Website not converting to enquiries

Log in to reply
S

simonr

  • #1
    The title says it all.

    At the moment, our public presentation skills training site is doing well on Google etc and is (therefore?) generating enough enquiries per week to keep us busy. However, there are two reasons for wanting to improve its performance
    • new staff are going to be available by the end of the summer; and
    • it's just a crying shame to waste visitors! ;)
    Can anyone spot what it is about the site that means the visitor-to-enquiry ratio isn't better. (Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, it's just not high as I want it!). Actually, come to think about it, does anyone know what a 'reasonable' such ratio would be? Ours might be good after all!

    S
     
    Scott-Copywriter

    Scott-Copywriter

    Free Member
    May 11, 2006
    9,605
    2,673
  • #2
    I can already spot some issues.

    1). The copy seems too long for the front page to me. Most of it seems to be in an FAQ format which could be condensed and put into a different page. Anchor tags could also be used there to state the questions of potential clients and to give the answers in the most efficient way possible, that's what they will want.

    2). Doesn't seem to me that the first few paragraphs are as efficient as they could be to grab the attention of visitors. I think you would be much better off stating the very powerful benefits of presentation skills training as soon as possible. Theres nothing there which tells me how I will benefit from getting the training, it seems to me like the copy is telling you that you will be able to just 'do' presentations if you get the training. It doesn't say how you will benefit, how you will excel with improvements and how it will improve business (winning new clients with better presentations for example).

    3). Too much text. Everywhere I look is just lumps of text everywhere, it all blends in and makes the page much harder to read overall. Theres no real layout either. A newly designed website with all the text broken up into seperate areas will probably work wonders.

    4). The menu seems far too bland to me. It doesn't stand out and I could easily mistake it for another block of text. To take the visitor through the journey of your website you need to make pages and links stand out through format and use of wording. You would be much better off making the menu more vibrant so you can draw attention to the offers available and other information.

    Hope it helps :)
     
    Upvote 0
    G

    Gavin Harris

  • #4
    Hi Simon,

    As has been said above, there's too much copy on the front page.

    Don't forget that a visitor will give you just 8 seconds to decide whether to stay or go.

    I'd work at doing the following:

    1. Keeping as much as possible (preferably everything) "above the fold" - ie, the front page doesn't require scrolling.

    2. Send visitors off to a different page as soon as possible. Hook them in, and then direct them off to where you want them to go.

    If someone is visiting your site, are they doing so because they are specifically looking for public speaking lessons? If so, then don't waste the first line telling them why they need lessons, instead tell them why you're the best at offering it. After all, they've already decided that they need lessons.

    Hope this helps - feel free to PM me if you'd like some more in-depth advice.

    Regards,

    Gavin
     
    Upvote 0
    S

    simonr

  • #7
    Thanks everyone - must admit I wasn't expecting a unimanity of opinion! Makes it much easier to decide whose advice to take though.... :D

    A weekend re-write coming up, I think.

    S

    PS: If I strip out a lot of text, won't that bug our SEO?
     
    Upvote 0

  • #8
    The main problem I see is the lack of ANY call to action.
    What are you asking the customer to do?

    Unless you tell them what to do they are highly unlikely to do it!

    What do you want them to do, and what benefit are you selling for them to do it :You need to tell them to sign up or ring and why it is in THEIR interests to do it.

    The second problem I see is the lack of benefits driven copy.

    Sure you talk about what the presentation course IS, and who needs it.
    There is almost a total lack of saying why they should and what BENEFITS they will get out of it.

    What benefits are you selling?

    Now you can present with Confidence!, Wouldnt you love to get an audience hanging on every word you say!, The power of persuasion!.

    And where is the powerful headline?

    Finally the zeigernik effect says you want to drop all that stuff on the left, to the bottom, to get a single flow of sales pitch.
     
    Upvote 0
    directmarketingadvice

    directmarketingadvice

    Free Member
    Aug 2, 2005
    10,887
    3,530
  • #10
    Firstly, as I scroll down the page, the very LH side of the main copy goes missing (starting with the word "Curved" - half the "c" is missing).

    Secondly, I don't think there's too many words.

    He's running a course, so he's got to tell the visitor what the course is about.

    Thirdly, I like the "FAQ approach."

    Having said all that:

    (1) I think there's a lot on the page that's redundant and could be cut.

    (2) The page could do with a headline.

    (3) The beginning of the copy is too heavy on the "away motivation". It should also talk to the "towards" people.

    (4) The call to action is too vague and is undersold.

    (5) While I think you should have a fair amount of copy on your homepage, I think you should should have a clear path that takes people from the homepage to another page and then another page and then to the order/enquiry form.

    Finally, you should spell check the site, I noticed 2 typos.

    Hope this helps,

    Steve
     
    Upvote 0

  • #12
    SteveGibson said:
    Secondly, I don't think there's too many words.


    Steve
    Click to expand...

    Agree with Steve.

    There is not too much text

    It is a matter of getting the right text, and a simple clear path from an attention grabber to a call to action.

    I also think it is not just the stuff on the left that is distracting: the pictures on the right also distract from the flow of the sales message, and should be integrated into it.
     
    Upvote 0
    S

    superman

  • #16
    sirearl said:
    I have a similar problem to Simonr with this site

    http://www.volkspart.co.uk/adwrap.htm

    Earl
    Click to expand...

    I had a look at your site earl and I kept being distracted by the rotating car image while I was trying to read the text. I actually found the gallery page the better page to read, I think the pictures of the previous jobs you've done are going to be a big selling tool. Like simonr site, I think you need a bit more design and structure to your website, it is possible to do and still keep it very search engine frendly.
     
    Upvote 0
    directmarketingadvice

    directmarketingadvice

    Free Member
    Aug 2, 2005
    10,887
    3,530
  • #17
    It has excellent traffic but the conversion rate is rubbish,any advice would be much appreciated.
    Click to expand...

    Presumably most of your traffic is coming from vehicle wrapping terms (ie the stuff that's in your meta-title).

    They then arrive at the page and get told about vehicle wrapping.

    Is that really what they're after?

    Or are they already interested in vehicle wrapping and are looking for an offer?

    My guess is that the sales will come from the latter but that these people get taken back a step in the selling process and, because there's not an obvious way out of that (e.g. scrolling to the bottom doesn't seem to provide a "click here to ..."), they leave.

    Or they try clicking on a couple of pages and then leave.

    Does this theory match what you're seeing?

    Finally, it a fairly "harsh" looking page with different fonts and centred text, so it's not easy on the eye. And that isn't going to help.

    Steve
     
    Upvote 0

  • #18
    many thanks Steve and superman for your helpfull comments.your quite right about the tags e.t.c we have No2 on the god engine for "vehicle wrapping" and high rankings for most of the assocciate key word terms.


    The trouble with us old SEO is that once we get up there we are loathe to make any changes in case god don't shine on us anymore,

    And we ain't got a clue about good web design.We just write loads of gobbldy gook for the spiders.

    cheers

    Earl
     
    Upvote 0
    J

    JustOneUK

  • #19
    SimonR, There is a layout problem with your site. Try viewing it in 800x600 resolution to see what I mean. The logo moves and the main content container needs some left padding. Layout issues would be the main reason why I wouldn't purchase from a website. To me it means they haven't even checked their own site properly.
     
    Upvote 0
    J

    JustOneUK

  • #21
    I use 1024 and IE6. Normally I surf with the favourites menu open which makes it worse as your logo moves but the main text is definately in need of re-aligning.
    Starts... "What does your presentation training course help me do?"

    image1gm5.gif


    note: If this image breaks Sirearls' PC..too bad ;)
     
    Upvote 0
    S

    simonr

  • #22
    Thanks - I'll bung some one/some time onto it. A particular thanks for taking the time to generate a screengrab.

    I think it might be my fault, actually, as I started "mucking about" in response to some of the feedback here - and it looks as though I broke something. No idea what it might be though, as the layout of the site a] doesn't look like your screengrab (in terms of the code - it obviously does visually!) and b] I'm using exactly your set-up now and it's fine. Bother!!

    S
     
    Upvote 0
    Log in to reply

    Latest Articles

    Top Bottom
    Community
    Articles
    Menu