They say, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”
And although there are days when you have no desire to go anywhere and just want somebody to give you the bloody fish (preferably cooked), if you want to survive, you need to learn the skill of fishing eventually.
And by “survive,” I mean have a website that gets you new business.
And by “fish” vs “fishing” I mean “quick website tips” vs “fundamental understanding of what makes a website attract new clients.”
So today, we are going to learn some fishing — the kind of lessons I usually share only with my clients who hire me for a professional website review.
How to structure your web pages to convert more prospects into fish customers
Wouldn’t it be cool if you knew exactly what your prospects need you to tell them to buy / hire you?
I came to tell you that it’s possible (to some extent). Which is great news because if you give them what they want they’ll give you what you want (their money).
Here’s how it works.
4 levels your prospects pass on the way to becoming clients
When a prospect lands on your web page, she embarks on a mini-journey where she goes through 4 consecutive levels (like in a computer game):
- What is this?
- Sounds interesting. Tell me more!
- Ok, but can I trust you?
- I’m ready to buy. What next?
…followed by them handing you their money.
Not everyone will reach the last level, though.
Some just won’t be your ideal clients, and that’s fine. But some will slip away despite being a great lead.
How can you “catch” more of those?
Tell them what they need to know about your offer to get to the next level.
This matrix should help you decide what those things are, depending on the level your prospects are on:
Level 1: “What is this?”
This is a question your visitors ask themselves when they land on every page on your website.
It can be fundamental, as in “What is this website about?”. Or just a “What is this page?”.
Your job here is to answer this question appropriately.
Can you see what “appropriately” means according to the matrix?
It means that you should answer this question:
- in a clear, relevant and valuable way
- while keeping things functional (i.e. nothing breaks, everything is intuitive to use, design doesn’t get in the way)
- and mention benefits (in case of a fundamental “What is it?”).
Examples:
- On your homepage, tell your prospects what you do and what’s the benefit.
- On your Blog page, display the title of the page clearly (“Blog”) and tell them in one sentence what you blog about.
- On a Service page, state clearly in the title what the service is and add a one-liner reiterating the main benefit.
Stuff like that.
Notice how you shouldn’t start answering the possible questions your prospects may have about your offer before you tell them what it is.
Level 2: “I’m interested. Tell me more!”
After you’ve covered the “What is it” part, now it’s time to have an in-depth conversation about your offer:
While staying clear, relevant and valuable:
- expand on the benefits of your offer
- answer the potential questions
- counter anticipated objections.
Examples:
- On your homepage, add a paragraph explaining your offer or, if your offer is simple, add a featured Services section, which will implicitly tell your prospects more about what you offer.
- On a “money” page (aka any page that is “selling” your visitors your offer, e.g., Services, free eBook, a course, etc.), show your prospects you know their problems and talk about how your offer will solve them while addressing potential questions and objections.
- On a discovery page (Blog, Contact, blog posts), tell them whatever they came to your page for. Which means, for example, that you shouldn’t add About me snippets covering half of the screen on a Blog page or before every blog post.
Level 3. “Ok, but can I trust you?”
Great. It looks like your offer is exactly what your prospects need. But they aren’t sure whether they can trust you.
So, your job here is to show them some proof: Credible client testimonials and/or case studies. (All these badges-smadges don’t work nearly as well as the “word of client”.)
Examples:
- On your homepage, after your Services section.
- On a “money” page, sprinkle 2-3 testimonials throughout the “Tell me more!” section if it’s a long page. Or add 1-2 testimonials next to the claims you made within/after you’ve talked in detail about the benefits of your offer.
The not-so-secret door to level 4
To go from level 3 to level 4, your prospects will need a clearly visible door.
Has it ever happened to you?
You’re stuck on a level in a computer game and don’t know how to reach the next level. Later, it turns out there was a secret door you haven’t noticed.
The same will happen to your prospects if you don’t show them the door to the next level – a call to action button.
“Contact me”, “View services”, “Download your ebook”. These are the doors that a prospect who’s ready to take it to the next level needs to see to be actually able to do it.
So, don’t forget to “install” your doors and make them clearly visible, avoiding these CTA copy mistakes.
Level 4: “I’m ready. What next?”
OMG, can you believe it? They are ready to give you their money!
Now, let’s not screw it up.
This level can look different depending on your offer. It can be:
- a contact form right on your sales page
- your Contact page your prospects got redirected to when they clicked “Contact me” button
- or the whole check-out process.
Basically, whatever area or task your visitors are looking at or trying to complete when they’re ready to convert.
Your job here? To shut up stop talking and make the rest of their journey as simple and as transparent as possible.
Examples:
- Clear contact forms that work.
- Contact page that tells them how they can contact you (not how awesome you are), what your office hours are and how fast you’ll respond.
- A transparent check-out process that displays all additional costs upfront.
How can you use this today to improve your website
Good question! Here are a couple of things you can do.
Identify spots where your prospects’ journey gets cut short
Open a “money” page on your website (for ex., a service page) and check whether:
- Are you taking your prospects through all 4 levels? If yes, are you doing it in the right order?
- Are you telling them what they need to know on each level (see the matrix)?
- Is your copy always clear, relevant and valuable? (If not, use these quick ways to improve your copy).
- Are you sure the design isn’t getting in the way?
Correct these mistakes
(Notice how all of them violate the rules of the matrix)
- Don’t start answering potential questions about your offer before you’ve clearly told people what this offer is
- Don’t give pages vague or unexpected titles. For ex., an About page should be called “About” or “About me”, not “Would you like to have benefit X?”
- Don’t use hollow client testimonials. Your client testimonials should reiterate the benefits and address possible objections, and not just say “Jane is awesome!”
- Don’t talk about the benefits of your offer or how awesome you are when your prospects have reached level 4 and are ready to give you their money or send the inquiry
Do all these tips make your head spin? Use this shortcut.
Not sure what to put on your homepage? Tired of rewriting your About page? Don’t know how to structure your service pages?
This website content checklist gives you a clear road map for the 9 most important pages on your website and tells you what to write on which page (and how).
- A handy PDF with 200+ checkpoints for the 9 most important pages of your website
- Super-specific content creation tips
- Summary checklists to track progress
