A Potential Customer Arrives at Your Website, Now What?

Your website is the front door to your business. You shape the experience your customers have when they land on your website.

Let’s take a walk through a brick-and-mortar storefront before we navigate through your website…

You walk through the door, and the saleswoman greets you with a friendly smile. She asks if you need help finding anything and points you toward exclusive, new products. She compliments your earrings; you tell her you got them in New Zealand while traveling. She says she’s been there too, and you have a fun conversation about it.

Now you feel well-hosted and helped.

As you mill around checking out what’s on display, you decide on a luxe-looking face oil and (after trying on a few things) a top that fits you perfectly.

You’ve now transitioned from a shopper (browser) to a buyer.

At the checkout counter, the saleswoman asks if you’d like to join their mailing list to receive newsletters about sales, promotions, and exclusive discount codes.

You say yes and are now an email subscriber and likely a repeat sales lead.

On the way out the door, you snap a few Insta-worthy photos of the display at the front of the store.

You’ve now transitioned from a buyer to a brand evangelist, sharing the brand with your community on Instagram.

In one visit, the store has:

• Built a human connection with you
• Converted you from a browser to a buyer
• Added you to their email list by offering value (discount codes)
• Leveraged their artful product display into free advertising (you post a picture on social)

Imagine that your current website suddenly became a brick-and-mortar store.

• How are your customers greeted?
• How are your services displayed?
• Can they find the checkout counter?
• Will they want to come back?

This article is all about:

1. Strategically planning your customer’s experience on your website.
2. Using your website to encourage the customer to take specific actions.

How Do You Say Hello on Your Website?

As a business owner, you know your visitors are your most valuable resource, and the first thing they see when they land on your website is super important.

How you do this can set the tone and significantly impact how they feel about the experience they have with your brand and set the tone, so it’s worth spending some time thinking about how you want to introduce yourself, your services, your products, and what action you want them to take next.

The content you use in the hero section of your website should give your visitors a sense of who you are and what you offer but also leave them wanting more.

You want your hero section to be as enticing as possible so that people feel compelled to stay for longer when they land on your site and not bounce off.

You can accomplish this by using images that draw attention, writing engaging descriptions of your service or product, or even including video clips introducing yourself or talking about the services/products offered by your company that lead them to take action, which leads us to…

Where Do You Direct Your Visitor’s Attention on Your Website?

Part of your welcome starts with having a great website that is easy to navigate, drawing the visitor’s attention to the best thing they can do next.

For example, you may direct their attention to your service offerings or products, build their trust by leading them to a gallery of images of your work, or show before and after photos that show your service’s or product’s power.

Remember: You are their guide—so each step they take on your website needs to get them to where they need to be because the goal is to turn them from visitors into customers.

Take time to plan their experience and ensure that your site is well-organized, easy to use, and guides your visitors and leads down the path of becoming customers.

Is Your Website Checkout Working?

If you’ve ever had a customer walk away because of a glitch in your online checkout process, then you know how painful that can be. There’s nothing worse than blowing a lead with glitches in the purchasing/booking/buying process.

Your “Book Now,” “Buy Now,” “Schedule Your Appointment,” or “Add to Cart” process should be seamless and a joy.

It is also an opportunity to upsell and cross-sell a service or product that further personalizes the customer’s experience, provides convenience, boosts your revenue, optimizes the value of every sale, and allows customers to leverage a one-stop-shop solution.

How to further delight your customers’ experience

When your customers are ready to book your service or buy your product, you want them to have a great experience—and that starts with having a clear understanding of what they can expect next.

Here are some more tips on how to further delight their experience:

• Tell them what to expect. When will they hear from you? How are they be billed? When does scheduling happen? What happens next?

• Customize your email templates. Your online store/booking platform should have email templates to set up automatic response emails when customers book your service or buy your products. You can also use FloDesk and Klaviyo. Customize it with your logo, your brand colors, and your voice. It’s a way of showing your professionalism and that you care about their customer experience.

• No broken links! Can you imagine being ready to buy and landing on an “error message” page? Make sure you test all the links on your site, especially those that will be used most frequently by customers.

• Give them something that shows your appreciation. Offer your subscribers and customers a helpful free guide or special discount for their first purchase – something that says thanks for giving me your email and becoming part of my community.

Here’s the Recap:

1. You shape the experience your customers have when they land on your website. So if you haven’t already, consider how you greet them, direct their attention, answer their questions, process a sale/booking, and collect their email addresses.
2. Your website is the front door to your business. Each new visitor landing on your page is like a new customer walking in. Now your mission is to make that visitor’s experience an amazing one.

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