your site’s design is older than 3 years, you want to give some consideration to how well it’s functioning and whether it’s time for a more modern look.
2. Your content is difficult to read.
I’m shocked how often readability is overlooked. Colors, graphics, images – these all get the lion’s share of attention when it comes to our website designs. Fonts often take a backseat. And worse, the ability to read to text on the screen even more so.
Yet, why are people coming to your website? It isn’t because of your sweet looking texture or that awesome red you’re using. Honestly, people seldom see design unless they’re either specifically looking at designs (for their own website projects) or if your site’s design has caused a problem in some way.
People come to your website for the content you have. And if your website makes it difficult to read why would they stay? Making your content difficult to read send the message that you really don’t care that much about your content being read, used and acted upon. If your website is even remotely difficult to read, time to get that fixed.
3. You have audio or video set to autoplay.
I don’t know about you, but nothing makes me click a website’s “Back” button faster than autoplayed audio or video. Do you like websites that just start talking to you before you have a chance to look around? Of course not. And neither do your potential clients. So why would you do that to them? If you’re audio or video autoplay, change your settings to stop it.
4. Your navigation menu is unclear.
Okay, time for a quiz: have you ever tried to find a specific article on a website only to be caught in what seems like an endless maze of links that get you nowhere closer to the article? Remember how frustrating that feels?
You don’t want to do that to the people coming to your site, do you?
There’s two rules to website navigation that you absolutely want to follow: One, setup your menus and links for what your clients want to find. Two, don’t make them have to think. Your menu and link structure should be so clear that they don’t have to think about whether to click or not.
Many websites have poor, at best, navigation structures. If people aren’t getting past the first page they visit on your site this could be the reason.
5. Your site lacks your personality.
Your business provides a service, right? And people most often choose their service providers because of the relationships they build during the sales cycle.
Your website provides an excellent opportunity to begin building that relationship with prospective clients. So don’t make it difficult to find you, your expertise and your personality in your website.
The websites that get people to stay and take actions feel like a conversation. They give people a sense of what it’s like to meet you, know you and speak to you. This makes it easier for them to like and trust you; which makes it easier for them to chose to stay connected to you, signup for your newsletter and beginning building a relationship with you.
If your website isn’t trying to build relationships with your clients, then it’s not very useful to them. Think about it.
6. Your offers aren’t relevant or appealing.
You’ve crafted your compelling offer. But is it relevant to the people you want to work with?
If your not getting people to subscribe to your list or convert on your offers, it’s likely you’re not connecting your offers to what they believe they need. When your offers don’t connect to your audience they don’t take action and leave your website without signing up.
Maybe you have an amazing offer but it’s not communicated well. Maybe your offer isn’t as good as you thought and people don’t want it. It’s up to you, not them, to move them to take action on your offers. And if they’re not there’s more work to do on your site – especially if people aren’t signing up for your email list.
7. The benefits of your offers aren’t clear.
Do you give out your email address for an offer you don’t know can help you? Would you sign up for a free session if you didn’t know clearly what you’d get out of it?
Me neither! And so why would the people who come to your website?
The benefits of your offers need to be clear. Moreover, they need to be compelling, useful and solve the problems your audience is dealing with. Take the absolute best parts of your offer and explain to people how it will change their lives, families, business or relationship. Be specific. Use testimonials to show proof. And make sure every part of what you write is about how they can have the change they want.
Remember, most of the people coming to your website don’t know you. So why would they convert on an offer unless they understand exactly how the offer will benefit them?
8. Your website pages have no/few call-to-action.
While this might seem like a no-brainer, research by Small Business Trends suggests that 80% of small B2B business websites lacked a call-to-action as recently as 2015. Crazy, right? They weren’t losing out on sign ups and sales because their calls-to-action were poorly written. They missed out because they simply failed to ask.
Your prospective clients aren’t going to take action unless you prompt them to. You want to end every website page, sales page and blog post with a compelling and relevant call-to-action that’ll encourage visitors to take action. And yes, even your ‘About’ page.
9. Your site isn’t mobile friendly.
We should all know by now that mobile isn’t a fad; it’s not going away. Having a mobile friendly website is vital in today’s world. Here’s a few reasons why:
Google’s has said if your website isn’t mobile friendly you’ll rank significantly worse in search results. If your site isn’t mobile friendly everyone visiting your site on their phone will have a negative experience of your business. More than 55% of all web usage is now on a mobile device. So think of all the people who are going to see your site on their phone or tablet.
Having a mobile friendly website isn’t a luxury anymore. It’s a necessity. And it has been for the last couple of years. So if your site isn’t mobile friendly this, more than anything, is the reason you want to consider updating your website.
What do I do now?
There’s other reasons people leave your website. These, however, are the most common.
By addressing these issues you should see increased actions on your website. You’ll likely find more people signing up for your email list and more people taking advantage of your offers. If your website isn’t working for you, these 9 reasons are a good place to start.
If you want me to take a look at your site and give you some feedback, please do so. You can contact me here.
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