Implement these 5 keys, and let your Web site do the selling for you.
Below are 5 often overlooked keys to creating a successful sales generating Web site. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather a list of some of the most significant attributes of a succesful sales generating Web site. Keep reading to learn how implementing these 5 keys correctly will significantly improve your Web site’s ability to acquire more customers and generate new sales.
The 5 keys are:
1. Visibility
Visibility is the first and most important key, because in order for any of the other keys to matter, prospects must be able to find your Web site. A search engine optimization campaign is an excellent ways to significantly increase the visibility of your Web site on the major search engines. Remember, many prospects won’t search for your company by name. Rather, they will search using keywords related to the service or product their interested in. So, having a Web site that is search engine optimized for the keywords that your target audience would use when searching for your product or service is essential to your Web sites ability to generate new business.
2. Design
First impressions are everything. Because your Web site is often the first point of contact between a prospect and your business, it is essential that your Web site communicate professionalism and quality through its design. This can only be achieved with a professionally designed custom Web site. Consumers are savvy, and they can sniff out a cheap $5/month Web site within seconds of landing on one. A cheap Web site can not only result in poor first impressions, but it can also significantly diminish your company’s credibility. Consumers expect legitimate companies to have professionally designed Web sites. So, don’t settle for a cheap Web site that will diminish your brand. Invest in a professionally designed custom Web site that caters to your target audience. Remember, just like any other advertisement, your Web site is an investment in your overall marketing strategy, and if designed well, can result in a significant return on investment.
3. User-Experience
When a prospect lands on your Web site, the goal is for the prospect to engage with the Web site long enough to find what they’re looking for. If the prospect becomes frustrated with the site during this process, they will most likely move on to another, more user-friendly Web site, resulting in a lost customer. For this reason, an effective sales generating Web site must provide a positive user-experience. A positive user-experience can be achieved by developing a site with pleasing aesthetics, an intuitive layout, easy-to-use navigation, and pages that load quickly. Have you ever been on a Web site that had a terrible design, a layout that made it difficult to locate specific elements on a page, navigation that was difficult and frustrating to use, or pages that took forever to load? If you answered yes to any or all of these, then you understand why addressing these elements is so important to providing prospects with a positive user-experience.
4. Call-to-Action
Of the 5 keys, having a clear and concise call-to-action seems to be the most often overlooked. Have you ever been on a Web site, where you were interested in what was being sold, but you weren’t sure how to make the purchase or request more information? That’s because the Web site was missing a clear call-to-action. All sales generating Web sites should contain a clear and concise call-to-action, such as “Join Today!,” “Call Now!,” etc. This is such a crucial element in a sales generating Web site, because the prospect has gone this far (they found the Web site, they engaged with it, and they’re ready to take action) only to end up not becoming a customer because they aren’t sure how to take the next step. Be sure your Web site has a call-to-action on each page that clearly identifies the intended action you would like the prospect to take.
5. Cross-Browser Compatibility
There are many different browsers available such as Internet Explorer, FireFox, Safari, to name a few. Each browser renders Web sites differently, and because your prospects could be using any one of them, it is imperative that your Web site render properly on all them. If you built your Web site yourself, this is almost guaranteed to be an issue. If it was built by a freelance Web designer, it’s probably still an issue because they most likely built and tested the Web site on a single browser, without regard for the other browsers. If you hired a professional Web design company, they should have tested for cross-browser compatibility, but you may want to check anyways to be sure. Adobe currently provides a free browser compatibility testing service, called Adobe BrowserLab. You can use it to see how your Web site renders on each major browser. Also, here is a nice breakdown of current browser usage, so you know which browsers you should place the most emphasis on.
Begin implementing these 5 keys today, and let your Web site do the selling for you!