Many businesses invest tens of thousands of dollars in a website and still struggle to generate leads. Is your website helping you fill your sales pipeline? If it's not, it's probably because your website doesn't take into account the wants and needs of buyers in your target markets.
In the post below, I will share with you the most important factors to consider when building a buyer-centric website. These buyer-centric website design elements aren't just based on our experience building websites - they're backed with data.
Here are the most important considerations to build a buyer-centric website and the data that proves their validity.
Does your website design convey the professionalism necessary to engender trust in potential buyers that don't know you? Too often, the answer to this question is a resounding no.
Highly capable professional services and technology companies provide an excellent customer experience. But their websites don't demonstrate professionalism to buyers who have found them through a web search.
Even worse, their websites let them down with buyers who are getting to know them. Have you ever had a good first meeting with someone who could potentially solve a problem for you? What's the first thing you do when you dig a little deeper?
For most of us, the next step is to check out the company's website to learn more about them. If their website doesn't convey professionalism, the potential sale is dead in its tracks. While the individual may seem highly capable, the outdated website kills your trust in her company.
Don't take my word for it, consider the following.
Adobe found that 38% of buyers will bounce from your website if the layout is unattractive or confusing.
Adobe also found that if people have 15 minutes to consume web content, 67% of buyers would prefer to read aesthetically pleasing content rather than plain content.
In the context of web design, aesthetically pleasing content means a clean, modern design that takes into account fundamental user experience concepts.
Buyers have expectations from business websites based on positive experiences with other sites. A buyer-centric website provides the content buyers want in a manner that makes it easy to find and access.
Your navigation and site flow should support the goal of providing buyers with the content they want in an easy to find format. Here are a few data points to keep in mind for optimizing your website for lead generation.
Ko Marketing's B2B Web Usability Report found that 47% of website visitors will look at your Products/Services page before anything else, including your home page! Clearly, it's important to have buyer-centric products/services pages that demonstrate their value. This means a clean design and copy that addresses the buyer's concerns (benefits before features.) Don't try to sell with your product/services page, educate.
Ko Marketing also found that 44% of buyers will bounce from websites that don't clearly display contact information and phone numbers. This comes down to trust - would you trust a company that you don't know how to contact or where their offices are?
Ko Marketing found that once a buyer is on your homepage, 52% want to see your About Us page. Your About Us page is where you can start taking the relationship from the digital realm to a personal relationship with your buyer. This is your chance to build trust by sharing information about you and your company - to put a human face on your company.
Ko Marketing found that when a buyer comes to your website from a referral or search engine query, 50% will use the navigation menu to find their way around your site. That's why it's so important to have a simple, logical navigation structure. 36% of visitors coming from other sites will click on your logo to find your homepage. This concept is important to understand for those practicing inbound marketing. The first page most buyers will see that find you via Google is a blog post. Your blog (and your site) should be designed to make it easy for buyers to continue engaging with your site (and not bouncing!)
The Apple site is a perfect example of a website that gives buyers what they need and make it easy to find. Despite the amount of information the website presents, note how clean and simple the design is.
A well-designed professional website is an essential tool for modern sales and marketing. Remember, your website should build trust with potential buyers and keep them moving down their path to purchase. If you'd like to speak with us about how to fill your sales pipeline with your website, please schedule a free website review with us.