You understand that you provide valuable products and services, but conveying this message clearly to your ideal customers is difficult. The closer you can get your message to making your ideal customer feel a connection with your site the easier it is for them to want to deepen the connection with you.

And please be very aware that your landing and sales pages are the most important part of your online conversion process. From first connection to the sale, each step must feel comfortable. If the first thing they see is an awkward landing or sales page they won’t stick around to deepen the connection with you.

When people come to check out your product or service, they make their yes or no decision based on how trustworthy you seem to them. That’s why every stage of the buying process is important. One domino out of place the trust dissipates and they leave your site.

The foundation of a great message is showing vs. telling. When you tell someone you are great, it’s 1/10^th as valuable as showing them through stories, data, testimonials, images, etc.

So let’s look at the five most common mistakes businesses make as they try to attract customers with their website. I looked at other companies organic search and paid search terms that they were using. I picked terms that I’m interested in, so if I liked the product I would be willing to buy instead of wasting their money to write this blog post.

It’s amazing to me that people who spend a lot of money on ads have a landing page that falls flat. With just a little work they could bring in a lot more sales.

Top 5 Website Mistakes You Can Fix

I focused on the health and wellness industry since this is the industry most of my clients are in. I’ve found the same 5 common mistakes that occur again and again. If you aren’t sure where to start improving your connection system, this article will help simplify it.

1. Too Complex

Your visitor should be able to understand what you do well in less than 5 seconds. A crowded website will confuse them and make them click away. Your website should lead them toward the next step that you want them to take. If they don’t see this, they will leave.

It’s a harsh truth that many business owners have trouble facing. Your potential customers actually don’t have time or want to hunt for what problem you solve for them and how to connect with you. They want it to be easy, intriguing, and worth their time.

My search term:

The result:

The fix:

I’m actually a fan of HEB. They are my go to store for many items, but if I want specific type of healthy food I don’t usually go to them. I go to their competitor.

Your site should focus on creating landing pages that speak directly to the person searching for you. If they land on a page about Toys then you will lose their interest very quickly. Look at the top entry pages on your site. Where are these pages leading your prospects, and if they click through to those pages, does it help you generate more leads and close more sales?

2. Lack of Connection Points

Every step of the connection process needs to feel easy and fun. If they aren’t intrigued to take the next step, the dominoes stop tipping and they leave.

Is everything congruent from one page to the next? For example, this is very important from social media to your landing page. Is the tone of voice similar? If it isn’t, red flags start to pop up. They pause and begin to question what they are reading.

Once they begin to doubt you, they find a reason to click away.

The more congruent your message is, the more likely they are to keep tipping toward connecting with you.

My search term:

The result:

The fix:

Look at what happens when you are too focused on selling instead of creating a great experience. In the above example they are going straight for the buy without building trust.

Do your visitors have chances to connect with who you are and what you do? Are they intrigued by the next action that you want them to take?

3. Weak Offers

Simply put, your offer is the most important part of any connection system. It’s why people keep reading. If you are selling a weight loss product to overweight people, you had better create an amazing, honest and compelling offer that gets them excited to use your product or service such as “My friend lost 50 pounds in 6 months using this product and never felt hungry”.

The biggest mistake people make when creating an offer is writing about all the great features of a product or service. They talk about what it is and how it works, but not the benefits of using the product or service. Creating a clear offer that explains how your product or service has helped other people and how it will help them is crucial to your sales page’s success.

The key to figuring out how to create a clear offer is having someone help you dig down. I have a few friends who are way smarter than me to help me bring clarity to my offer. I also use Toyota’s “5 Why Method”… I have a colleague keep asking me why I created or want to create this product. After I answer, they listen, let it sink in and ask why again. They really force me to figure out why someone should spend their hard earned money on something I created.

The search term:

The result:

The fix:

Where does Liberty Mutual want you to go next? It’s confusing. This page has an article that can help, but how can they deepen the relationship quickly if they want more information?

Look at your current offer. Is it clear and easy, so they know what they need to do next? What are you doing to ease their fears and make it easy for them to say YES?

4. Boring Stories

Every customer connection system needs a narrative that helps people see how valuable your product or service can be for them. They need to see themselves in the story. That’s why using the word “you” is so important. People want to know you are speaking to them and how you can help them.

Look at the story you are creating and ask yourself who does it speak to? Does it speak to your “ideal” client or is it just slightly missing the target?

Your copy and the design you choose also make a difference between keeping them on your website and taking action versus clicking away.

After you create or modify your sales page, ask a friend to read it and tell you what they think is the main story of what problem you are solving. Hopefully they see a clear narrative that grips them. If it does grip them and they want to know more, then you know you are on to something special.

The search term:

The result:

The fix:

Look at your main pages. What are you doing to tell a compelling story that makes them want to learn more about you and what you have to offer?

Remember you don’t need to write a novel, but you do need to help them envision how they will feel after they buy the product. You can do this in a myriad of ways through images, video, audio, and words. You just have to look at what your ideal customer would prefer then focus on creating a compelling story.

5. Missing Details

Anyone can throw up a website and sales page, and this is exactly what happens at the beginning of a new product or service. But people get caught up in creating a great product that they don’t take the time to put details into their sales and landing pages that build trust with their audience, like testimonials or concrete facts about a product’s success rate

I’ve had a client tell me, “If they don’t trust me, it’s their fault.” This may be true, but he was losing out on a lot of sales because he didn’t take the time to create detail that walked people step by step through the benefits of using his product.

Sometimes it’s a lazy sentence that doesn’t sound quite right. Other times it’s the look and feel of the website. Whatever is holding people back from buying, it’s holding your product or service back from success.

It helps to have an expert read your sales page and give you feedback. I suggest that they read through the sales page with you in person or over the phone. It helps if they actually read it out loud. You can see where they get tripped up.

The search term:

The result:

The fix:

Look at where you might have missing pieces that would help show your visitors what it’s like to work with you. It’s the missing details that make people feel slightly uncomfortable and stop them from tipping toward connecting with you and ultimately buying something that can help them feel better.

Where are you missing little details that could help build trust with your ideal customer?

Let’s Review

It’s important that you don’t try to apply all 5 ideas at once. Pick one idea and apply it over the next 30 days. I suggest that you A/B test it to get actual data. Create a little intrigue for yourself by creating a hypothesis.

For example, you can start really simple and test out a different headline at the top of your site and see how people respond. Do they like it? Do they stick around on the website longer? Does it increase email sign-ups?

The more you can have fun with testing out different ideas, the more you will enjoy measuring and refining your connection systems. That’s why you are in business, right?  To have fun helping people from your place of strength while making money doing it?

Would you like help finding your website’s connection gaps so you can close more leads and sales? You can order a website review from me today.  You’ll get a full report that breaks down where you have connection gaps and how to close them so you can generate more sales.