Difficulties attracting and converting customers online may call for an inward look at your website and reflection on whether to undergo the website redesign process. Here are five possible reasons you may need a website redesign to attract and convert customers:

Visibility

Due to the sheer volume of over 1.5 billion websites, almost all online business interactions begin with a search engine. Many, such as mobile searches, begin and end with a search engine. In fact, 50% of all mobile searches are (a) conducted with the intent of finding local results and (b) convert into a purchase 61% of the time.

How might search engine visibility affect your website’s ability to attract and convert leads?

• Not appearing, or appearing too low, in search results
• Appearing in the wrong search results, for example, a garage door seller appearing in searches for repair garages and parking garages rather than its actual business
• Not appearing in local searches

The solution to low visibility is search engine optimization (or SEO). SEO is a website redesign process that introduces keywords you want associated with your website into its visible content and invisible coding. As search engines crawl the web, your selected keywords guide them in indexing your website so that users searching for those keywords find your website.

Branding

Just as a person is recognized by his or her name and appearance, a business is recognized by its branding (name, logo, and so forth). Likewise, just as a person has a personality, a business has a reputation in the quality and characteristics of its goods, services, and customer service. Simply put, a business’s branding is the shorthand customers use to identify its reputation and tells potential customers exactly what to expect when they interact with that business.

Your website is part of your branding. Ideally, your website carries the most memorable parts of your branding into the digital environment. For example, a restaurant website might include the same color scheme and fonts used in the restaurant’s decor and menus. Consistent branding serves to strengthen the association in the consumer’s mind between the business’s brand and its reputation.

Reviewing a website for consistent branding, both within the website and between the digital and brick-and-mortar worlds can help the website attract and convert customers. A simple website redesign process to incorporate elements of your branding will raise customer awareness and strengthen your brand.

Communication

A website is a form of communication. That communication is ineffective if the message is confusing or incomplete. Consider the times you viewed a business’s website and were struck by the thought that you have no idea what that business does. Or consider the times you viewed a website and were unable to find the information you wanted or needed, such as opening and closing times or prices. Fortunately, these problems can be remedied through the website redesign process by simply having an experienced editor review your website to determine the clarity and completeness of your message.

Emotional Connection

Often, the first step to converting a customer is creating an emotional connection. Consider many of the purchases you make during an average day. You buy chips because they are delicious, scented candles because they relax you, and bug spray to protect your family. Most purchases, aside from essentials, satisfy both a physical and an emotional need. Making an emotional connection with a customer via your website takes careful consideration about the reasons customers buy your goods or services, then redesigning your website to appeal to those reasons.

Call to Action

Once a clear message and emotional appeal are made, the final step to converting a customer is a call to action. The call to action does not reflect an underestimation of the customer. Rather, it is a chance to examine your website to ensure that it contains a clear path for a customer to buy your goods or services. This may be as simple as providing a clear menu option to “order now” or highlighting your business name and phone number. In other cases, the call to action may be more specific – “reserve now before the holiday rush.”

The website redesign process is worthwhile to increase leads and conversions if you pinpoint deficiencies in your website’s visibility, branding, communication, connection, and call to action ahead of time.

For help attracting customers to your site and converting them into customers, call MRN Web Designs today!