A website is vital for a modern business to reach potential customers, but even if your website has thousands of viewers a day, you won’t see an increase in revenue until they decide to do business with you. Converting website traffic into clients or customers involves more than just SEO tactics—it requires you to put the work in offline by providing great service and positive customer experience.
- So how do you turn leads from your website into profitable business? Let’s take a look at your business from the eyes of potential customers.
- Start by taking a step back to view your online presence as a potential customer and asking yourself the following questions:
- Would you hire your business?
- Would you make a call based on what you see on your website?
- What information would you as a potential client want to know, and is that information easily found on the website?
- What questions do you have, and are they answered on the site?
- What details would you need to see in order to trust the business?
- Are there photos of your business, products, or work that establish you as legitimate?
If your answers to any of these questions give you something you can improve, that’s a great place to start.
Ensure that your website has a strong call to action and that it’s effortless for users to contact you. It’s a good idea to display your phone number or contact button prominently, preferably in the top right hand corner of every page. Also include a contact form on every page that only requires a single click to submit—don’t ask for too much information from the user. Keep it short and simple.
It’s incredibly important that it’s easy to contact your business. If your website confuses its users, they will not be inclined to spend any money. And if they have to work to figure out how to contact you, they will likely move on to another business that’s easier to reach.
Once a client has contacted you, don’t leave them waiting for a response. While they’re waiting, they may be searching for other businesses that can fulfill their needs. Always respond quickly, and have a planned script ready to answer their questions and convert them. This goes for both phone calls and emails.
Respond to emails within 24 hours at most, and if possible, pick up the phone within two rings. Hopefully callers don’t get sent to voicemail, because it may mean them hanging up or looking elsewhere, but when they do, return the voicemail within the hour. The longer you take to respond, the lower the chances become of that lead turning into a client.
Another good option is a web chat, which can be automated to collect basic information from the user, which you can then use to reach out to them within 24 hours. However, a web chat is only valuable if it does provide users with a timely and helpful response. A webchat that is unmonitored can do more harm than good by frustrating users. If your website is set up with a template that includes a chat feature, either put the effort in to make the chat functional or disable it.
Responding to leads in a timely and helpful manner is so important you might consider using a call center if you find it difficult to monitor the phone and respond quickly. However, ensure that the call center has experience with your type of business, learn their process, and provide them with scripts to ensure the best customer experience possible.
Setting up your website with these strategies in place will give you an advantage in converting leads, but SEO is an ongoing investment, and its value improves as you continue to work on it. As you increase traffic to your site and convert prospects to customers, you’ll gain more credibility in the eyes of Google, boosting your site’s ranking. However, you’ll still need to continue to put effort into your search engine optimization to make continual improvements and updates.
Search engine optimization goes hand-in-hand with good customer service. By providing a good user experience on your website, you make it easier for potential customers to find the information they need and contact you. Then, when you follow that up with a timely and helpful response, you’re more likely to win their business. You can also ask happy customers to leave you positive reviews, which will improve your SEO and encourage the positive cycle to continue. By putting the work in both online and offline to convert customers, you’ll see profit increases well worth the investment.
