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CONTACT SCBJ Kurt Batdorf, Editor kbatdorf@scbj.com

Seven sales-killing Web mistakes to avoid

By Stacy Karacostas
Guest Columnist

Do you have a business Web site? If so, congratulations! If not, you really should. Because unless you market primarily to people 62 and older, you need a Web site to be found (When was the last time you used a phone book?) and for credibility.

However, it’s not enough to have any old Web site. You need a Web site that works to grow your business and, most importantly, makes more money than it costs!

That requires a Web site that’s easy to navigate, clearly sets you apart from the competition and works like a salesperson bringing in leads, making sales and staying in touch with prospects and clients 24/7.

Unfortunately, most entrepreneurs make a few, critical mistakes when it comes to building a Web site (or having one built for them). So their site ends up costing too much money up front, too much money later in lost sales, or both.

Thankfully, you can make your Web site more effective by fixing these common mistakes:

1. Making ’em guess — You have four seconds to get a visitor’s attention and tell that person you have what he or she wants. That means you need to state what you offer up front — ideally, in big, bold letters. Add a headline and written content that summarizes what’s on your site and gives visitors a reason to keep reading. “Welcome to our site” is NOT a good headline.

2. Snoozer content — Advertising great David Ogilvy once said, “You can never bore someone into doing business with you.” And we all know people don’t buy from businesses; they buy from people they like. So if you want prospects to read what you have to say, make it interesting, informative and friendly. Your content should sound like you’re having a conversation with one other person (i.e. your reader). Write like your customer speaks, and don’t be afraid to have fun and be, well, human. The Web is impersonal enough as it is.

3. We, me, my, us and our — I know this might come as a shock, but your site visitors don’t want to know all about you, what you do and how you do it. They want to know what you can do for them! Phrases like “Acme Group is the leading manufacturer of ...” don’t entice people to keep reading because it’s all about you instead of them. If the majority of your sentences and paragraphs start with ‘I,’ ‘we,’ ‘our’ or your company name, rework your sentences to start with “you” and “your” and focus on the benefits to the customer.

4. Letting people wander aimlessly away — A Web site is a terrific tool for building a list of interested prospects. But if you don’t tell people what to do next there’s no telling what they might do. If you want them to call, say so and put your phone number right there. If you want them to go to a specific page, sign up for a newsletter or download a report, tell them to. Then make it super easy with an obvious link, button or sign-up box.

5. Fancy flash intros and stylish landing pages — Web designers love to build these, but most Web users hate them. Who has time to wait for those things to load, or the text to slowly scroll across? Plus, it just puts people one more click away from what they want. If you can’t navigate back to the opening page from the rest of the site, or it has a “skip intro” option, it clearly isn’t important. So get rid of it. And don’t ever let a designer talk you into building one. It’s a waste of your visitor’s time and your money.

6. Poor navigation — One of the main reasons visitors click away is they can’t find what they want fast. So skip the cool graphic with links that show up when you mouse over them (there’s no guarantee anyone will). And ditch the obscure link names. Give your navigation links obvious names such as “Home,” “About,” “Products,” etc. Put them where people expect to find them, like across the top and down the left. And keep ’em in the same place on every page.

7. Same #$%!; different business — Competition is fierce on the Web. And someone’s always got a lower price. So you have to give people a good reason to buy from you instead of the other guy or they probably won’t. That means making your site, business, products and/or services unique. Start by researching competitor’s Web sites. Then create a brand, voice and message that are distinctly different.

Of course, there’s more to getting a great Web site than I can write about here. But fix these seven, common mistakes and you’ll be well on your way to having a Web site that works for you.

Stacy Karacostas is a Practical Marketing Expert, speaker and author specializing in helping entrepreneurs take the struggle out of growing their small businesses. Get more business-building tips and a copy of the free report “The 7 Deadliest Small Business Marketing Sins ... Are Your Guilty?” at www.success-stream.com.