3 things that your customers can’t find on your website

Here are our three top things that customers can’t find on your site.

Contact information

This seems a little obvious, but is often one feature that’s missing - what’s your phone number? Believe it or not, the best practice is to include it on every page in a consistent place, such as the top right corner. We’ve heard clients question this, and fear it gets repetitive, but it means that no matter what page your visitors are on they have quick and easy access to your contact number.

This can go one step further if you have a physical address too. Have you ever been looking for a restaurant, found one with a great menu, but then had trouble finding out where they actually are? I know I have. So make it easy for your customers to find you. If you have a street address, like your phone number, make this obvious on every page.

Visitors to your site have so much information to absorb and digest - so make it as easy as possible for them. Have your contact details on a page called "contact". Seems obvious, yeah? Missing a clear "contact" link runs the risk of your customers not seeing the less-obvious "where we are" link you tried to include instead. Be clear, be direct, and keep it simple.

Best things you can do - consistently place your contact number on every page (and better yet, have it included in the design so that it is well-integrated), provide your street address, and include a "contact" link in your main menu.

What you do

Now this seems really obvious - but make sure your copy gets to the point. Visitors to your site can feel overwhelmed by an overly busy page, too much copy, or distracted by annoying popups (such as the ones that block the entire site and want you to subscribe to something) - side note, can the popups: they’re just annoying, and Google is starting to frown up on them.

With too many visuals or slabs of text, how can someone scan your site to find out what you do? If you’re a sparky or plumber, make sure your site has a clearly defined "services" area that is crystal clear at the services you provide. Makes sense, right?

When your specific skill set covers specific services, be direct and clear on your website so that customers know what you do, and can contact you as a more solid lead, rather than just a vague referral.

The product (or page) they’re looking for

Navigation throughout your site can make or break your customer’s browsing experience. If you’re selling products (and therefore have a big collection of products sorted in different categories), put yourself in your customer’s shoes. While you may want to organise your products to suit you and make your life easier, the smarter way to organise products is in logical categories for customers to browse. Your customers may not understand your organisational lingo or technical terms, so place them in a structure that makes sense to your customers - they’re the ones who need to find them easily, right?

When creating navigation on your site, be that for an online store or a traditional business website, keep your navigation consistent and include obvious and descriptive links. Always include a link back home, and don’t forget your contact page. "Who", "What" and "How" may seem like cool navigation items, but they lack context as well as any potential for search engine optimisation. A navigation structure that is designed for your site’s visitors will help them find what they’re after, and help your site be found more effectively by Google.

What next?

How many of these top three things can customers not find on your website? Ticked one? Maybe two? Or all three? Give us a call to have a chat about how we can help your customers find what they're looking for on your website.