First things first…
To survive you must possess the ability to acquire customers at break even or better.
If you’ve followed our Customer Value Optimization process you know how to build a funnel that does just that.
But now that you have the ability to generate new customers…
… it’s time to address this question:
What role does your website play in your funnel conversions?
Think about how you behave when you’re “inside” someone else’s funnel when that person or business is a stranger to you.
I’m talking about you, reading about the bait offer (Lead Magnet), or having taken the bait and read or used it and now you’re reading the Tripwire offer.
I bet you’ve found yourself Googling what’s being offered.
I know I do it nearly every single time. I stop in the middle of the funnel to either check out the person (or business) who is making the offer or check to see if it’s offered elsewhere and for how much.
There are several reasons for this — any one of which may apply to your prospect …
- They’re not sure if they should trust you
- They’re curious to know more about you or your business
- They want to check out the competition
Your direct response website better support the funnels you work so hard on.
In fact, if your website fails to support your offers, it may be killing your funnel conversions.
So, time for a checkup on the old website.
Here’ are 4 critical elements your website must have to support your independent landing pages and funnels.
1. Your website should contain the ability to buy whatever you’re selling in your funnels.
You don’t have to put the sales pages on your website, but you should at least have links.
You’re aiming for congruency.
When someone stops in the middle of your funnel to do a search to check you out, they need to be able to find your offer or they might get the impression that it’s not legit.
Here’s a great example from a client of mine, Safety Technology:
This is a great landing page offering his Lead Magnet which is a free webinar.
From the looks of it, this is a stand-alone page, but he links to it right from his home page …
Now if I click on an ad that gets me to that landing page and then I do what a lot of people do when they’re interested, but on the fence … I stop where I am in the funnel, open a new window and start searching for info on this guy.
I’ll land on his website and I’ll see similar copy (on the clickable link picture) to what sparked my interest in the first place.
2. The ability to buy MORE of the type(s) of things you’re selling in your funnels.
Beachbody.com might be the ultimate example of this. I entered “How to lose weight” in my search bar and clicked on this ad:
I landed on this offer…
Then, because I’m playing “skeptic” I clicked away and searched “Beach Body”. Maybe I want to find some reviews or I’ve heard about them and want to read more about THEM and not the 21-day fix.
Whatever my reasons, I’m not alone.
People abandon funnels all day long.
Your website needs to do the job of capturing them BACK after they abandon your funnel.
When I searched for Beach Body and landed on their website, this is what I saw …
That’s a lot of weight loss options!
Now you might not have any other options. Maybe you just sell your one thing. But remember the whole “Return Path” concept.
You want to get them back into your funnel or funnels. So, show them similar things to what they just found in your solo funnel, or at least similar content, right there on your website.
Invite them back in!
3. Testimonials for what you’re selling in your funnel
Red Elephant Inc. does this well. I arrived at their landing page below from a Facebook ad.
I clicked away and searched “Red Elephant”. When I landed on their website, I easily found several appropriate testimonials that offer credibility toward what the funnel presented …
I’ll spare you the boring stats. Testimonials work or we wouldn’t use them! But there’s only so much you’ll be able to fit into a short landing page.
Making sure you’ve got lots of social proof via testimonials on your website is a great way to support your funnels.
4. A complete & updated bio or about us section with all the credibility to believe in your ability to deliver.
I clicked through to this landing page from a Facebook ad, but it’s actually one that I wrote (and it’s working great!).
But just for the purposes of this discussion, I abandoned the funnel and did a Google search for “Andrew Neitlich.”
I easily found an About Us section for the company he founded, that provides a solid bio on this guy.
I’ve got lots to say about About Us pages. Perhaps that’s best saved for another post.
To the point, my opinion is that people do NOT want to read about you. They want to read about themselves and you need to constantly make that connection for them on your About Us page.
But for the purposes of giving your prospect enough information about you to understand that you really are legit, give them most of what’s on this list …
1) A story about something relevant and GREAT that you’ve done
2) Why you do what you do–what makes you good at it
3) When it comes to your business, tell them what’s important to you (for instance, for me personally, it’s my reputation. I really want to be known as someone who puts a lot of effort and commitment into their work. But for you, it may be spreading your knowledge, a superior experience, or whatever else you want).
4) Explain your approach to what you do–if it’s unique
5) Your history, credentials (education), and background–try not to let this part bore them to tears!
None of this is rocket science or outside of the norm for what you should be doing on your websites, but some of these examples were hard to get! It might be common sense — but it sure isn’t common practice.
Give your website a serious business check-up and make sure you’re hitting all of these notes.
And be honest with yourself. I know there are things I can improve on my site. I’ve got amazing testimonials that I haven’t put up there. I’m not the only one who puts these things on the back burner.
Let this article serve as your kick in the rear to get those elements up and working to support the funnels that you put so much effort into!
Should any of this affect the way you build your funnels?
Nope.
The goal of your landing page copy is still immediate conversion.
However, what I’ve pointed out to you today provides some guidelines on smart things you can do to SUPPORT those funnels.
Is it difficult to connect you or your business with your funnel?
If you make it easier to connect those dots, does your conversion increase?
TEST IT!
My entire point here today is that you can connect the dots for your prospects if you put the smallest bit of effort into it.
Make sure these elements are present to support what you’re focusing so hard on … your funnels.
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