by Zoe Zorka
Traffic might be a dirty word when you’re behind the wheel, but for those at the helm of a business, it’s the be-all and end-all of success. In fact, every marketing effort from SEO through to social media campaigns is tailored towards backing up traffic as far as humanly possible.
Unfortunately, even businesses who enjoy healthy levels of traffic don’t always see results off the back of their clearly successful efforts elsewhere. Here, we’re going to consider what roadblocks could create this lead/diversion dichotomy, and how you can overcome them.
Possibility 1 - Your website’s more confusing than a motorway
With fast lanes and limited turnoffs, most of us avoid motorways. Even if we accidentally find ourselves on them, we turn off at the first chance, right? Well, it’s just possible that your website navigation is having the same effect. If getting around or even finding basic information is like trying to cross into the fast lane on a rush-hour motorway, no one’s actually going to stick around long enough to convert. They’ll just click right off to find an easier way around, typically through your competitors. To avoid this, it’s essential to perfect simple website navigation. Design plays a big part in this, so it’s always worth working with a web design agency, but you’ll also need to make sure that your content itself spells things out instead of taking every lead that comes your way around the houses and back out again.
Possibility 2 - Convoluted communications are keeping the red light on
Technical problems happen, and most customers will likely still buy from you if they can get in touch to solve issues right away. However, if they have to wait for callbacks, email replies, etc., they’re guaranteed to just go elsewhere. In this sense, immediate communication is a must even if you’re operating from a small business or limited workforce. Automated chatbots that cover a range of common questions can help here, but with 70% of customers still preferring in-person calls, it’s also worth taking the time to find a good small business answering service that can either handle your call overflows or altogether take calls off your to-do list. This way, you ensure that even unavoidable setbacks don’t stop your traffic from flowing freely.
Possibility 3 - There’s too far to go before checkout
When we tap in our end destinations on a sat nav, most of us will opt for the fastest route. Equally, if customers have to fill out excessive checkout forms or type their bank details by hand, they’ll probably bypass you for a company with a simpler checkout process. Overcome this by implementing fast pay checkout options like PayPal or Google Pay, and even enabling account creation, to ensure that customers fly through your checkout without even thinking about detouring to another company.
Traffic creation is a primary marketing focus, but it doesn’t create conversions in itself. For that, you need to delve a little deeper into the sales route and ask truly whether any of these roadblocks are getting in your way.
