How do we get our company website to generate business leads when it just “isn’t working?” Do we need more traffic? Is it confusing? Is the language inappropriate for our market?

It can be difficult to pinpoint why your Web presence doesn’t generate (enough) leads for your business (assuming you’re getting website traffic)—unless you know what to look for.

Here, we discuss two unconventional ways to demystify how to improve website conversion.

Important: You’re tracking your website conversion rate … correct? You’ll need to be to move forward.

If your company isn’t (accurately) tracking website stats—unique visitors, actions, etc.—then please pause, read What Are Website Analytics (& Why You Can’t Predict Revenue Without Them), and come back after collecting your traffic data for at least 30 days.

[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”PrezNC” suffix=””]To improve website response: 1) Analyze lowest performing areas, 2) Fix those problems. Blind changes don’t work.[/inlinetweet]

So for small businesses already tracking analytics, here are two unconventional ways to read your stats to tell whether your Web presence is wasting your money, and if so … how to fix it:

Telltale Problem #1:
A High-Traffic “About” Page

Does your company website’s “About” section get lots of visits? This may not be a “problem,” of course, but should be weighed with other stats to determine whether it is.

In fact, the “About” page is commonly one of the most visited pages on business websites. So how do we know if lots of visits to your company’s “About” page is problematic?

Lead usability expert Jakob Nielsen conducted a user test of 63 company websites in five categories: large, medium, smaller, non-profit, and government. One of the things evaluated was user ease in understanding what each of those 63 companies did.

A simple enough goal, right?

You would think so.

But unfortunately, from Nielsen’s first similar study to the most recent, usability decreased in part, where 19% of users were unable to determine what the company did by browsing their website.

Nielsen states:

“In place of a frank summary of the business, marketese and blah-blah text ruled the day on many sites.”

[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”PrezNC” suffix=””]Do your website visitors NEED to check your ‘About’ page to understand what you offer? (Are you sure?)[/inlinetweet]

Quality “About” information can help you relate more personally to users, explain how your company was born, and show off the passion and personalities that power your business. But website users shouldn’t have to visit your “About” section just to understand how you can help them.

Is your website clear enough?

The Fix

List WHAT you offer and WHO you serve as the FIRST thing visitors see when they land on your website.

Also, improve conversion rate and generate more business leads by making your website guide visitors cleanly to the action(s) you need taken for a solid ROI.

[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”PrezNC” suffix=””]List WHAT you offer and WHO you serve as the FIRST thing visitors see to boost your #website #conversion.[/inlinetweet]

Resources:

See and hear a 5-minute video of a real person using your website for FREE here, or order a user test for $49 at UserTesting.com to give users specific tasks, request certain demographics, and more.

Telltale Problem #2:
Website Visitors Moving Erratically

When website users flip quickly and erratically from page to page (or up and down the same page), it typically means they’re not finding something they need. If your Web pages also have low visit times (of just a few seconds), this can be an even stronger confirmation of problems.

At this point, you’ll want to have an experienced marketing consultant dig deeper within your website analytics to understand:

  • the website visitors came from (referrer)
  • the page they landed on (entry page)
  • where they went from there (visitor path)

As well, if an excessive number of visitors aren’t making it past your website landing page and are moving erratically on that page, we must delve into why those visitors are bouncing (and if the visit should really be considered a “bounce”).

[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”PrezNC” suffix=””]If visitors move erratically through your #website, your #analytics can show you what to change to get more leads.[/inlinetweet]

Sometimes, we can glean what visitors are looking for and not finding—or at least what’s turning them off—just by analyzing your website’s top exit pages, also considering the referrer (i.e., Google search, an article you wrote, etc.) which led them to your company. Other times, more advanced data is needed (or at least is very helpful in arriving at answers faster).

When more advanced stats are needed, my company, Excellent Presence, analyzes website heatmaps and user session videos using tools like Inspectlet or Mouseflow. Both services capture live videos (!) of user path and activity on your website, which can prove integral in understanding where visitors drop off, what turns them off, and conversely, what info they find most attractive and useful.

Do your web analytics reflect user discontentment?

The Fix

Use accurate website analytics and on-page visitor data to understand what your visitors expect that your website lacks—then improve conversion rate by providing it.

Also, feature a specific and contextually sensible call-to-action on every Web page, so you’re not wasting the traffic—potential leads—that you already receive.

The Reveal

The process of understanding why your company website isn’t working is often multi-layered. Remember, NEVER authorize any uninformed change to your website. That is, every single change you make to your site should be informed by hard data, preferably from your own website analytics. Otherwise, you risk harming website results even more.

P.S. If you need help understanding—and fixing—why your website isn’t working, you can schedule a FREE strategy call with me for a limited time. I’ll help determine why your website isn’t generating enough business leads, to set your company on the right track to increased ROI.