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When you meet someone for the first time, you automatically start assessing who they are and if you’ll get along based on how they look, dress, and carry themselves. As hard as you may try to avoid making a snap judgment before getting to know them, you can’t help it. It’s just human nature.

These first impressions matter because they continue to shape our views even after personally interacting with that person.

OK, but how does this apply to your business?

In the same way that we make judgments based on first impressions, customers and potential customers are doing that, too — even if they’ve never interacted with your business. Typically, your website is what’s creating that first impression. It’s crucial that you make that initial “meeting” count.

Is Your Website Hurting Your Relationship With Customers and Leads?

It’s not you, it’s your website.

A poorly designed and slow loading website makes customers discount your credibility. After all, if you don’t have the time to invest in a proper website for your own company, how do your customers know they can trust you with their business?

However, it should also be said that stylish, professional site design isn’t everything. If your site has a weak user experience, those design dollars were spent for naught. Remember, form follows function. First, make it work. Then let the design follow.

These are some ways your website could be making a bad first impression:

• It loads too slowly. If your site takes longer than three second to load, your visitors are likely to bounce.
• The design is outdated and unattractive. If your site is harsh on the eyes, users will not want to stick around.
• It’s difficult or confusing to navigate. Your site should be easy to get around.
• The content isn’t speaking to them. Your customers don’t want your product sold to them. Instead, they want to be given a solution to their problem.
• It’s hard to track you down. Customers will feel frustrated if they can’t figure out how to get in touch with you.

The beautiful thing about making a first impression through your website is that you have complete control of your presentation. You don’t have to worry about a stain on your shirt or a bad hair day. Your website allows you to put your best foot forward every time. All you have to do is craft in a way that best gives your customers what they’re after.

4 Ways to Better Serve Customers Through Your Website

These are some ways to enhance the user experience of your website to better serve your customers and leads.

Point them to where they need to go.

The less work your customer has to do, the better. Make your navigation make sense. Your contact information, order form, should all be obvious and easy to find. Calls to action should stand out and clearly communicate exactly what you want them to do. Do you want them to call, click, read, sign up, or schedule an appointment? Make it clear. You can even consider using a chatbot to make introductions even easier.  

Don’t try to get too creative when it comes to your navigation. Function and usability reign supreme.

Deeply understand who your customer is.

How do they think? What do they care about? What are their problems? Once you can confidently answer these questions about your customers, use this to guide your site content. Remember, don’t make your content about you. Make it about them. Customers aren’t visiting your site to only learn about who you are. Primarily, they want to know how you can help them.

Provide fresh, useful content.

This doesn’t mean posting on your blog about how great the company retreat turned out. Your customers don’t care. Instead, offer them freshly updated useful content. For example, if your company sells swimming pools, you can write a post about the best ways to keep your pool clean. Use your blog to teach visitors new things, not sell to them. Adjust your content regularly to reflect the season and upcoming holidays.

In addition to blog posts, you can also create infographics, checklists, and ebooks for your visitors to download. Offering premium content is a great way to capture email addresses as well. If you have a few pieces of particularly valuable content, consider first requiring visitors to input their email address in order to access it.

Optimize for mobile.

Dig into your website’s analytics to discover how the majority of users are visiting your site. Do most of your visitors explore via a desktop computer or mobile phone? Either way, your website should be optimized to cater to both types of visitors. Your website should be easy to view and navigate from a mobile device as well as from a computer.

Do you need help redesigning your website in a way that will better serve your customers? TuiSpace’s web services can provide just the boost your website needs to drive leads and create happy repeat customers. Click here to get started.