5 Common Mistakes Companies Make on Their Websites
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Tom Stimson
April 29, 2022
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There’s a lot of customer churn going on right now. We’re coming out of the pandemic and traditional buyers are coming back. But they’re probably not the same as they used to be because, well, they survived the pandemic.

These buyers may be looking for new relationships. Or maybe they’re in new roles. They might even have new needs they’re not familiar with. Lots of people are starting over.

The first place all of these buyers are going to go is your website.

Why? Even if they knew you well before the pandemic, they’ll go to your website to see if you survived the ordeal and are still in business. Then they’re going to check your “About” page to see what’s changed. They’re going to look to see if some familiar faces are still there.

If they’re uncomfortable at any point in the website experience, they might not reach out. And you just lost a customer.

Don’t let it happen to you.

Below are five mistakes that are too common on the websites I assess. Take a look and make sure your website is up to speed and does what it’s supposed to do: engage potential customers.

Mistake #1 — Little or No Human Touch

If you don’t have the human component behind your brand, you’re just a list of products. It’s like being an empty suit.

Two-dimensional companies aren’t very attractive. The human element adds a third dimension and makes the business, and the website, much more appealing and accessible.

Just this morning, I was doing a strategy call with a new coaching client to assess where they are and where they want to go. Before the call, I took a quick look at their website. I was looking for the things I usually look for:

  • Does the website tell me what the business does?
  • Does it tell me who they want to do it for?
  • Is there a way for prospects to easily engage?

I found there was nothing on the site, other than a very well-hidden message from the founder, that told me they were anything other than a website. There was an almost complete lack of the human touch to tell me there were real people behind the products and services.

If the customer can’t find a story that lets them know living, breathing human beings are part of your organization, you appear two-dimensional. You need the human third dimension.

Your “About page” is one place you can focus on people by telling your company’s inception story and highlighting individuals. (Note: Be sure to include your founder/CEO here. Buyers want to see who’s behind the curtain.)

But that can’t be the only human touch.

If you have a well-developed process, for example, which includes designers, content creators, technical experts, and production managers, as well as sales team, accounting staff, and warehouse team, talk about that process and all the individuals a client will interact with along the way. When you feature the human beings involved in your process, you humanize your brand and help potential buyers see themselves doing business with you.

If you want your website to be three-dimensional (as it should be), it needs a human touch. Humans connect with other humans, not products and services.

Mistake #2 — Complicated or Hidden Next Steps

Every website seems to have the old prerequisite contact form where the potential buyer enters their name, phone number, company name, title, and email address. Then they can ask a question.

Forms like these ask for a lot of information up front — just so the customer can ask a question. That’s a lot of friction.

We’ve all made calls answered by robotic attendants that let you hit zero to talk to a human. Good websites have a button for customers who really just want to talk to a human about their project or about your company and how it works.

Customers want to talk to a real person. It’s not just old school. It’s human nature. That doesn’t change.

Does your site have an easy way to engage potential buyers who want to communicate with another human? Some people need that option. I’m not finding it on many websites these days.

How can potential buyers get to a living, breathing person quickly? If a customer thinks your business looks like it can do what they need it to do, how can they talk to somebody as quickly as possible to find out more?

Non-human, lengthy forms or buttons labeled “Submit RFP” or “Request a Quote” are not enough. Alone, they’re two-dimensional.

Customers need to see themselves doing business with you — and if they don’t see it, they’ll leave. It’s too much friction with too little of the human touch.

No single next step works for everyone. Look at how your individual prospects want to engage. Good marketing outreach is going to have multiple points of entry for multiple types of customers to engage with.

For example, you can provide potential buyers with these options:

  • Chat box
  • Phone number
  • Lead magnet

Consider all the ways a prospect might want to engage with you next, and give them options to engage on their terms, not yours.

Mistake #3 — Non-Inclusive Language

Have you ever shown up at a restaurant and felt underdressed? Or overdressed? It’s an uncomfortable feeling, and you immediately have the sense that you don’t belong. You might even turn around and leave.

This can happen when people come to your website as well.

We work so hard on looking a certain way that we can forget to include our prospects and customers in our messaging. We inadvertently pre-judge the client’s ask, alienating potential buyers by making them feel under (or over) dressed.

Now, what would happen if at that restaurant, someone immediately greeted you, asked about what you were looking for, and assured you that your attire was absolutely appropriate?

Your company website needs to greet potential buyers by showing them that no matter how they’re dressed, they’re in the right place.

To accomplish this, ask yourself: Can all of your prospects find themselves on your website? Nobody has one perfect customer. Your website has to reach a variety of people. (This is one reason I like brochure-style websites.)

To do this well, get comfortable with variety, identify all your target prospects, and address their challenges in their language.

Mistake #4 — Distracting Prospects With Overly Specific Solutions

A lot of websites say, “We do such and such.” Think of a restaurant that caters only to the formal-dress crowd. The implication is that if you dress casually, even if you like to spend big bucks, then this isn’t the restaurant for you.

Similarly, if you don’t say you do exactly what the prospective customer needs, then they assume you’re not the right company for them. You’ve told them as much from the get-go.

Maybe you have an image of a giant gala on your homepage. But not all of your target customers want a big, expensive gala. You might as well put a big sign on your website that says, “We only do high-end galas! If that’s not what you need, don’t contact us.”

Conversely, if you put up a picture of an economical gala, you’ll scare away the people with a big budget who want a lot of flash.

Not everybody has the same needs every day. Potential buyers who don’t fit the story your site is telling will deselect themselves by leaving and looking elsewhere, without ever giving you a chance to show them what else you can offer.

At this point, you might be saying, “Well then, Tom, what are we supposed to put on our website?”

One great option is to showcase your events as case studies. You can say, “This client with a big budget wanted such and such. Here’s how we met their needs. Here are the pictures.” Then you can give another case study where you solve a different problem on a different budget.

This way, you’re talking from the buyer’s perspective and helping them see that you sell solutions, not just pre-packaged products and services. The potential buyer can now say, “They may have a solution for the thing I need, even though I don’t actually see it on their website.”

Mistake #5 — Leading With Your Products or Services

I was having dinner with a client recently and asked him, “How do you acquire customers?”

“We have innovative products,” he said.

I responded, “That’s not what I asked. I asked how you get customers.”

“Well,” he said, “that’s how we get them. We have innovative products.”

“How,” I then asked, “do you get to someone to tell them that you have innovative products?”

This is a classic example of where the “I” gets in the way of engaging with the prospect by presuming the client’s needs. When companies are used to being reactive and all of their prospects are inbound queries, new prospects self-select. This is the opposite of you going out and trying to identify the right prospects.

If you’re trying to fill your sales funnel, you’re going to have to go out there and find some business. If you lead with products rather than with customer needs, opportunities, and challenges, you’re creating filters that actually help prospects deselect themselves.

What if the person in front of you doesn’t need that particular product you’ve been talking about? You missed your one opportunity to get the customer’s attention, engage more deeply, and discover their actual needs that you can meet.

Sales and marketing are a lot about helping your targets understand what their needs are and helping them see that you understand those needs and challenges.

This develops trust and credibility so that they have a conversation with you about how you might help. (As opposed to you saying, “Here’s how I can help you.”)

Avoid Mistakes With a Mindset Shift

Websites, just like every other aspect of sales and marketing, are all about the customer. If you take the time to have a mindset shift from, “What do I want to tell them,” to, “What do they need to know and how can I make it easy for them,” you create a welcoming environment that gives prospects exactly what they need to take the next step to engage with you.

About Tom Stimson
Tom Stimson MBA, CTS is an authority on business and strategy for small- to medium-sized companies. He is an expert on project-based selling and a thought leader for innovative business processes.
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