Turning One Time Visitors Into Return Customers Through Web Design and Content
Chris Mulvaney is the CEO of CMDS. I make things... I’m the creative entrepreneur with passion for (re)making brands and inventing solutions to problems no one knows exist.
Turning One Time Visitors Into Return Customers Through Web Design and Content
Find out how to keep customers coming back for more.
Keep ‘em Coming Back for More
Retention. That’s the goal for any business. This is especially true since studies have shown that it can cost five to 25 times as much to attract a new customer than it does to keep an existing one. It makes sense. Yet, too many businesses spend most of their time and money on chasing down new customers instead of nurturing the ones they already have.
It can be an ongoing struggle.
As an important part of your customer retention strategy, website design and content can make a big impression. And, to make that impression a good one, it’s vital to understand the five W’s — who, what, when, where, why (and how). Want to turn one time visitors into return and loyal customers?
Are You Marketing to The Right Audience?
Did you know? Selling to an existing customer has a success rate of between 60-70%, while the success rate of selling to a new prospect is only 5-20%!
Start Marketing the Right Way >>
Define the Who, Why, What, When, Where… and How
Similar to the physical location of any business, online presence plays a big role in showcasing your brand. This is true whether you’re a large pharmaceutical company or local cafe.
Website design and content will help you convert visitors into customers. But it should answer the five W’s:
- Who? – Returning visitors are invested beyond a curious click.
- Why? – Why do visitors want what you have to offer?
- What? – Fulfill their needs, wants and desires..but keep it short and sweet.
- When? – Is your website design and content relevant to the timing when people are searching for it?
- Where? – Your website should serve the needs of both new visitors and returning customers.
- …and How? – How are you going to make this happen?
What Would Happen If You Turned Off All Your Paid Ads?
Do you think your traffic would drop? It would – if your marketing tactics are solely focused on generating new visitors instead of returning visitors.
The Who
Who is your primary website visitor? This is the most important question to answer because everything else you do will stem from your response to this question. Yes, your customers are the obvious answer. However, do you know how to connect with those people?
Website design and quality content can help you build trust and establish relationships with repeat customers. The key is to use that content to connect with (and lure) your customers so they keep coming back to you (and not your competitors) for more.
Returning visitors are invested beyond a curious click. Capture their attention with a sleek website design, gain their trust with quality content and they’ll visit your website again. Now you have the opportunity to upsell, cross-sell, and turn them into loyal customers.
Why Should They Care?
Perhaps you have already defined your own “why.” But have you thought about your customer’s “why?” It is just as important.
The Why
Of course, when you have a clearly defined “why,” your customers and prospects have a good understanding of your mission. This not only allows you to stand out from your competitors but also gain trust with your customers.
But, have you given the same amount of thought to your customer’s “why?” Why are they visiting your website? And why do they want what you have to offer?
Really, why should they care?
Your customers aren’t buying from you just because you claim to have the best product or service available. They want to know how it will benefit them and solve their problems. So, stop guessing what your audience wants and start understanding their true needs. To do this, you need to create a strategic buyer persona.
Does Your Website Solve Their Pain Points?
Find out how your website design can attract the right audience and keep them engaged.
The What
To define the “what,” you first need to first know the “who” and the “why.” What need, want and desire does your brand fulfill? What are their pain points? And what can you do to solve them?
The instant a new visitor lands on your website, it should be abundantly clear what product or service you’re offering and how you can help. If visitors experience any friction in an attempt to figure it out, you just lost.
Your job as a business is to predict what prospects and customers will search for so you can be the first answer they see. Keywords are a powerful SEO guide to provide a better understanding of what people are looking for and allow you to leverage their pain points in content and online ads. Now, the next time they are looking for the services you offer, they choose you without hesitation.
Take the Guesswork Out Of It
Did you know, on the first page alone, the first 5 organic results account for over 67% of all the clicks.
The When
The average website visitor has the attention span of a fly. Really though, did you know that 55 percent of visitors spend less than 15 seconds on a website? Fifteen seconds. Regardless of your industry, or what kind of product or service you offer, brands today are dealing with an extremely small window of time before visitors say sayonara.
You’ve heard it before. First impressions are huge. So huge, in fact, when a visitor lands on your website, you have only a matter of seconds to make a positive first impression, satisfy the curiosity of those visitors, and get them to click. That means website design needs to be as straightforward and frictionless as possible. Help your customers find what they need without expending too much effort. Accomplish this…and they’ll be back for more.
First impressions are powerful, and what your website looks like can create a good impression or drive visitors away.
The Where
There’s no denying the fact that your website is a huge component of your brand’s marketing strategy. More than likely, your website design has been crafted to appeal to first-time visitors. But, your homepage is a common entry point where both new and returning visitors will be looking for answers.
Rather than trying to find a balance with your website content to appeal to everyone, customized landing pages with unique call to actions can be effective techniques to serve the needs of both new visitors and returning customers.
At the end of the day, brands need to cover all of their bases and make it effortless for visitors to find what they are looking for. Make them work too hard and you can be sure that they won’t be back.
Win Them Over with the Right Website Design
Are you tailoring website content to new and returning customers alike?
The How
The early stages of building a brand can be exciting and slightly terrifying at the same time. Exciting because watching your brand grow is exhilarating. New website visitors? YES! Social media followers? SCORE! But, terrifying too, because figuring out how to turn those first-time website visitors into repeat customers can be daunting if you’re unfamiliar with the how.
Are you getting your message across to your target market?
At CMDS, we’re here to help you make the entire process a lot more strategic and a lot less stressful.