The biggest mistake I see website designers make is building company websites. If you want to increase conversions, don’t build a company website. Build a customer website.
How do you do that?
1. Find out as much information about who your customer’s customers are. What matters most to them? What kind of people are they? What are their values? Where are they coming from before landing on the page?
2. Create a value proposition that encapsulates as much as possible in items 2 – 9 below. Make sure it tells website visitors, as quickly as possible, what the web page is about. What makes a great value proposition? (one example) A great headline, a powerful subheadline that connects to and builds upon the headline, powerful benefits in the form of bullets, a benefit-oriented call to action, trust icons, and complimentary imagery such as a hero shot.
3. Create a list of benefits that your customer offers its customers. Then create 1 – 3 sections on the web page that demonstrate those benefits in a structured and brief format.
4. Create a list of problems your customer helps their customers solve. Then create 1 – 3 sections on the web page that demonstrate the problems that will be solved in a succinct and thoughtful manner.
5. Create a list of objections your customer’s customers might have. Then create 1 – 3 sections that counter those objections in a kind, considerate and thoughtful manner.
6. Create a list of questions that your customer’s customers might have. Then create an accordion-style FAQ section.
7. Create a list of features that your customer offers. Then create 1 – 3 sections on the web page that outline the primary features of your customer’s offerings.
8. Create a list of social proofs. Then create 1 – 3 sections on the web page that demonstrate these social proofs in a way that builds trust.
9. Personalize the page (if applicable). Make it human. Show who is behind the business, the owner, or the team. Briefly tell their story.
10. Repeat the value proposition or a variation of it.
And while there are many possible variations of this, the order in which the sections of a web page are structured is crucial! It must match the predicted sequence of your ideal customer’s thoughts so that your customer feels understood, and that you’re putting their needs before the desires of the company.
“clients look at me like I am mad when I tell them that their website is not about them. If you want somebody to carry out the action you want them to, make it all about them. It is that simple.”
“even with a template such as this, many companies struggle to come up with something compelling. They tend to really struggle with the proposition. Many are stuck thinking in terms of products and services, rather then outcomes and problems solved. Not very interesting to most consumers. When I look at big businesses, and big websites, these guys have absolute clarity in this stuff.”
I recently did a conversion rate optimization overhaul of a website home page and increased the conversions from around 3% to 8%. No split testing. Just applying all of the principles shared with this group over the past 8 months. Conversions nearly tripled with a blind overhaul. I can’t take all the credit, the client helped with the brainstorming process. So what did we do?
1. Researched and brainstormed the target market to get a better idea of their values, pain points and needs.
2. Created a value proposition (they didn’t even have one) – We started by brainstorming several dozen headlines. One stood out, and we wen’t with it. Then we built a relevant subheadline that connected with and continued from where the headline left off so as to ensure perfect continuity. Then we packed value and specific, clear benefits into several bullet points and finished it off with a “get statement” Call to Action and trust icons.
3. Reworked the entire home page to create a flow that more aligns with the way people think. We started off by restructuring the first sections to present benefits. Then the next sections solved problems. Then the next few section answered questions. Finally, we created sections that demonstrated social proof and company personality and authority better than it was being implemented. Using this method we were able to create a flow that better controlled user chronology with website geography.
4. Repeated an alternate value proposition at the bottom of the page with a similar CTA
5.
Cleaned up the header and menu to make it less complicated.
In the end, we didn’t even have to create any significant new content for the home page. They already had some good stuff. It was just not in the right order, and lacked the flow and polish it needed to connect with people and establish that mental conversation that gets people thinking “yes, yes, yes, yes, yes I wan’t this and I can only get it from you”.
A few days after the changes were live, they had their best sales day in company history.
The best part was working with the client. We did all of this live over Zoom, together, in about 6 hours. He trusted me implicitly and brought out the best in me. (so important, as you all know). We had a good time doing the work and he even hired me to work on another project which is in process now.
Plan on a case study to show what we did in more detail. Stay tuned!
