Top 6 tips to get more web enquiries and grow your client list

People are busy and easily distracted. So how do you encourage visitors to stay a bit longer on your website, find what they need, and get in touch easily? Ultimately, how can you convert your web traffic into web enquiries?

There’s no magic formula, but research has shown these simple steps can help:

1. Be clear about what you’re offering
2. Write for the web
3. Make it easy to get in touch
4. Build trust and credibility
5. Be mobile friendly
6. Keep it up to date

1. Be Clear About What You’re Offering

When someone arrives on your site, you don’t have a lot of time. You need to make it clear who you are, what you offer, and what do I need to do to take action?

Headlines and straplines are incredibly important. That’s because, in very few words, they give you the opportunity to summarise what the company, website or page is all about.

As well as words, you can use images, icons and video to communicate your message effectively.

A great example of this is Dropbox’s homepage. The snippet of text clearly says “Get to all of your files from anywhere, on any device, and share them with anyone.”

There you go. That’s exactly what they can do for you. In one sentence. And to complete this fabulous landing page, a very simple form. You know exactly what you need to do next. Apply this simple approach to your website and you’re sure to increase web enquiries.

2. Write for the Web

People read differently on the web. They tend to scan and pick up snippets.

Typically, users read less than 30% of the page, and this is mostly the top section and headings. Attention declines dramatically as they move down the page. So it’s a good idea to put the most important information first and get your message across in the headings.

By getting a clear, unified message through to your audience, you stand a much better chance of communicating value and purpose, which will in turn encourage more web enquiries.

In general, it’s best to use simple language. Avoid jargon and complicated terms. Government advice regarding writing for web suggests people prefer to read information in plain English ‘because it allows them to understand the information as quickly as possible’. Writing in CAPITAL LETTERS is more difficult to read. It also looks a bit shouty, so should be avoided anyway.

• Make the text easier to read by using:
• Short sentences
• Sub headings
• Bullet points
• Highlighted keywords

3. Make it Easy to Get in Touch

This one sounds obvious but it’s often overlooked. Typically, the 2nd highest visited page, other then the main homepage, is the contact page. People are searching for your business online, just so they can get in touch.

So to boost your web enquiries, give them what they want, nice and early. Consider putting your phone number in the header. Make sure the footer has your phone number and email details.

If you have a business where the location is important, like a hotel, shop or restaurant for instance, then make a big effort to clearly show where you are and how to find you.

A clear CTA (Call To Action) should exist at the bottom of each page. There’s potential for multiple CTA’s throughout the page at different sections. The goal is to make it very clear what the visitor needs to do next. This could be anything as simple as a

• Telephone number
• Email Address
• Contact form
• Link to social media
• Button to apply/register/download/read more

Consider adding a live chat feature to encourage engagement. Although we’d only advise this if you have the resources. At least one person needs to be available to monitor and respond to the enquiries. An idle chat can look understaffed and have a detrimental effect.

4. Build Trust and Credibility

Building trust is especially important for businesses that sell online. Customers will want to feel an extra level of reassurance. After all, there’s an element of the unknown about the internet. You want to feel safe handing over your payment details. You want to feel confident nan’s present is going to arrive on time.

But for websites that don’t sell, credibility is still often the primary objective. That’s the case for most brochure websites. Visitors typically arrive for the first time, usually after hearing about the company in some way.

This may have been through personal contact, recommendation, online search or a piece of marketing literature. Visitors will be looking for indications that the company is professional and able to deliver on it’s promises.

People like to do a little digging.

Here are 5 ways to help boost your credibility and increase web enquiries:

Get an SSL Certificate

Having an SSL certificate on your site means the data passed between your site and your visitor is secure. SSL helps you gain trust from potential customers and makes you look more professional. Your local studio can help you buy and setup SSL.

Look the Part

Professional design and well written copy is of paramount importance. Even subliminally, good design will go a long way towards the perception of your brand. By association, if the website is high quality, your product or service is high quality. SEO expert, Rand Fishkin of moz.com believes ‘Design isn’t just important, it’s 50% of the battle’.

Use Testimonials and Accreditations

People are far more likely to believe what someone else has said about your business than what you say yourself. It’s human nature. So combine great design with industry accreditations, and social proof.

Use testimonials as a powerful way to say how great you are. Work them into relevant case studies to demonstrate your capability. This will really cement your credibility and encourage users to take the next step with confidence.

Allow Visitors to ‘Meet the Team’

Our experience tells us that ‘meet the team’ pages are very popular destinations. Typically only falling behind the home page and contact page in terms of visits. It’s easy to see why, people like doing business with people.

Publish a Blog

Another popular hotspot for visitors are blogs or latest news sections. Not only does a fresh, relevant blog keep Google happy, it also helps position your company as experts in your field.

5. Be Mobile Friendly

Or perhaps even ‘Mobile First’. That means designing your site primarily with your phone user in mind. Sure, it has to look great on a desktop too, but with more and more people browsing on their phones these days, considering their needs first would not be a bad thing.

Think about it, if you’re checking the web on the go, you don’t want to struggle to do what you want to do. Encourage mobile web enquiries by making things quick and simple to do on a phone.

People are often ‘quickly’ doing something on their phone, while they’re doing something else. Quickly sign up for this, quickly pay that bill, quickly book a table… If your website doesn’t support ‘quickly’ then you’ll quickly be shown the door.

Things to watch out for are:

• Text too small to read
• Buttons too small to click
• Forms too tricky to navigate
• Hefty images and downloads

If you have to pinch and zoom to work your way around the site, time to change, speak to one of our Nettl Web Studios.

6. Keep Your Website Up To Date

Google likes fresh, new, relevant content, but so do real people! Sure, a lively blog will help your search engine rankings but it will also indicate that you’re an active business on top of it’s game. Frequent updates will encourage users to come back for more, it can help position you as an expert in your field, and it will create the confidence that leads to web enquiries.

We mentioned trust earlier. It’s important to keep on top of updates to maintain credibility. You don’t want your site to look like you’ve gone for lunch and not come back.

If a feature has stopped working, if the footer still says 2015, if the blog section has gathered dust and the social media feed is more #london2012 than #pyeonchang2018, a bit of tender loving care is needed to avoid putting people off.

A well maintained website is also necessary for security. If you need a hand keeping on top of things, just ask us about our concierge service.

> We Can Help

Web traffic is great but website enquiries are better. Use the advice above to convert your browsers into business opportunities.

There’s a lot to think about, but we’re here to help. Call or pop into your local studio for advice on how to make your website work harder.