All of the money that you’re going to spend on marketing will drive leads to your website. Your website must have these features in 2021 if you want to make good use of your marketing dollars!
#1 Website Must Have: CTAs
CTAs (aka, call to actions) are a website must have since they’re the buttons you want your clients to click on when they’re scrolling through your website. What are the top three most important things you want your potential clients to do? Do you want them to call you, book an appointment, or shop now (through e-commerce)? Your CTAs should be something that catches their eye but is also not too vague. When your user reads the CTA, they should think “that is exactly what I want to do”.
Make sure that the first three CTAs that your potential clients and customers see are what you actually want them to do. For example, “check out the dealerships that we work with”, or “I want a date”. If you know which questions they are asking, and the button that you want them to click will answer it, make it a CTA.
Website Must Have #2: Lead Magnets
Lead magnets are another website must have. A lead magnet is a service and value item that businesses give for free, or at a discount, to incentivize people to try their products or services. This feature is not new, but the trends are changing in terms of what it looks like.
E-books still work, and we see them sometimes, but we started seeing less of them and more newsletters about “staying informed”. However, neither of these work as well as giving things for free.
What value does your incentive add?
Adding webinars for your potential clients and customers, or giving discounts if you “subscribe to our newsletter” are becoming more popular and are more effective.
#3: Educational Content
Shopping today is very different from how it was done just over a year ago. Potential clients and customers will do their research online because they can’t do it in person. They will look on your website for your reviews, testimonials, and your product/service information.
Make use of your blog – it’s not just there to look pretty! Ensure you’re addressing questions that you think (or know) your clients or customers will ask you. You are the expert in your industry. If you don’t know what questions they have, ask your sales representatives or those on your team that speak to clients! Take your FAQs and turn them into blogs (or vlogs, or even vlogs then blogs!)
70% of people know what they want to buy before they reach your website. If they contact you or go to buy from you, they have likely already made up their minds about your business. If you have enough educational information on your website, visitors will likely feel more confident with their decision to invest in you.
Just because you should be educating your potential clients and customers does not mean you should overwhelm them with information!
#4: Clean and Simple
A lot of content is great! We love information! But don’t bombard people with it. Your website must have its information easy to find, easy to read, and not confuse the people who are trying to learn about what you have to offer.
#5: Sticky Navs and Buttons
People use their phones out of convenience, rather than grabbing a laptop or a desktop, to search for something. Websites must have sticky features, which makes less likely to lose a potential buyer. What’s a sticky feature? Anything on your webpages that stays in place on the page, no matter where you scroll to.
When you are scrolling through your phone, the menu at the top which is typically a hamburger menu (the button with three stacked lines) should stay there. If you make a reader scroll all the way back to the top to find the menu, they’re probably going to hit the back button instead. It is more efficient for the reader to have the button readily available the whole time they’re reading, and you have a better chance of getting a lead.
At the bottom, you should have one or two of those CTAs we talked about earlier available. These might say “Book Appointment” or “Get Quote”, or whatever you want them to consider doing. You want these to be sticky so that if something catches the reader’s eye, they can click on the CTA right away.
#6: Chatbot / Chatbox
A chatbox is a website must have because it allows readers to reach out directly to you or another member of your team. It can be set up so they can reach you on whichever platform you find is most convenient (email, phone, messenger, etc).
The Chatbot is an AI feature that you can program to respond with answers to whichever questions you have found are frequently asked. This feature is a more expensive investment, but it will save you the time it would take you to answer each person individually, and you will generate more leads with instant responses. Your visitors won’t have to wait hours or days for a response to their FAQ.
#7: Contact Forms
During a potential client or customer’s research, they will likely visit your website approximately 7 times before making a decision. Each time they are on your site on whichever page they’re reading, you want the contact information and form available! Even if it’s just in the form of a sticky ‘contact’ CTA, you want it available everywhere. You don’t want to make it hard for them to contact you when they’re ready! If they’re doing their research right, they will have other options. Being available to talk to your potential clients and customers will help them make that decision.
#8: Billboard Set Up
A billboard only has two seconds to get a driver’s attention before they pass it. Make your landing page or homepage as attention-grabbing and attractive as a billboard.
When someone lands on your page, and they’re most likely on their phones, you have two seconds to get their attention before they scroll by. Don’t overwhelm them with information and a busy site. Put teasers about each of your services, make them want to click on the CTAs, and pull them deeper into the website.
