Merely having a website isn’t enough to drive sales. Your website has to provide a valuable experience for the people who are viewing it, says Amelia Knott, marketing manager at Aubiz in this opinion piece.
Generic websites don’t generate interest, making them a waste of time and money to create.
The longer someone spends on your website, the more likely they are to become a customer. If they have an increased understanding of your business and what you do, they’ll be more likely to spend with you.
Start a Useful Blog
Give users something to do while they’re visiting your website. If all you have is information strictly limited to sales, they’re going to get bored very quickly. Start a niche blog on your website that offers valuable content relevant to your niche.
People love tutorials, interesting statistics, meaningful information, and humorous pieces. If you don’t have time to manage a blog on your own, you can always hire a copywriter on a site like Gumtree to handle your blog for you.
Encourage Comments and Conversation
Allow the voices of your viewers to become meaningful contributions to your website. Allow comments on your blog posts. End them with thought provoking questions, and encourage your readers to answer them. Responding will make your users feel validated, like a part of your community.
You can take things one step further by providing live customer service chat that will connect users to a real support agent who can respond to their inquiries or concerns in real time.
Implement a User Friendly Design
If your navigation is convoluted, people aren’t going to bother. They’re coming to your website because they’re looking for something, and if you’ve made it difficult to find, they’re going to look elsewhere. Try not to place too many links under one heading.
Make sure your blog is organised, and your resources are easy to access. One of the most important things to do is make sure your contact information is easy to locate, as well as your FAQ section if you have one. Simple, clean navigation is not only easier to use, it’s also more visually appealing.
Allow Users to Share and Submit Content
If someone wants to guest post on your blog, why don’t you let them? Allowing guests posts is a great way to boost your SEO while making your readers’ (or customers’) voices easy to be heard. If you don’t want to open your blog for guest posting, post testimonials or photos of users enjoying your products or services on your blog.
In addition to this, every post should have share buttons for all of the major social networks. Incorporating your users into your content is internal sharing, and external sharing is equally as important. If someone enjoyed a blog post and things people in their social network will feel the same way, allow them to spread the news with a click of a button.
Make your Call to Action Clear
What do you want people to do when they visit your website? If they can’t tell, that’s a huge problem. If you’re selling or promoting something, they need to know that. Where do they go to make a purchase or get their download? Your call-to-action button should be eye catching, located somewhere that’s highly visible on every page, and be backed by a clear statement about what you’re asking visitors to do.
At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that your customers know how they want to be engaged. Always listen to their feedback and take it seriously. It’s better to act on negative criticism and use it to shape a more productive website than it is to stifle it. If people are telling you what they want, take it seriously.
