17 Ways to Make sure your website is working for you

Your website acts as a "storefront." You should put as much thought and care into your website as you would to the display in your store's window. Your website needs to attract customers and keep them coming back for more. The following should give you a place to start and a guideline of what a good website should have and what it should do:

1. Where Do Your Eyes Go First?  You only have a few seconds to catch a visitor's attention. That means you need to make sure that you capture their interest immediately. You need a headline that stops them thinking whatever they're thinking, and think instead: "hey, this looks interesting! I need to read this."

2. Do You Know Right Away What This Website is About? Don't have any distractions from the message you are trying to get across. If you start talking about how great your company is instead of what the visitor is interested in, you lose them.

3. Is the Important Information Immediately Visible? Site visitors want to know details as soon as possible. If they have to work too hard to find out what you're offering, they will likely leave. You need to be clear on what you want them to do. Don't sell more than one thing from your landing page. Decide on the main action you want them to take, and talk about only that. The best thing to do on your landing page is to provide your client something that will sign them up to your list.

4. Can You Easily Find the Benefits of the Product/Service? Too many websites cite features rather than benefits. Features won't get the visitor's interest. They want to know what's in it for them. Make sure your website makes it clear to them how your product or service will change their lives.

5. Is There a Clear Call to Action? If the visitor likes what he sees, it is important to get him to take action quickly because delaying may lose his interest. Don't have more than one call to action. This will only confuse them.

6. Are the Colors and Images Aesthetically Pleasing? If your website has too many colors and pictures, it may put visitors off rather than catch their interest. Moreover, too many images will take too long to load, and if visitors have to wait, they will lose interest.

7. Is the Font Easy to Read? Don't use fancy fonts that are hard to read or colors that are too light. If visitors have to strain their eyes in order to read, they will lose interest and leave.

8. Are There Long Sentences or Long Paragraphs on the Page? Keep your sentences and paragraphs short, and use bullet points. Long sentences and paragraphs make it difficult to read and understand.

9. Are the Menu Buttons Clear? Make sure your site is well designed and that buttons and links are easy to click on. Your page should also have a "contact us" and "about us" page.

10. Is There an Easy Way to Contact the Business? If your website is working well, it should generate inquiries for you. Make sure visitors can find out easily how to contact you. If you are not contactable, your visitors will think that you are not reliable. They want to know that they can contact you in the future if anything goes wrong with their purchase.

11. Can You Find Out More About the Owner or Employees of the Company? Prospective customers want to know that they are dealing with a real person. That is why having an "about us" page is so important. Have a photo of you and a photo of your business at least. Make sure the visitor knows what makes your company different.

12. Do Your Visitors Feel Personally Connected? If you connect to your visitors in a personal way, they will be more likely to become customers. Tell them your story and tell them what makes you different. Have a conversational writing style and be honest.

13. Is the Writing Corporate or Conversational? Your language should be easy to read, conversational and at about a year 9 level. This will be to your benefit because customers will identify more with you. Big corporations write differently, making customers feel like a number.

14. Is There a Visible Contact Form? A contact form is really the only way to capture the prospect's details. Make sure you have one with a powerful magnet to help your visitor decide to join you.

15. Do You Have an Irresistible Offér? You should offér a powerful magnet to give your visitor a reason to give you his contact details. This must be a problem you solve for your visitor or something he really needs.

16. Is There Multimedia? Some people prefer watching a video or podcasts to reading. Offering these will make your site more appealing.

17. Are There Links to Social Media? You can connect with your customers in different ways. Perhaps they will not want to sign up to your newsletter, but would prefer to follow you some other way: Facebook, Twitter or some other social media website. Make sure you have these available on your website.


Now all you need to do is to decide what needs to change on your website, and plan to implement those changes. 


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