Most people spend countless hours designing their website, and then, when the project is done, never spend much time thinking about it again. Then they look at their stats and lament that only a tiny fraction of the people stopping by their site actually sign up for their services.
There are some very good reasons why that might be happening, and some relatively easy solutions to fixing the problem. Take a look at the primary reasons your visitors might not be converting, and what you can do to ensure they do.
Where is your traffic coming from?
First things first, what’s driving your website visitors to you? It’s great that you’re getting decent traffic to your site, but let’s be honest now, where are these people hailing from? If they’re coming from an appealing ad that’s poorly targeted, you might be driving the wrong kinds of traffic to your site.
The fix: Take a close look at your analytics to see what is driving traffic to your site. Is there something you can change? Are you getting the right visitors? Change up your ad placement for a few weeks to see if anything changes.
Is your unique value proposition clear to all?
Studies have shown that people visiting any website decide in under 8 seconds if what they’re seeing is worthy of their attention or not. And let’s be clear, that 8 seconds is really the outlier. So, in, let’s say, 4 seconds, can someone seeing your home page for the first time know exactly what you’re offering, how it benefits them, and why they should be getting it from you and not the other guy? If you’re not sure, have someone who doesn’t actually know what you sell, take a look at your site for just a few seconds and ask them what they figured out. If you don’t know your Unique Value Proposition (UVP), then it’s time for a quick time out while you and your team figure out a clear and succinct way to articulate what you offer, why people should be getting it from you, and the benefits they’ll receive if they do.
The fix: Take a long hard look at the above the fold section of your home page. Is your UVP clearly outlined? If not, fix it. If it is, it’s time to do a little testing. Change the way you display your UVP, change the wording, change the design. Test the different options to see which works best.
Do you have effective and actionable CTAs above the fold?
One of the things we hate seeing the most is when a website does a great job of showing off their UVP in a compelling and clear way, but there are no useful Call to Actions, CTAs to be found anywhere on the home page. Too many people shy away from actually asking their website visitors to do anything because they don’t want to appear pushy or needy. Well, here’s the deal, if you don’t ask, they won’t do. If your CTA is a tiny little tab at the top left of your screen, most people are going to overlook it entirely.
Research tells us that 96% of people who first visit a B2B site aren’t ready to convert. That means that if the only CTA is “Talk to a Rep,” those 96% will click away. You need to give them options so they don’t feel like they’re being pushed before they’re ready.
The fix: No one says you can only have one CTA at the top of your home page. In fact, it’s best if you have two or even three, each one appealing to someone in a different stage of the sales process. Make sure your CTAs are engaging by asking yourself what pain points you solve and addressing them. Alternatively, you can ask yourself what obstacles are keeping prospects from converting and then addressing those in the CTA. If you’re a relatively unknown entity, have a CTA that points to something that will reassure potential clients. If you’re a small company, point your visitors to a page of testimonials.
And let’s not stop at the top of the page. While you definitely need a couple CTA options above the fold, you also need to have some below, so that when people are done reading what you’ve laid out for them to see, they don’t have to scroll all the way back up to engage with you.
Have you ever tested your CTAs?
You might well have some very appealing CTAs on your home page, but until you give your visitors something else to click, you might never know if that’s the stumbling block that’s keeping prospects from converting. Sometimes a red button performs exponentially better than a green one. Sometimes a question engages more people than a statement. There’s no magic solution when it comes to CTAs for B2B SaaS companies. Each client set is so different from the other that what works for one might not work at all for another. The only way to see what converts yours is to try a few different things.
The fix: Take a look at your CTAs, do they address your potential clients’ questions in a clear and engaging way? When was the last time you changed them? Test a few options. Change the way the CTAs are worded. Change the way they look. Change where they’re positioned. See what performs better and then test a few more options.
What does your home page say exactly?
You’ve undoubtedly read your website copy about a million and one times. Plus, you know exactly what you meant when you wrote the copy, so that’s exactly what you read when you see it. Someone who has never seen your site before might not have the same experience at all.
Is there an overwhelming amount of information on your home page? Is it cluttered? Confusing? Off-putting? Remember, 4 seconds. That’s all you get. So you’d better make the best use of it. And no, that doesn’t mean throwing everything you’ve got at every passing visitor. It means being very selective and precise about what you decide to show them. Hubspot has a fantastic Infographic that outlines everything a great home page should have. Take a look and compare your home page to their list.
The fix: Pull in that friendly stranger that we mentioned up in #2. Or his friend. We’re not picky. Have them take a look at your website and ask them how it makes them feel and what it makes them want to do. Do they feel the way you want them to feel and want to do what you want them to do? If not, it’s time for a change.
We suggest testing a few variations of your headline and sub-headline until you find a combination that does a great job of promoting your UVP and your brand personality even to someone who’s only going to glance at what you have to offer.
Are you asking too much?
Even if your browser is set up to auto-fill, no one actually enjoys filling out web forms. We all see them as a necessary evil, but our willingness to comply and hand out information drops a little more with each question we’re forced to answer. Come on, you can admit it, we know you feel that way too. How long are the web forms on your own site? Are you asking for too much too soon? The balance between what you need to know and what your prospects are willing to tell you is going to be different than everyone else’s and might possibly hinge on what you’re offering up in exchange for that information. Bear that in mind when creating the forms you put on your site.
The fix: You’re going to be shocked, but the fix here is once again testing, testing, testing. What’s the bare minimum you need to know to turn a visitor into, at the very least, a warm lead? How many questions are your visitors willing to answer? What is compelling enough to get them to jump hoops? Test a number of forms with different numbers of fields and different lead magnets until you find the sweet spot for your potential clients. And remember, it’s always better to gather the information bit by bit as you move people through your sales funnel than to be greedy and try to get it all upfront in a way that risks turning people off completely.
What are you doing to put your visitors at ease?
There’s a reason people shop from Amazon. It’s because Amazon is a known entity so it’s not scary to give them your information or to make a transaction with them. Agreeing to work with someone new is a whole other kettle of fish, and for a B2B SaaS company, it can be especially scary because you can’t exactly bundle the portion of service you’ve tried in the box it came in and demand a refund. It’s your job to convince website visitors of all the different reasons they should trust you to help solve their current need.
The fix: Without taking up a ton of valuable home page real-estate you can display a lot of content that can convince a prospect to consider your SaaS products. Show off any success indicator you might have accrued over the years like awards, recognition, or different industry seals. Display social proof that your potential clients’ peers might have endorsed you. Share testimonials and reviews.
Additionally, your website design can have a huge impact on your visitors and make them feel like they’ve found the right “fit” for them. Make sure your images portray the kinds of clients you actually cater to and that the language you use speaks to the people you’d like to attract. You’d be amazed at what a difference it can make.
How clear is your sales path?
You know exactly the path you’d like every potential client to take to get them from prospect to converted user, but is it easy for them to follow when they come to your site? Odds are, it’s clear to you, but your site doesn’t do a great job of guiding them where you’d like them to go.
The fix: Decide, based on what you’ve learned from past client experience, what’s the best way to get those 96% who are just looking, to start dipping in a toe and then start guiding them through your site. What information do you need to lay out to snag their attention without overwhelming them, to inform them without turning them off? And then, yes, again, start testing. Where are you losing people? Why? What can you change to keep them interested?