Think of your website as the "main display" to your online store. Extremely careful consideration and strategizing needs to go into your niche marketing online, just as you would in organising a storefronts display that is open to the public, so they feel inspired to walk inside your shop.

WEBSITE CRITIQUE - Est Time: 1 to 3 Hours

Open your website. Think of yourself as a new visitor to your site, and ask these questions. Or even better, have a respected colleague who hasn’t seen your site previously and have them respond to the following points

1. What draws your immediate attention?

A new web visitor only has a few seconds before they decide to stay, or LEAVE forever. So it’s your primary job with your website to have a great “HOOK” so they look twice.

2. Can you see what the site is about INSTANTLY?

Knowing that you have under 10 seconds to put your message to your visitors. Does you site have a lot of distractions which take them away from your single key message?

3. Is critical information “above the fold?”

If your prospects don’t see ALL your details high up on your page (we call this “Above The Fold”) they will likely leave before you get your message across, which equals a lost sales opportunity for you. So be sure that you’re Most Wanted Response (MWR) and tagline about the problem you help solve, is very easily understood. Visitors don’t like scrolling down your site, or clicking on buttons, unless they know there’s a clear advantage for them to do so.

4. Can you identify the problem solved by the product or service?

If you can’t quickly help a visitor identify your benefits then you can pretty much say goodbye to them forever! Most sites talk all about themselves and the features, which are critical also, but you need to address “What’s In It For ME!” first and foremost. Testimonials in video are fantastic proof of your benefits, and if your testimonials are very happy with you (as they should be!) you can get their permission to add their phone number and an invitation to call them to ask just HOW GREAT your benefits are… This offers amazing proof and the conversions of your sales will go way up because of it… Unfortunately not many do this and that’s ashame, because it REALLY separates you from the other competition who are too scared or afraid to do it.

5. Is the call to action clear?

The concept of a simple “Call To Action” is so simple, that a lot of web masters, make it complex. Once you have your visitors liking what they see, then you need to give them a couple of options toward your “Most Wanted Response” only. You might offer a free product, or the alternative might be a trial for $1 for a month, then they decide… But whatever you do, don’t confuse your visitors with too many options and make the “Call To Action” clearly and quickly.

6. Is your websites colour scheme, images and layout pleasing?

If your site is unkind on the eye, laid out badly and confusing you’ll lose visitors (even if your information is good) because first impressions really do count. Go to 99designs.com and have designers bid on your site layout and graphics so your site looks professional, while not breaking your bank account.

7. Are the fonts easy to read?

Simple Arial or Times Roman based fonts work best. A dark colour font on a light background is perfect, be careful of light coloured fonts on dark backgrounds, they’re hard to read and lose interest quite easily… Simplicity is best here!

8. Are there chunks of text on the page?

Make your paragraphs EASY-TO-READ, there should be no more than 3 to 4 line paragraphs on the site. Extensive eye tracking tests prove that bulky paragraphs of 4 or more lines cause visitors to skip over them, or at worse leave the site all together.

9. Do the menus easily help with navigation of the site?

Keep your menu’s clear and to the point. Menu navigation and site usability is very easily overlooked and is one of the main causes visitors leave (through frustration). Be sure to have at least a “Contact Us” and “About Us” menu option, plus your critical products / services.

10. Is it simple to find contact details?

If your site serves its purpose well, then interested parties are going to want to contact you to learn more, ask questions and know that you’re available in person for service and support. Making sure your contact details and at least your phone number is PROMINENT is vitally important, as this might be the last stop they use before purchasing (tests have proven that it often is). So make it very simple for your clients & prospects to call you, give them a Toll Free number or use a service such as “Click To Call” so they don’t have to pay, it increases response and in turn sales!

11. Can you learn about the owner and staff easily?

Give your visitors every opportunity to learn about you, an “About Us” page is good, if you want them to learn about the company, but not enough, because you need to build trust and have them learn about you and your staff. Having a “Staff Profile” page, including the managers, owners and directors is CRITICAL, include a video for each of who they are, what they do, how they can help and why they do what they do. People love stories and relate to others through this, use videos over photo’s on these pages and watch your relatability and sales soar, and STAND OUT from your competition, not many do this!

12. Do you feel personally drawn to the staff?

As we’ve mentioned before, using videos to relate to your visitors and clients is incredibly powerful, use open and honest styles of communication and you will be simply in a class of your own.

13. Is the writing style personal or corporate?

You need to open with a very engaging, warm and open style of writing. Formal business writing is great for the large, COLD and disconnected organizations in the world, but not for a small / medium company with a personal message to it. Don’t pretend to be BIG when you’re not, actually being small and warm is what will win you MORE clients anyway.

14. Is there a form offer high up on the page?

If your site doesn’t have a form above the fold and collecting fresh leads for your business to grow, then you may struggle for additional clients. Make sure you have a simple, and easy to install webform for your site, and put it above the fold with an exceptionally valuable offer and you’ll create more leads in no time, but it has to be VISIBLE!

15. What’s in it for them? – Your Offer

Your opt-in offer has to be so IRRESISTABLE your prospects will find themselves putting their details in to fix the problems they have right now. Make it valuable, put a price on the offer, you need to PUSH the free line so it’s almost like you made a mistake and are giving away one of your high priced items… This gets them in your marketing funnel, but most importantly builds trust and establishes a connection.

16. Use multimedia!

As we’ve discussed before, videos are a great way to establish trust and a real connection to your audience. But don’t stop there, use audios, podcasts, tutorials, online video casts to engage your prospects in new ways that really appeal to them, options keep your clients open to how they’ll communicate with you.

17. Are there social media links?

You need to be connecting with clients in as many areas of the web as you possibly can. Blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter are the main ones and you can always outsource this to social experts (actually it’s advised you do) if you’re not inclined to do this yourself. People may not give you their details or contact you from your website, but will easily like your facebook page and share the link with all their friends. So please don’t bury your head in the sand when it comes to a social media presence!