Not telling people in simple language how you can help them
Your hero section (a very important place at the top of your homepage) is not the place to be mysterious or intriguing.
People want to be reassured immediately that they have landed in the right place to get the help they need.
Be clear. Tell them in simple language what you do or how you can help them. You’re not being boring. You’re telling them what they need to hear.
I love these examples from our clients Pam and Laura.
No clear Call to Action
A call to action is telling someone what you want them to do next. People love it when you reduce their mental load by making things super easy and telling them what to do.
So tell them!
Make sure they can see one above the fold (the top of your website before you scroll down), and then at various points going down your homepage and throughout the rest of your website.
But you want to get this right. So back up and consider your buyers journey and work out first what it is you actually want them to do. Don’t just wing it. Take the time to understand your processes and goals page by page.
Then reassure and empower your visitors with the guidance they need on bright, bold buttons that they can’t miss.
For example, ‘arrange a free visit’, ‘book a call’, or ‘request and info pack’.
Bonus tip: Reserve a beautiful, high contrast colour just for these Call to Action buttons!
Poor quality images
With an abundance of free images available on sites like www.unsplash.com or www.pixabay.com you really don’t need to be scraping by with pixelated images you’ve nicked from Google. And by the way, if you have just downloaded them from Google there’s a good chance you’re breaching copyright and I’d recommend deleting them immediately to be on the safe side!
Right. Awesome images? Easy – INVEST! Get a photo shoot. Even a mini one. You can use them for your website, social media, email signature, business cards, leaflets , etc.
It’s a no brainer and will help you connect with your customers soooooo much quicker than a random lady nursing a cappuccino in an unknown coffee shop. Yeah she looks good, but she’s not YOU!
We used Adelè Williams of Super Funky Penguin Photography
[https://superfunkypenguin.co.uk/] for our most recent shoot. (Pictured here, below.)
Overwhelming people with choice
On your homepage people are looking for an overview of what you’re offering and reassurance they’re in the right place. They’re cruising. Scanning. They are not ready to invest energy in you. They do not have the time or patience to read all about you, to decipher and digest what you are offering. Yet.
You can also overwhelm them with options. Giving them all the options of working with you and all the details is too much. And if you overwhelm they may leave.
So we need to keep it brief.
Stick to displaying, say, 3 of your services (4 if you really must!) on your homepage. And keep the descriptions brief. Maybe the service name and bullet point it’s benefits, or who it’s for. I also personally don’t mind seeing a price here either if you think it helps. A controversial topic!
Save the rest for your Services page.
Less is more. Avoid confusion.
Not showing who you are
People buy from people. If you don’t show who you are then visitors will not connect with you in the same way.
You are wonderful and run an amazing business. Show yourself and tell people about why you’re here and do what you do. What authority and experience do you have? Why are you awesome?
Add a picture of yourself on your homepage with an overview, or a few bullet points, of why you’re the person to help them. Why you know you’re better than your competitors and what sets you apart. It’s not a good place to be shy.
People deserve to know about how you can change their life. You’re doing them a disservice if you undersell yourself and they end up hiring someone less competent.
Lisa [https://www.interiordesigninsiders.com/] does a great job of this on her homepage (screenshot below).
Being too shy to share how great you are
This one is often an issue of confidence and fear of being judged or criticised. And really, it can just feel plain weird writing about how incredible you are.
As I see it, you’ve got 3 options to move forwards with this one:
- Be brave, take a deep breath and power through the ‘ick’.
- Get a coach and work through these confidence issues (no shame – I still am!)
- Pay a copywriter to do it for you. Sooo much easier to get these words from someone else. (I can recommend some for you.)
Whatever you do – do something. If you want to get more sales, you have to be able to confidently articulate your awesomeness to others.
Never ending testimonials and disappearing carousels
You already know you need testimonials on your website. Tick! But are you getting it all out for your visitors too soon? Back up. On your homepage, let them snack on just your very best bits. Save the juicy details for later.
You can post just a sentence from a larger testimonial. Select the sentence or two that bangs out the results you got them or how you changed their life.
Also, long reviews on a whizzing carousel that spins past so fast you nearly spill your tea. Not cool.
Zoe and Jo [https://www.6figurebookkeeper.com/] do a great job of sprinkling the ‘best bits from testimonials across their website. (Screenshot below)
Sending people away from your website to social platforms
You’ve won! You got them to your website; the place where you can guide and nurture them through your sales process.
You’ve got their full attention.
So can I ask why you’re now enticing them AWAY from your key selling tool to a platform designed to pull their attention in a million different directions? (And definitely away from you!)
I know I know, you guided them there because you wanted them to see your cool feed, your latest reel (that took you 3 bloody days to record!), and happy clients…but they’ve now clicked on a notification to check out Aunt Mary’s new pup and somehow ended up down a cutedogsofinstgram rabbit hole. Sorry but your services are now the last thing on their mind.
Get that call booked in. They can follow you on the socials later. Also, if they’re desperate to find your social handles, most people know to check a website’s footer.
No consistent branding
Professional branding is awesome! We didn’t knock up our little cat in Canva and throw in a few nice fonts and colours. It was professionally created and was a glorious investment.
However, I appreciate that at the start of your journey this isn’t always possible. But what is possible (and I insist you do this) is to make some firm decisions on your brand style and stick to them across all your marketing. Yes – your website counts as marketing.
Let’s assume you’ve got your logo. Now make sure you also have, say, 3 or 4 colours that compliment your brand and each other. And select 2 fonts for your heading and main text (nothing illegible).
Use these as your temporary brand guidelines and stick to them like glue. Resist the urge to be tempted by a new gorgeous colour or latest sexy font.
Then start a savings jar to invest in your professional branding!
We can hook you up with some super cool peeps we work with for under £700. The more you pay the deeper you dive and better it gets (with the awesome crew we know). But start somewhere. And start today.
With our Total Package website you get mini brand guidelines (questionnaire, meeting and creation) included in your package. Here’s a snippet of a recent client’s mini brand guidelines:
How can I sort all this out?
I know. It’s a lot. And we’ve not even left the homepage!
You might be able to roll up your sleeves and get cracking. But if you need support or advice – from photography to copywriting to branding – we’ve got you covered.
We have packages that include all of these elements and we know exactly how to coordinate everything for you in a way that will get your dream results.
What next?
Get in touch and tell us where you’ve got to and how you’re struggling to move forwards. We’re sure to find a way together.
