Just recently, we had a small business owner reaching out to us. He shared his raising concerns about not getting the appropriate results from his website. He was referring to the fact that his website traffic was not converting into leads. The list he built of leads didn't grow at the pace the website visitors did.
The above-given example from this SMB is what we consider a middle of the funnel challenge.
In the world of inbound marketing, we look at stages in the funnel. You have the top, which focuses on generating traffic, the middle of the funnel, which focuses on converting traffic into leads and the bottom of the funnel, converting those leads into customers.
It is great to know that you are generating traffic, but what is it worth when little to none of these website visitors become a potential client? And down the road, what matters in any business, is converting those potential clients into customers.
Today we are looking at the three possible reasons why this small business owner was not converting his website traffic even though his website visitors doubled.
1. Missing a clear value proposition for your company.
Your product or service needs to have a clear value proposition. The value proposition is one of the most important parts of a messaging strategy, where you outline the product in such a way that becomes attractive to your potential client. If that value is unclear, if it doesn't differentiate from other companies or if you have multiple value propositions, then the chances are likely that your website visitor will not pursue an action. With action, I am referring to the action from a visitor on your website such as filling out an inquiry form, subscribing to your newsletter or clicking a call-to-action area.
Three examples of clear value propositions:
- Servicio de Auditoría: brindamos a los clientes la confiabilidad en la información financiera necesaria para tomar decisiones apropiadas y oportunas sobre sus negocios. - PWC
- Con el propósito de incentivar el hábito del adoro y educar a la niñez panameña, Caja de Ahorros tiene para los más pequeños su propia cuenta. Caja de Ahorros.
- Seguros para Automóviles : Nadie mejor que tú para cuidar tu auto. Nadie mejor que Internacional de Seguros para asegurarlo. Internacional de Seguros.
2. A message that your visitor does not resonate with.
The key is to connect with your visitor. The fundamental is having a clear picture of your customers. What do they look like (demographics, identifiers, goals, challenges) and where to they live. Are these persons researching online, how (which channels, which keywords) and when do they decide to purchase. Start creating buyer personas, which are simply explained a profile of a possible buyer. Many products are welcomed by different target groups, but looking at age, challenges, and goals, the message that you want to use may need to be different. Once you have a clear view of your personas, start writing content around these profiles. Your tone of voice may be different to an adolescent than to an adult. Also, consider that the human being is visual and does like the content to be easy to digest.
3. Missing the highway to your conversion paths.
You may have great content, a clear value proposition, a clear message, and real value to add, but what if there is just one single way for your website visitor to contact you? What if, besides of the contact forms on your website, you haven't thought of other ways to get in contact with you. Rule of thumb is, in any given industry, website visitors to lead conversion rates to hover between 2 and 5 percent. Here are five questions to ask yourself now to know if you get the most out of your website visitors.
- Is your website visually appealing? Is it running smoothly on any advice (desktop, tablet, mobile)?
- Do you have a clear call to action area or contact form in place on every single page?
- Are you building trust with testimonials or reviews from customers?
- Is there social proof? In other words, do you provide ways to connect on social media?
- Have you considered a chat system? It is proven that these can help drastically to improve your conversion rates.
Getting back to clients concern about his website visitors not converting into leads. He built a huge amount of content over the last years, traffic is coming in (top of the funnel). The main conclusion from the website analyses was that he was missing conversion paths. He started implementing CTAs, landing pages and helped his website visitors providing real value.
