by Carma Spence
It is one thing to get a visitor to your website. But it is another thing entirely to get them to stay long enough to take an action: join your list, purchase a product or hire you as a coach.
How do you accomplish this? Just like you would with a guest in your physical home—you make your visitors feel welcomed at your virtual home … your website. Here are three things you can do to make your online visitors feel welcomed and “at home” when they visit your website.
1. Call Them by Name
When a guest comes to your house, don’t you greet them with a hearty, “Hi Joan! Come on in!”? You greet your guests by name. The virtual equivalent of that is naming who it is you serve on your website.
You can do this with a headline that says something like, “Attention Single Women over 40” or “Calling All Romance Novelists” or whomever it is that you serve.
You can also do this by including something in your tag line that indicates who your ideal clients are. For example:
Acme Coaching Services
Helping Coyotes Get Their Roadrunners
2. Give Them a Reason to Stay
Think of your website as a party. What do you do to entice your guests to stay and enjoy the event? You give them hors d’oeuvres and entertainment. The virtual equivalents of these include:
- An enticing opt-in gift: A special report, audio recording or video that answers your ideal clients’ biggest question. Your visitor can receive this in return for providing you with their name and email address.
- A blog or article archive filled with relevant information: This content not only positions you as an expert, but also makes your visitors feel like they are understood.
- Clear benefits of working with you: Don’t get caught up in the “what” or “how” of what you do. Show your visitors up front what’s in it for them. What are the results they can expect from working with you?
3. Decorate Appropriately
If you are hosting an Oscar party, would you decorate your home for Halloween? Of course not!
Your website must look like a website your ideal clients would want to visit. Websites targeting a corporate audience look different than those aimed at entrepreneurs or moms. When creating the look and feel of your website, you’ll want to keep in mind these things:
- What does your ideal client expect a website for a business like yours to look like?
- What combination of images and colors would best express your business personality?
- What would the intersection of your clients’ expectations and your business personality look like?
Once you have answered these questions, you can select a color palette, fonts and images that will be appropriate and welcoming, and will position your coaching business in the best light.
Also, when designing your website keep in mind such things as:
- Readability: Dark letters over a light background are more readable than the reverse. Also, your audience’s age range can affect the font size you choose.
- Navigation: Make it easy and logical to navigate around your website. If your visitors can’t easily find what they are looking for, they will leave and not return.
- Professionalism: Don’t use cutesy fonts if your audience isn’t cutesy. Also, don’t use overly formal fonts when targeting a casual audience. Use images and design elements that are appropriate for your business and its target market.
Once you’ve done these three things, your website will appeal to ideal clients. More importantly, it will keep them around long enough to learn more about you and start a coaching relationship with you.
Carma Spence helps creative professionals leverage their online presence to support their career and business goals. You can pick up your copy of her book, Home Sweet Home Page: The 5 Deadly Mistakes Authors, Speakers and Coaches make with Their Website’s Home Page and How to Fix Them! at www.homesweethomepagebook.com.
