The 3 mistakes entrepreneurs are making on their website
The website in the online business world is your store. The place people come to see what you have to offer and, of course, to buy from you.
There is a lot of thought and energy put into the design and wording of every website. With this comes the chance that we have a few parts of our website that needs to be tweaked and changed.
Nicole Riccardo joined my podcast this week to chat all about these mistakes you (as an entrepreneur) could be making with your website!
If you find value in this blog, make sure you share it with me on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram! Even better, share it with your audience! You can also listen to the episode below!
As we head into 2021, it is a great opportunity to start looking at your website to make the changes you need to ensure the shop is in great shape!
Listen below!
1. Mistake #1: The navigation menu is too much
The navigation menu is located at the top (or the side) of your website. It is the bar of options you give your customers so they know which areas you think are most important and useful for them!
You might have about, services, contact, blog - all of the things! But do you have too many things? As Nicole said, from a sales psychology perspective - the more options you have, the less likely your audience will action those options. That is why she recommends no more than 5 pages at the top of your home menu!
Remember, you have a footer, this is where you can add all the other pages you wish to draw people to! This is known as the “junk draw”!
The first thing people see when they land on your site is the header, you want it to be as clear and as simple as possible!
TIP: You don’t need to have “home” in your navigation, your logo can do that! People have now been conditioned to click the menu to go back to your homepage!
2. Mistake #2: You have too many options on what you offer
The next mistake is the amount of options present to your audience very early on! If you have too many options on your homepage, this can heavily impact your conversions! Try and aim to have one overall goal for your website.
Of course, this doesn’t mean you can’t have other options on your website but ensure your main offer at the moment is clear to your audience (this can change depending on what you are offering at that time).
When you are creating the copy for these offers, speak directly to your audience or the people you want to serve. Speak to them to the point they say “that’s me and this person can help me”.
If you have too many options on your website/homepage, it can be hard for people to understand what to do.
So ask yourself, “where do I want people to go right now?” Then make your homepage specific to your answer.
3. Mistake #3: Making the content about you
What you need to remember about your website (even if you are a personal brand), that your content should also be about your audience. Especially with sales pages.
When your copy is about your audience, they are prompted to make it about them! You need to be able to answer the “what’s in it for me?” question that most people think.
Even the colours, text and branding of your website need to speak to your audience!
So when you go through your website copy (or are writing new content), try and tailor it to the person reading. Make it about them.
How do you lead people to your website
Alright, so these are great. But let’s also explore how to get people to your website.
As Nicole mentioned, there are two main ways.
SEO: search engine optimisation (which of course takes time to build and grow). If you click below in the resources section, you will see two pieces of content on SEO you can explore to learn more
Content creation: then of course, you can get people to your website through content creation. Content on your social media platforms and then on your email list! As Nicole (and other guests have said), your email list is so important! What would happen if tomorrow's social media decided you couldn’t have access to your content or audience? Well, at least you have your email list
How do you create content to get people to your website?
So you can create amazing content on social media and in your emails, but how do you get people to your website? It comes down to making the call to actions!
Create aspirational content (the type of content where you frame to your audience where they are and where they can be) and then call them to your website for your solution.
Do these sorts of posts regularly (weekly even) and then the rest of your posts can be calling for action to form a habit.
The more you ask your audience to do something with your content (for example, drop an emoji if you agree or comment your experience with XYZ) the more they will be willing to action when you ask them to your website or the like.
Call to actions in your content will help lead people to your website, you just have to make sure you ask people to go there!
When you create content you encourage the “think and feel”, just make sure you get your audience to do.
What you should do on your website/content
What else do you need to think about with your website?
Make it simple in the messaging. Keep it simple. The more simple the content, the better!
Interact with the people who showed you love! Give them love back (on social media and the like)
Review your website and look at the stats to see what is working
Do it now, review your website!! I have a content audit template that can help you do that!!
Final thoughts
How are you feeling about your website? Do you make any of these mistakes? If you have, don’t worry! There is time to fix them.
Here are the main points to think about:
Keep the navigation on your site to 5 pages
Have an objective for your website homepage
Make the copy about your audience
Have a call to actions in your content
Make it simple
If you found value in this blog, make sure you share it with me on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram! Even better, share it with your audience! You can also listen to the episode below!
