Is a New Website Worth the $$?

Did you know that when someone lands on your website, you have 7 seconds to capture their attention?

Yes, just 7 seconds.

It seems too short, I know, but think about your own behavior when browsing online.

When you’re looking for a resource or information, how quickly do you hop from one site to the other?

Just a few days ago, I was doing some research for an upcoming family vacation to the coast of North Carolina. I know we’ll cook most of our meals, but I wanted to find out if there are any gluten-free friendly restaurants in the area.

I went to my go-to resource, findmeglutenfree.com (if you haven’t used it, it’s great). I only had about 5 minutes to spend on my fun research project. In that time I quickly went to a large number of websites. Many of the restaurants didn’t interest me, so I left them almost immediately (actually, in fewer than 7 seconds!).

Let’s look at some more numbers…

Did you know that, on average, 60-70% of people who land on a website LEAVE before taking any action?

This means that 60-70% of people leave without clicking to another page, without joining your list, or scheduling a consultation.

This is also called your bounce rate.

This means that if you have 1,000 people visit your site, on average 600-700 of those people will leave without doing anything.

Now that’s the average, so your bounce rate could be even higher. For many sites this can be as high as 90%.

You can see that this is a huge problem, right?

But WHY does this happen?

Let’s face it. We’re all like kids in a candy shop. We have short attention spans, especially in the online world.

If your website isn’t grabbing people’s attention, you’re losing potential clients every day.

I don’t share this information to scare you – that’s not my style. Rather, I want you to see that your website can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool. This is why, when people ask me if a new website is worth the money, I say “yes.”

Imagine what can happen if you increase the number of people taking action when they get to your site.

Check out this BEFORE and AFTER scenario.

In the BEFORE scenario, you have 100 website visitors each month. Out of those 100 website visitors, 70 of them leave without taking action. The 30 remaining website visitors take some type of action on your website – such as clicking to another page, joining your list, scheduling a consultation with you, or purchasing something.

Now, let’s look at the AFTER scenario. Imagine that you made your website even more effective. Now, out of 100 website visitors, only 40 of them leave without taking action. The 60 remaining visitors take some type of action.

Let’s look at the financial impact this could have on your business.

In the BEFORE scenario, out of the 30 people taking action on your site, 5 people schedule an initial consultation with you. You’re fairly good at “closing the deal” and 3 of those 5 potential clients sign up to work with you. Let’s say you offer a 12-week coaching program for $1,000. In this case, you’d bring in $3,000 in revenue.

Now let’s look at the AFTER scenario. Because your website is more effective, you now have 60 people taking action on your site (each month), and 10 people schedule an initial consultation with you. Out of those 10 people, you sign on 6 new clients. In this case you’d bring in $6,000 in revenue.

Wouldn’t it be nice to bring in an additional $3,000 (or more) each month?

A few things I want to mention about this before and after example:

In the after scenario, the only thing you’ve done differently is to have a more effective website. You’re not more skilled at closing the deal. You’re not sending more traffic to your site or doing additional marketing.

If you do it right, your website holds so much potential for your business.

Ready to boost the marketing power of your website?

5 tips for making your website more effective:

1. Keep your website simple – think “less is more”
2. Know who you want to attract, and use words that they relate with. Even better, use the exact words your clients or potential clients use to describe their struggles and their desires.
3. Use eye-catching design, but don’t let the design over power the words on your site.
4. Make it easy for potential clients to schedule an initial consultation with you.
5. Prominently promote a free opt-in gift that is compelling to your ideal clients (and sets you up as an expert).

I know it can be overwhelming to create a brand new website, or to overhaul a new one. I recommend chunking it down into mini-projects. Don’t want to go it alone? We’re here to support you.

Have questions or comments?
Please post them below so I can support you in creating an effective website that builds your business.