Can Your Website Last 8 Seconds?
It is estimated that 50 percent of new visitors to a website bail out in the first 8 seconds.
Eight seconds! Can you imagine? In your own browsing, you are probably not surprised. You bounce around from site to site. However, when your website is on the receiving end, it is not so pleasant. You do a lot of work to get visitors to your site. What can you do to make them stay – and turn them into customers?
Let’s start with what a website is trying to accomplish in the first 8 seconds? It is NOT selling the job. You don’t have enough time. The job of your home page is only to sell the viewer to stay an additional 8 seconds, and then 8 seconds after that, and so on until they either contact you or disqualify themselves if they aren’t going to be a good customer.
A local website design does not have to be fancy or slick to do this, but it does have to follow some simple rules.
1. Have an Easy to Find Call to Action
This is the most important item on this list. Have an easy to find BOLD phone number on every page of your site. Also, encourage customers to call - coupons and internet specials work great. Make it easy for customers to do business with you. If you don’t, the next website on your customer’s list will.
2. Hit the Viewer with the Benefit of your Service First.
Lead off with the reason why viewers are visiting your site in the first place (the benefit), not the service itself. If you are a dentist, your visitors are looking for a healthy smile, not enjoyment from getting their teeth cleaned. If you are a heating and cooling company, your visitors are looking for a comfortable home, not the best looking boiler on the block. Use a sizable picture to show your main benefit like Bruce Johnson does below.
3. Be Local
In local business, it is important to …..drumroll……be local. Have you ever been to the website of a national company that wants to appear to be local. There is only an 800 number and no location on the home page. Don’t look like this. Prominently display your location or your service area on your homepage. Display a local number instead of, or at least alongside, an 800 number. Even better, have pictures of local customers that are references for your work. People like to do business with local businesses, especially ones they feel they can trust, which leads to …
4. Build Trust
When you do business with someone for the first time, you want them to be worthy of your trust. Your potential customers are no different.
Don’t make them wonder why they should trust you. On your homepage, display any accreditation seals, including the Better Business Bureau seal (if you are a member) and industry seals. If you partner with or distribute for well known manufacturers, include their logo on your page. It is a great idea to list shining referrals, especially if they are above pictures of happy customers. If you have been in business for a length of time, make sure to mention it front and center.
5. Be Real
Anybody can put up a website, but not every website feels like it represents a real company made up of real individuals. As a consumer, don’t you look for companies that are not only highly qualified and trustworthy, but also unique and special? What is it that makes your company unique and special? Does your website get this across? The website for Anderson Plumbing does…
Keep these 5 items in mind when you design your website/landing page and you will be on your way to keeping visitors for longer than 8 seconds and converting them into customers.
