Is your website doing all that it can to bring you new leads and build trust with your prospects? If not, you could be missing out on loads of clients who need exactly what you have to offer. With a few changes to your approach, you can turn your website into the number one tool that generates a profit for your business.
If you’re not sure where to start with your website, then look at the approach you’re using. Is your website about you or is it about your potential customers? So many business owners make the mistake of creating a self-focused website instead of a customer-focused website. It’s not about you!
Yes, it’s your business and yes, you want potential customers to like what you have to offer. But if you want to have a profit-focused website, you’ve got to put the focus on those ideal customers and their needs.
Here’s how to start:
- Create an ideal client profile.Until you figure out exactly who you are speaking to, you will have a difficult time creating a customer focused website. You need to get to know your prospects and clients. Then you want to document your findings. What does your ideal customer do for a living? Where does he or she live? What are his or her fears? What does he or she want to accomplish? It’s essential to get crystal clear on what this indivdual wants so you can design your website to address their needs.
- Determine what your ideal client needs to know to make a purchase from you.Once you’ve nailed down the profile of your ideal client, it’s time to get into her head a bit. What does she need to know in order to feel comfortable making a purchase? She will probably want to hear about your background and see testimonials, but more importantly, she want to know that you understand her and the pain she experiences. More often than not, people are on the Internet looking for solutions. You need to speak to the solutions that your ideal client is looking for and show them that in coming to your website, they’ve landed in the right place.
- Create pages that speak to what your ideal customer needs.No matter what type of information, support or encouragement your ideal customer needs, make sure it’s present on your website. It helps to have an FAQ page where you can post the answers to the most frequently asked questions about your services. Look back to conversations that you’ve had with current clients and potential customers. Which questions were most important to them? Be sure those are answered directly on your website. If there’s information that you can provide in an e-mail course or report, even better! Don’t hide details about what you offer. Describe your solutions and the specific problems you solve so your visitors have an idea as to how they can work with you.
- Use a “Call To Action” to get your ideal customer to take the next step with you.Even if you know your ideal customer intimately and give them the exact information that they need, it’s not enough to create a profit-focused website. You need to also prompt them to take the next step with you. It may seem self-explanatory. But you have to connect the dots for people. Make it easy for them to see what they need to do next to get the benefit or result they’re looking for. Whether that step is to sign up for a free consultation with you, purchase a program or register to receive free information, your website needs to lead your visitors to that next step. Be sure to end each page with a strong “Call To Action” that motivates your ideal customers.
When you make your website client-focused, instead of self-focused, you’re going to engage more prospects and enroll more clients. Review your site, think about your ideal customers and then upgrade your website to create an experience that has them ready to say “yes!”
Your Action Plan For This Week:
- If you haven’t already, create an ideal client profile that details who your customers are and why they should purchase from you.
- Look over your website and make sure that it includes pages that speak to the needs of your ideal customers. Consider adding an FAQ if you don’t have one already.
- Add a Call To Action on each page that move your ideal customers toward the next step with you.
MaAnna says
Sydni, it’s amazing to me how folks forget to make these simple elements the priority for their site. Instead, they fill it up with every possible whizbang.
If you don’t know your audience, and speak directly to them, you’re missing the whole point, and so are they.
Sydni Craig-Hart says
Thanks for the comment MaAnna! Unfortunately, it’s really easy to completely miss the boat when you’re developing a website. (Which means you can miss out on a lot of client and revenue opportunities too!) But the good news is, it’s easy to fix too! I’m glad you appreciate these simple points.
By the way…I love that word “whiz bang”! That made me laugh out loud: 🙂
Susan says
Website not developed yet…still in the planning stages and want to do it right. Great advise and like the white space in your website. It’s and easy read. I find often websites are far too cluttered. I’d like to offer my potential clients ways to keep life simple especially in their homes and offices. People have shared with me that they have far too much stuff in their interior space and don’t know how to minimize or can’t seem to decide what needs to go? That’s where I may be able to help if I can find the clients? My background is in graphic and visual design but more interested in helping people through interior decor and design simplify green way at this stage of my life.