Is your website keeping up?

Is your website keeping up with the marketplace?

A business is defined as “the exchange of goods or services for money”… the money is in the hands of potential customers. Who and where are they? The most important point is that if they are buying they are probably on a phone or ipad.

Equally important is the fact that the people’s behaviour has changed drastically from what it was ten years ago. The fundamentals of buying are still the same in that all buying is ’emotional’… BUT 3 ESSENTIAL FACTORS HAVE CHANGED:-

TEST YOUR WEBSITE – 3 SUCCESS FACTORS

1. Is your website responsive?

Your website needs to be responsive (especially is you are depending on Google to rank your site so customers can find you when searching online for your product/services). The word ‘responsive’ refers to a websites ability to adjust itself to be viewed on all the new devices such as ipads and mobiles. None of us like change and keeping pace with changes in I.T. is one big headache but as a business owner you need to make a decision.. move with it or shut down and save your time, money and energy.

Responsive Wordpress Tema - Slider 4

2. Are you communicating fast – customer has no time to think

Impatience is now more common than ever. With the overload in information, the website that helps a customer identify the benefit of your product and see themself confidently using it more quickly… are the most successful. Get to the point fast and arrange information so it is easy to process. Don’t expect customers to wade through website and text heavy pages to find what they want… they are already leaving! Yes, there is a type of customer we term ‘green’, they look for detail and might explore further but don’t leave your business to chance! It helps to understand ‘What am I selling?‘

PAST: Having a list of all the products available was actually a great success.

2015+: The goal must be to identify the problem they are coming to you with and help them quickly see where the product is!

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Shop Categories 2000-2010: This menu bar inside the website shop worked effectively enough between 2000-2010… people had time to think… and would! Unless you have managed to excite a customer before they arrive… or are offering some huge discount, customers will not spend the time.

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Shop Categories After 2010: This website shop menu does not list all the products, it identifies what ‘problem‘ a customer might have and then categorises them so the customer can identify their needs quickly. The shop also supports its menu with images which will work faster on mobiles in helping people see what they want.

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Help me choose fast: This example is great for using images to display products fast but it leaves the customer asking “How do I know what training my dog needs?“. Remember that they no longer have time to click on every item and read about it to find out what it is… let alone whether it is for them. If a customer has a question unanswered they will probably not take any action. Always step into a customer’s shoes and imagine buying from their point of view.

Click to see full size image.

Shop - Help Customer Choose Product Fast

Help me choose fast: This Quick Guide has been added next to the products show on the left. This helps a customer identify their problem then asks them to hover over the problem to find the training which is recommended. It gives them confidence because they can specifically identify themselves in the situation.

3. People now think with their eyes

Images are now king! However if you are investing in SEO and hoping for Google ranking success then of course you must have text also. Be creative, think before you waste time building your site or making changes… impatience will cost you dearly! This is where your website theme can help you. Modern themes create functions that help you do this (we recommend Enfold). For example, I use the image to sell the benefit and then use text on the hover over captions. Once a customer is actually on your site focus on what do you need to do to excite them, give them confidence and make it as simple and fast as possible.

Here is an example of what worked before, however more recently we have now CONDENSED information and used images to take account of how a customer might experience the information on an ipad or more importantly, a smartphone.

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Website Fast Communication Wp Hjemmeside

Website – product benefits 2000-2010: A whole page was devoted to allowing the customer to read about the benefits of a product or service.

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Website Fast Communication 2 Wp Hjemmeside

Website – product benefits: The benefits are reduced to images (with caption overlay for more detail). The space saved is used to help a customer to get into buying mode with the introduction of icons answering questions the customer might have that may have them hesitating. Then once these hesitations are addressed we include big image buttons directing them to the categories they are interested in. PLUS: all images are in lightbox mode allowing them to become full size when clicked (making sure mobile users can see all the detail!).

Are you looking for ideas - perhaps past projects will inspire you?