How Your Homepage Converts Visitors Into Customers
Not all traffic is bad — web traffic is a great kind of traffic, and exactly what you want when you’re establishing your brand among your target audience. That’s why you’re active on social media and include your website domain on all of your printed promotional material. You want to drive more people to your website to learn about what you have to offer.
Converting Visitors To Customers
But all the web traffic in the world isn’t going to do you much good if those leads aren’t converting to customers. When people just come to your website, browse around a little bit, read through some of your copy and click on a few of your pictures, and then ultimately shut their browser to turn their attention on something else…well, that means you’re losing out on sales.
And unfortunately, your website could have a lot to do with that!
You want to create a website with the intention of converting those visitors into paying customers. Yes, you know your product or service is great. But if your website doesn’t communicate to people how it will improve their lives, then what’s the point? More importantly, your website should be convenient and easy to navigate. A confused customer is a customer who’s more likely to say no. If they get frustrated, they’re going to abandon their cart and not come back.
In most situations, your potential customer’s experience starts with your homepage. Here’s what you should know:
Home Page Audit
The homepage is the main page of your website — it’s where people land when they type your domain into their browser bar and click enter. From the homepage, they can branch off to explore other parts of your site. But getting them to do that starts with a homepage that appeals to them. Make sure your homepage gives an accurate representation of your brand. Don’t oversell or undersell yourself because of what you think customers want. Include photos, colors, font, and copy that reflects the appropriate mood.
Clear Navigation
You want it to be clear where your customer needs to go after they land on your site. What is their next step? Savvy web designers will often put some kind of call to action above the fold of the website so that visitors don’t even have to scroll. This call to action will likely be a button with some type of text on it telling the customer what to do. Maybe it links to your online store or an online order form. Maybe it puts them through to set up an appointment with you. Make sure the text of your call to action focuses on what’s in it for the customer. “Find your new favorite outfit” sounds a lot more exciting than “Start shopping,” even if they both mean the same thing. You can always repeat your call to action elsewhere on your website to make it easily accessible for your customers.
Keep It Simple
Remember to keep everything as simple as possible. Too many photos or too much lengthy copy all at once can get overwhelming and burdensome for a visitor. Focus on one or two of your best images (ideally, ones with people in them) and short, punchy copy. All the other content can be moved to other sections of your website such as a photo gallery or an About Us section. If customers are interested, they can go to these landing pages to explore more.
Be Personable
Remember to establish trust and likeability from the get-go. A homepage that’s too salesy or gimmicky just turns people off. Focus all content on reflecting the benefits of what you do — how does it improve people’s lives? This is a chance for you to think a little more deeply about your customers and their specific wants, needs, and dissatisfactions. If you’re a restaurant, save the details about the menu or wine list for later. This is your chance to tell people your restaurant is an escape from the hustle and bustle of the world and be treated to a meal that will make them feel like royalty.
Collect Emails
Make it easy to market to your visitors later by including a signup box for your email blasts and links to your social media accounts. Keep these down at the bottom of your homepage so they don’t take up prime real estate above the fold. Having these easily accessible will make it more likely for you to gain subscribers and followers, so even if you don’t convert them into customers that day, you’ll set yourself up to win them over later.
Check Out Your Competition
Finally, pay attention to what other websites are doing and how they are winning you over. The next time you make a decision to patronize a brand online, ask yourself what it was that convinced you. Understanding how you operate as a customer will give you a better appreciation for how your customers operate similarly.