Getting people onto your website is a good start…
But if those visitors are leaving without getting in touch, making a purchase or taking the next step, something isn’t quite working.
For many small businesses, the problem isn’t always a lack of traffic. Sometimes, it’s what happens after somebody lands on the website.
A few small improvements can make a big difference to how many visitors turn into genuine enquiries and customers.
This blog post will delve into some clear actions you can take that will help you convert more. Let’s begin.
1. Make It Clear What You Actually Do
When somebody lands on your website, they should understand what your business offers almost immediately.
Your landing pages should have a header and description (a hero section) stating what you do. Check out this website for a Chiropractor in Surbiton, for example. It’s clear, immediate, and visualises what the business does through a video. Perfect.
If visitors have to search through paragraphs to work out what you do, who you help or where you’re based, there’s a good chance they’ll simply leave.
Your homepage should quickly answer three questions.
Let’s use this Chiropractor in Surbiton (Surbiton Chiropractic Centre) as an example.
- What do you offer? (Chiropractic care)
- Who is it for? (Individuals in pain, physical rehab, or who have experienced a specific injury)
- What should the visitor do next? (Book an appointment)
Keep your messaging simple. You want customers to understand you, and how you can help them.
2. Give Visitors a Clear Next Step
One of the most common problems with small business websites is that there isn’t an obvious call to action.
You might have great information about your services, but what should the visitor actually do afterwards?
Depending on your business, that could be:
- Request a quote
- Book a consultation
- Call your business
- Send an enquiry (see what I did here)
- Buy a product
- Book an appointment
Make these actions easy to find throughout your website rather than relying on visitors to hunt for a contact page.
3. Build Trust Before Asking People to Buy
Most people visiting your website for the first time won’t know much about your business.
Before handing over their money or contact details, they want reassurance that they can trust you.
Reviews, testimonials, case studies and examples of previous work can all help. If these are specific to the individual’s pain points, then you’ll get bonus points.
Even small additions such as displaying Google reviews, showing real photos of your team or highlighting businesses you’ve worked with can make your website feel much more credible.
Customers are far more likely to enquire when they can see evidence that other people have had a good experience with you.
Always remember, the best form of marketing is word of mouth. If a trusted friend reccommends a product/service to you, then no amount of marketing can replace that testimonial.
4. Look at What Visitors Are Actually Doing
Rather than guessing why people aren’t converting, website analytics can help you understand what is happening.
Tools such as Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity can show you which pages people visit, how they found your website and where they might be dropping off. You can assess your best performing pages, and where your website may be falling short. You can also see if website performance is a bottleneck to your progress too.
For example, you might discover that hundreds of people are visiting a particular service page but very few are making an enquiry. What’s going on here? Is the service offering poor? Is it unclear what you do? Is your traffic from people who aren’t actually interested? Dive deep into these key questions and find your answers.
For example, if your traffic isn’t relevant, perhaps you need to better target search terms your target audience will be looking for, e.g. ‘surbiton chiropractor for back pain’.
Make decisions based on real data over assumptions.
You Might Not Need More Traffic…
It’s easy to assume that the solution is always to get more people onto your website.
More SEO. More social media. More advertising.
But if your website isn’t turning the visitors you already have into customers, driving even more traffic towards it might just increase the number of people leaving.
Sometimes, improving your website, messaging and customer journey can be one of the most cost-effective ways to grow. You don’t need thousands of people visiting your website every day, you just need some of the right people to visit, get interested, and buy.
Want to Get More From Your Website?
At Stephen Ruberry Marketing, I help small businesses improve their digital marketing without overcomplicating things.
From website improvements and SEO to social media, content and lead generation, the focus is always on helping your marketing contribute towards real business growth.
If your website is getting visitors but not enough enquiries, it might be worth taking a closer look at what’s stopping them from becoming customers.