If you have a website for your company, whether you’re an artisan selling your creations, a small business presenting its services and expertise or a major company selling numerous products through an online store, you run an increasing risk of losing potential clients because of recent changes in internet technologies and configurations.
In fact, gone are the days when anybody can put up a website with just a few images, a few animated GIFs and a little bit of text (more or less well written). With time, rules and classifications have been implemented to standardize the internet and social media to ensure that they respond better to the ever-evolving demands of consumers.
At the beginning of 2021, major internet players like Google, Facebook and Apple established new guidelines for geolocation, display, SEO and advertising, among other things, in order to facilitate the client experience and improve the performance and visibility of websites on mobile devices. To learn more, check out these articles on Google’s new algorithm and the iOS 14.5 update.
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What do consumers want?
In keeping with the old refrain “I don’t have time,” in this fast-paced world, internet users are increasingly connected for increasing lengths of time and want quick, easy access to the information they’re looking for and the ability to make online purchases efficiently and effortlessly in just a few clicks, whether from their computer, tablet or mobile phone. Therefore, the user experience must be pleasant, rapid, efficient, fluid and customizable, regardless of the device.
According to the 2020 NETendance survey in Quebec, smartphones have an 81-percent adoption rate, while 63 percent of adults have a data plan included in their smartphone contract. This means that an increasing number of potential clients are browsing the internet from their mobile devices.
Elements to consider to avoid losing sales
If you want to avoid losing customers, your website must respond to the various demands of internet users, as well as the various criteria of internet professionals. Let’s review the main ones.
Before you can do anything, you must ascertain how your website is performing, including conversion rates, the sources of traffic, the visitor rate and the bounce rate. To do this, you can use Google Analytics, a very practical, comprehensive tool that will provide a wealth of data.
If your website has a low bounce rate (below 50 percent), search engines will consider it to be of high quality. Ways to achieve this include optimizing your pages, offering high-quality targeted content and implementing calls to action (buttons, images or text prompting clients to take the next step, for example, “Buy now” or “Subscribe”).
One of the main things clients expect when browsing the internet is that your website will display quickly, as they consider this a gauge of its dependability, quality and security. Eighty-five percent of internet users expect a website to load completely in less than three seconds.
Therefore, you need to take certain actions, such as optimizing the images, code, design and information, to ensure that your website loads quickly. For more information, consult our article regarding load times and how to improve them.
Currently, smartphones are the second most commonly used means of browsing the internet. In order to make sales, your website or online store must be mobile-friendly and ergonomic, in keeping with best practices.
A potential client will be more inclined to click on a Google search result if it’s clean, clear and refined. Don’t hesitate to review your meta titles and meta descriptions to make sure that they’re explicit and that they accurately reflect the content of the page.
A 301 or permanent redirect forwards one URL to another. This is important if you change the name of your website or your pages or if you perform other actions that affect the address of your pages. This way, your regular visitors won’t end up receiving a 404-error message when they attempt to visit a page that has been changed. Because if they do, you’re sure to lose them! Implementing a 301 redirect will enable you to avoid this problem by automatically sending internet users to the new URLs. What’s more, it will allow you to maintain your pages’ Google rankings.
All of your website content (texts, images, tone, etc.) must be adapted to your target clientele or persona. You need to put yourself in your clients’ shoes to understand their wants and needs in order to offer them products and services that meet their requirements.
Your text must be well calibrated and the presentation of your products in your online store (if you have one) must favor a quick, simple purchase experience. Check out our article on 10 strategies to increase conversion rates in your online store to learn more.
Do you think you’re losing clients because of your website? Call on the experts at BJMédia! Our team of specialized professionals can analyze your websites and offer you custom solutions to address your needs.
