Is your website effectively selling, or is it scaring customers away?
Your website represents your business 24/7. It’s available to prospective customers when you are at home asleep, on vacation, or otherwise indisposed.
But is it an effective representative? Can it answer their questions? Can it effectively guide your website visitors towards a purchase?
It should be like a star sales representative you can trust to build your business. Unfortunately, very few companies have the experience they should have with their websites.
Why?
Many business owners assume that just having a website is enough. As a result, they don’t invest enough to ensure that their website is equipped correctly.
Let me illustrate this with a nightmare salesman we will call Kevin. Watching Kevin’s mistakes will help us understand why our websites don’t work.
Mistake #1: Inappropriate Dress
Kevin shows up for work wearing a shirt with a coffee stain and jeans with a stain that seems to be molding. Or he shows up in a suit that was in fashion in the 1960’s.
The same goes for your website. Visitors will assume your business is outdated if your website looks outdated. The same is true for cluttered, or unprofessional.
Fix:
- Keep your design clean, modern, and visually appealing.
- Use high-quality images and professional branding.
- Ensure consistent fonts, colors, and messaging.
- Make navigation simple and intuitive.
Mistake #2: Jumbled, Unclear Messaging
Imagine you have a business making baseball pitching machines. You have engineered them to work safely inside hotel meeting rooms. This way, players can take batting practice while on a road trip.
Now imagine Kevin greeting a customer with a rambling talk about how your company was founded, and how it loves baseball and sports.
Many websites do this.
As a result, your potential customers will be unclear about how your company can help them.
But if Kevin answered, “We help baseball teams get a competitive edge. How? We build portable batting machines and cages that can safely be used in any hotel meeting room. This enables your team to stay sharp at all times.”
If he had told the visitor that?
Now what if that customer was a representative of the Los Angeles Dodgers they were looking for exactly what your company provides?
So, yeah. Pretty good chance.
A great salesperson knows how to explain what they offer compellingly and clearly. If visitors land on your website and can’t immediately tell what you do and why they should care, they’ll leave.
Immediate is the key word here. Studies show that visitors will give you nine seconds on average, and then they will leave.
Fix:
- Craft a strong, benefit-driven headline on your homepage.
- Use a subheadline that clearly explains what problem you solve.
- Speak your customers’ language. That means simple. This is not the time or place to impress your customers with your knowledge of industry jargon.
Example: Instead of “Innovative Digital Solutions for Business Growth.” Say, “We Help Small Businesses Get More Customers Through Smart Digital Marketing.”
Mistake #3: Making Your Visitors Wait
Imagine Kevin hanging out in the breakroom while he finishes a donut, while a customer waits.
People expect websites to load fast—really fast. In fact, studies show that a one-second delay in page load time can lead to a 7% drop in conversions.
How many customers are you willing to give up? 7%? Twenty percent?
Fix:
- Optimize images and reduce unnecessary plugins.
- Use a reliable hosting provider.
- Minimize heavy scripts and enable browser caching.
- Test your site speed with Google’s PageSpeed Insights and make improvements.
Mistake #4: Not Accommodating Your Visitor
Imagine if the customers had to go find Kevin.
This is an imperfect example, but it makes the point:
Over 60% of web traffic comes from mobile devices. So your website must be mobile-friendly.
A salesperson who ignores over half of their potential customers wouldn’t last long. Neither will your website.
Fix:
- Use a responsive design that adapts to all screen sizes.
- Make buttons and text easy to read and click on mobile.
- Ensure that buttons are separated enough so your visitor can click on their chosen button.
- Avoid pop-ups that block content on smaller screens.
Mistake #5: Not Asking For the Sale
If you’ve lived long, you’ve met a Kevin in this: He answers all your questions, then walks away. He never tells you what to do if you want to move forward.
A great salesperson doesn’t just inform—they guide customers toward the next step. Visitors won’t know what to do next if your website lacks clear Calls-to-Action (CTAs).
But websites do this all the time – making this area an easy place to start your improvements.
Fix:
- Place strong CTAs above the fold (visible without scrolling).
- Use clear, action-oriented language like “Get Your Free Consultation” instead of “Learn More.”
- Repeat CTAs throughout your site—on landing pages, blog posts, and sidebars.
Mistake #6: Not Building Credibility
You tell me.
Is Kevin going to sell many unknown new cars if he doesn’t point out that J.D. Power or Consumer Reports has endorsed them? Imagine if he had a group of current owners of that car hanging around singing its praises.
Customers won’t buy from businesses they don’t trust. So, your website needs trust signals to reassure potential buyers. The good news is that it is easier to do on a website than on the sales floor. Why? Because you can put these trust signals where your visitors will see them. This means one should be above the fold on the home page.
Fix:
- Showcase testimonials and reviews from satisfied customers.
- Display logos of past clients or media mentions.
- Have a clear About page with professional photos and real names.
- Secure your site with HTTPS to show visitors it’s safe.
Mistake #7: Visitors Can’t Find You
This one is not on Kevin. This one is on the store owner.
Even the best salesperson won’t be effective if no one knows they exist. Likewise, customers won’t find your website if it isn’t optimized for search engines. This is what is called SEO.
Fix:
- Use targeted keywords in headlines, content, and meta descriptions.
- Write helpful blog posts answering common customer questions.
- Get backlinks from reputable sites to improve credibility.
- Optimize images with alt text so they appear in searches.
Mistake #8: No Follow-Up
Again, imagine Kevin has a customer who seems interested, but isn’t ready to buy. The Kevin’s of the sales world watch them walk away and never follow up. They never pick up the phone. They never send a letter or email.
A good salesperson doesn’t stop at the first interaction—they follow up. Likewise, you need a strategy to capture leads and nurture relationships. Otherwise, you are leaving money on the table.
Fix:
- Offer a valuable lead magnet (e.g., free guide, checklist, webinar) in exchange for emails.
- Use an email sequence to engage leads after they sign up. You might need to hire someone to help you set it up, but it’s well worth the investment.
- Personalize follow-up emails with relevant offers and information.
The Bottom Line: Your Website Should Work FOR You, Not Against You
Your website is a digital salesperson. If it is not equipped to do its work, it is failing you and you are not getting the return on investment that you should.
By making these improvements, you’ll transform your site into a powerful selling tool. You’ll turn visitors into leads and leads into loyal customers.
Need help figuring out what’s holding your website back? Let’s audit your site and pinpoint the areas that need improvement. Schedule a free consultation today!