I’ve often visited websites in which I have had a strong and immediate interest in, but in the end I’ve just clicked the back button and gone to another site. I didn’t leave because they did not have a product or service I was interested in, but because I didn’t feel there was a compelling reason to either buy, or make an enquiry.

But why didn’t I not buy, or make an enquiry? Well there can be many reasons. but one reason I’d like to focus on is because rather than being presented with a list of benefits, I was given a list of features.

I find that when I’m given a list of features on a website, I’ll do one of two things. I’ll either glaze over and leave, or I’ll start comparing other websites for a list of features, and the one who has the longest list will get the sale. Pretty stupid I know.

What will get me really close to the “Buy Now” or “Submit” buttons are benefits. Because, all I really want are benefits or something to take away the pain.

If you look at most websiites that have features, you’ll find that they have been written by a geek or technical person. Most of these features are pretty incomprehensible and leave you with a feeling of “so what”.

I’ve been to some websites that give hints on writing content that say that listing and detailing features is the right way to go and that you should not list benefits. I have to say I beg to differ. It really makes me wonder what the purpose of such websites are.

I’m of the opinion that if your site is to sell of generate enquiries, then you must engage and educate your visitor about why your product and service is what will provide the right solution. As much as you can you want your visitor to act now and not to think about it or compare with other products and services on other sites. If that happens, your chance of a sale will decrease.

So, how are you going to help your visitor to take action now? One of the most important ways you can do this is to use the language of your market and having understood exactly why they need your product or service. it is then that you will be communicating in the language of benefit.

I cringe when I visit a website where it wants me to give my whole life story before I can buy or register for a free newsletter. From my point of view, the whole value proposition is wrong, I’m giving a whole lot more value than I’m receiving. So, from this perspective, there’s no way I’m going to buy or register.

Just so you know, I have another pet nark as well. I hate having to register on a site before I can buy. In fact, I hate it that much, I won’t buy. Why should I have to register in order to buy? The chances are, my purchase is going to be a one-off, and I’m probably never going to go back to that site again. Just give me the ability to get what I want and leave!

Okay, you might want to provide me the option, but it should be my option and not something compulsory. I want to be in control.

The real secret to getting people to fill in forms and register on your site is for the information you’re asking to be proportionate to what you’re giving - there has to be a fair exchange from the perspective of your visitor - not you. So just ask for what’s necessary, and remember your form shouldn’t be like the Spanish Inquisition.

For every field on your form, there’s a question in the mind of the visitor, “why do they want to know that?” If that piece of information is required, or compulsory, they will either walk away or just fill it in with bogus information. Either way, you’re the loser.

Many website owners forget that getting a visitor to fill in a form (and giving personal details) is just the start of the relationship. The relationship is something that could continue over a number of years, so just get what’s necessary now. Don’t be too intrusive. You’re building a relationship, you can get more information (intimate!) over time.

Finding out about people is about establishing a relationship. But right at the start the interest is there, but not the trust. Just think about how you create friendships in your life? You give little by little.

Your website visitor has been around the blocks and will probably have been stung a few times before by giving too much information (just like in real life). So take it for granted that no one will give you an iota of information about themselves unless they’re sure you’re credible and can be trusted.

Depending on the marketing strategies you’re pursuing, most people who come to your website will have found you through a search engine (most likely Google). They’ll come to your site filled with the high expectation they’re going to find what they want more or less immediately and their pain or problem is going to be eliminated.

But, if your site is poorly layed out and signposted the chances are extremely high their expectations of immediate gratification are going to be crushed and they’ll leave, never to return again.

There can be any number of reasons for a poorly structured and layed out site. But there are perhaps two reasons worth commenting on:

• Unique design
• The dog’s breakfast approach

Unique design

We’ve all seen it a hundred times before, sites that have the unbridled desire to stand out and be unique. Sometimes this is through the desire of the owner to be different, but in other cases its the desire of the designer to break the mold. Whatever, it won’t help the owner to generate more leads or sales. Sites like this are only good for the CV of the designer.

There are unwritten rules for the design of websites. And while they may seem absolutely uninspiring, they work. Lets take an example to illustrate the point. Printed newspapers, with all their years of experience, can teach us many good lessons about layout and presentation. They’ve learnt a singularly important rule that their audience are creatures of habit and the only way to keep their market is to be consistent with presentation and layout.

When all said and done your market doesn’t want to think when the arrive at your website, they want it dished up in a way that’s easy to follow. For them - and you - familiarity breeds success - not contempt! If the purpose of your website is to sell or to generate leads the sole purpose of design is to sell. At the end of the day, you’ve got to make the call, are you primarily after good looks or good results.

The dog’s breakfast approach

People who follow this approach normally have a recessive gene that geneticist’s have only just identified. This gene is call the “structure” gene. It makes these people incapable of creating or establishing order. If we are to look on this in a kindly manner, we might refer to these people as “stream of consciousness” writers. Great for writing novels in this genre, but bad for websites.

Promise and fulfillment

The approach I take is that of Promise and Fulfillment. When I search for a product or service and I’m confronted by a litany of results that are actually promises. If I click on this link I am going to find what I want. In other words, I’m going to have my promise fulfilled.

As a website owner the copy that I use in my title and description tags are actually promises. It is therefore important that what is created here is both accurate and engaging - a true reflection of what is going to be found on that page.

With a solid structure and clear signposts, visitors will find what they want in a way that doesn’t make them think.

We all know that whenever anyone comes to your website for the first time you start with zero credibility and zero trust. You’ve got a hell of a job ahead of you to build that trust and credibility if you are to establish a relationship in which you can “sell”. What surprises me is the extent some website owners go to tell big fat porkies (lies) about the size of their business.

In other words, they try to make themselves appear as though they are a huge multi-national corporation with offices in every county known to mankind, when in actual fact they probably work out of their garage or in the spare bedroom.

I understand the dilemma small businesses have on the internet. People believe that if you don’t look big no one is going to contact you. But at the end of the day, giving the pretense of something that you’re not is just a big fat lie, and won’t do you any favours when it comes to building up trust and credibility.

I’m writing this from a New Zealand perspective. We’re a small country, in fact, a very small country somewhere close to the bottom of the world. Most of our businesses (probably 95%) are classed as small to medium, and when I say small to medium, I mean very small and very medium. That’s our reality.

The difficulty that small businesses believe they face (and it’s just mind block) is that if they don’t pretend to be big they won’t get the work or sales they so desperately want. However, the reality I see on the ground is small independent contractor are happily applying their skills and knowledge in large companies and government departments.

Ok, I know we’re in a bit of a recession here, but even the real large contracting companies are feeling the pinch right now as well. The large companies and government departments employing these independent contractors do so on the basis they bring value to the table.

I think the same thing applies to small business websites. It’s about showing the value you can offer your market, rather than the big lie about how big you are. Be happy with being what you are and the big value you offer. At the end of the day it’s all about your integrity.

For the life of me I just can’t understand it! Why are so many website owners fixated about appearing high in search engine rankings as though it’s going to be the biggest determinant in their online success?

The fact of the matter is SEO must be placed inside the context of internet/online marketing. If you do not have a online marketing strategy, SEO becomes an expensive waste of time.

Often when I have talked to business owners and managers about the marketing of their website, they become frustrated because they are getting little or no enquiries or sales from their site. The immediate response is that they need more traffic.

More traffic is not necessarily the answer. If you have got, for example, 2,000 unique visitors coming to your site each month and you are getting little or no conversion, doubling the traffic will not change the conversion rate. There is something fundamentally wrong with the content of the site.

This means that either your offer is not right or sufficiently compelling, or that it is not targeted to a narrow enough audience.

We’ve all heard that content is king on a website, and that is absolutely true. However, it is not any content. It is content that is crafted to gain Attention, draw Interest, create Desire and drive to Action.

It often seems a shame that with most website developments, the development of content is left to the owner. In most cases, owners of the business are just not the right people to develop sales copy. There is no doubting that they have an intimate and deep knowledge of their products or services, but in presenting in a compelling way, rather than in a matter-of-fact presentation, is something else.

To be fair to owners, the only real visible model they have to go by for the presentation of text is existing website. And lets be honest, nearly all of them are failures and sources of frustrations to their owners.

The real issue I have is with many web designer companies, who make huge and extravagent  promises about getting their clients’ site to list high on Google. They carry on about Meta tags and the frequently changing algorithms of the search engines, in a way to clock profound mystery.

The fact of the matter is:

• No one can guarantee you high rankings on Google
• Google is not under any obligation to list your site
• Search engine algorithms do not change with any great frequency
• Good compelling and targeted content is how you will get targeted traffic to your site

Ok, without wanting to offend the real SEO experts. There is a real place for SEO on a site, and they do have a distinct knowledge mix to bring to the party, but it must be within the context of Online and internet marketing.

Everyday thousands of people are searching the Internet for exactly what you’re offering. And, people are coming to your site, but more often than not, they’re leaving at the same speed they arrived. How could that happen? Generally speaking, visitors don’t arrive at your site by accident, they’re in the market, they’re looking. The challenge you’ve got as a website owner is to turn these lookers into buyers.

As a general rule, the average conversion rate on websites is between one and two percent. This means that about 98% of lookers (and lets assume they’re looking for what you’re selling) do nothing and leave. They’ve left your site without buying, even though you had what they were looking for. What went wrong?

What if you were able to increase your conversion rate by, let’s say, 2%? What would that mean for your bottom line, and how much extra money would you see in your bank every month?

You may be thinking this doesn’t apply to you because you’re not selling products online. But same principle applies if your objective is to generate leads from your website for the services you sell.

Over the next few entries, we’re going to be examining the biggest reasons why people leave your site without making an enquiry.