6 minute read
COLUMNS: SALES AND MARKETING
What to do with your website traffic
Paul Watkins reveals how advisers can harness their website data to their advantage and gain insights into their business.
BY PAUL WATKINS
Like most website owners, you no doubt check your analytics regularly to see how much traffic you are getting, which pages they go to, and how long they stay on the site.
By way of example, say you are getting 1,000 website visitors a month, but only 20 phone calls and 20 web forms filled in. And of those 40 contacts (representing 4% of visitors to the site), only five (0.5%) become clients.
You also read that the average time they spend on your website is just 90 seconds. Hardly enough time to even register who you are or read a single sentence of text. Is there room for improvement? Yep, there sure is!
First, understand that it is not quantity, but the quality of enquiries that matter the most. A hundred good visitors to the site are far better than a thousand tyrekickers. So don’t obsess over the visitor numbers, it’s how many enquiries you get that matters the most.
As we live our lives nearly entirely online now, your website is critical to new business. If most of your enquiries lead nowhere, it is because they didn’t appreciate that what you offer is relevant to them.
Here are a few things you can do to improve the quality of leads generated by your website:
Who do you want? “Everyone” is not a target; it’s a non-market. We live our lives as individuals and want an individual solution. If I visit your website, I need to see stuff that is important to ME! I don’t care about anyone else; it's only me that matters. We are in the “me-generation” remember, and we expect providers to know that.
Therefore, start by writing down the buyer profiles of your three best types of client.
For example, one buyer profile could be residential property investors, so you might define them as ambitious couples aged 40 to 55, with a household income of $150,000+ and living in your defined geographic area.
Another might be first home buying couples, aged 25 to 35, a household income of $100,000+ and perhaps one school-aged child. Be as specific as this.
Few do this exercise, as they are afraid of missing others who may have contacted them. But the “others” are not buyers; they are the dreamers who you can’t help, and who waste your time.
You can analyse the demographics of your current website visitors and determine if they match your desired ones.
Next is to make your website messages crystal clear and relevant. People go through a four-stage decision process:
01
I have a problem that needs solving.
02
How can you help me to solve it?
03
Let me see more to make sure you are the best option for me.
04
Now, I’m ready to make a decision.
You must grab them at point number one. You must demonstrate to your website visitors that you clearly understand their problem and can offer a possible solution. At this point, you should note that each page on your website should be considered a “landing-page” in its own right.
Each page must “sing its own song”.
For example, you may choose to have a page devoted to investments, another to first home buyers and another to those in their 50s wanting to upsize to their dream home. This way, each advertisement, say on Facebook, would click to the relevant page and not your generalised home page.
To frame it another way; if I want to borrow for investment reasons and I land on your homepage, and it says, “We can arrange a mortgage for first home buyers, those wishing to move up to investment properties, and people who have been declined for a mortgage. We work with all buyers – call us,” then I will click out.
Clearly, you are not the expert I would want to talk to. I am looking for someone who understands my situation, is experienced in my market and can be of genuine value to me.
Most people now search in sentences, such as: “Specialist mortgage broker for investment properties.” There are tools (most are free) that can help you work out popular relevant search terms and phrases for your chosen speciality target groups, which need to be included in your website, so you show up on Google.
Most experts agree that you have just 10 seconds to communicate your value when someone comes to your website. Make sure you avoid clichéd phrases and write copy like you would talk to a client.
Using the investment example above, the opening line on the page they click through to could read: “We understand the challenges of the residential investment property market. While it is important to get your head around recent law changes, it is critical to structure your mortgages correctly.”
Don’t try to emulate other websites or other similar businesses. Be honest, be open, and be you. As discussed in the last issue, put a human face on it. People deal with people, not firms, and when it comes to money, this is even more important.
What will bring them back to your website? People may not wish to buy immediately but are simply seeking information for a future purchase.
Take some young friends of mine who are considering their first home. I told them to seek out a competent broker to ask how much they could borrow, the required deposit, any KiwiSaver or other government support and to learn as much as they could so they could plan. They searched and found three brokers who highlighted help for first-time buyers.
Clicking on each broker’s website, Broker One had some vague single-paragraph info about first home buying, whereas Broker Two had enough great articles and blog entries to keep them on the website for over half an hour. They told me the best part was the frequently asked questions (FAQ) which addressed each of their main concerns. Guess who will get the business when they are in a position to buy?
The big bonus of the FAQs was that it qualified the visitors and put off tyrekickers. As they looked through the questions about deposits, the dangers of interest rates increasing in a few years, and what to look for in a first home, many would not have bothered to call. They will leave the site with the impression that you clearly know what you are talking about, but that it’s not worth calling you yet. A win-win.
With this couple, it was just a timing issue, but they signed up to the broker’s blog/newsletter subscription. So, they were not lost, just postponed.
When it comes to websites, what used to be unimportant is now critical.
If your website is more than three years old and unchanged since then, it will not be sending you the semi-qualified clients that you want.
The best part, however, is that these are not expensive changes to make. Have a critical look at your website and analyse the traffic. Remember, it's quality, not quantity, that you want. ✚
Paul Watkins writes blog content and newsletters for financial advisers.
