The Newsletter For Small Business Owners

Welcome to my newsletter for small business owners. Every Friday you will receive 1 insight to improve your marketing in less time than it takes to drink your morning coffee.

Sep 13 • 2 min read

Why your website is hurting your business


Hey everyone!

This week I want to talk about why your website messaging is hurting your business. Here’s what we will cover:

  • The words you use matter
  • You can’t speak to everyone
  • Understand the buyers journey

You are too close to your business to see clearly, and in turn you create something that is confusing. But once you understand how to think about your messaging, then you can update your website to make it convert more leads.

Let’s dive in!

The words you use matter

Your website is made up of two primary elements.

  1. Design
  2. Words

At it’s core, your website can only convey it’s message through these elements.

The words play such a vital role in converting visitors of your website into customers. Your website acts like a sales person that has a set script and can’t change what it’s saying on the fly. Which you have to have to say all the right things.

And if you don’t…you will leave your visitor wondering why they are even on your website in the first place.

I know this sounds extreme, but it’s the truth. People leave websites faster than ever. If you don’t know exactly what you’re saying and to who, your losing opportunities.

Not just losing opportunities, you are also creating a negative impression about your business. To keep with the sales call analogy, it’s like showing up to a call in your pajamas.

I wonder how that’s going to go? My guess—not good.

You can’t speak to everyone

If you try to speak to everyone, you will speak to no one.

In theory, it sounds great that anyone can be your customer. But what that does on your website is have a negative effect. It means you’re not memorable in anyway to your customer. You come across as indifferent. And being indifferent is the worst case scenario.

No one buys from someone who is indifferent. It’s boring. Forgettable. Just like everyone else.

This is the power of narrowing who you speak to. It allows you to call out someone. The best commercials do this. They strike a cord with you. Make you feel something because it feels like they are talking to ONLY you.

That’s why it’s essential you don’t speak to everyone on your website.

Understand the buyers journey

You must understand how people buy from you.

  • Every business model is different
  • Every target audience is different
  • Every sales funnel is different

Your website has to have a crystal clear understanding of this, and be designed intentionally.

One of the reasons I am against website templates is that they can’t take this into account.

If your customer loves to learn more about your business through a sales call before buying, don’t put a “buy now” button on the homepage. It should say, “schedule a call”. It sounds obvious, but many businesses make this mistake.

When you clearly understand how your customer buys from you, you build a website that naturally turns visitors into leads.

So when you look at your website. View it through this lens. Is this the natural flow my customers want to take?

Any resistant will cause them to turn away. Lower the barrier to entry and you will find your website works so much better!

That’s it!

As always, thanks for reading.

Hit reply and let me know what you found most helpful this week—I’d love to hear from you!

Luke


Welcome to my newsletter for small business owners. Every Friday you will receive 1 insight to improve your marketing in less time than it takes to drink your morning coffee.


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