Website Mistakes that Drive Customers Away

We've all had the unfortunate experience of finding a perfect product on a not-so-perfect website. After a closer look, we decide we don't really trust the seller, and move on to another site. If this was your website the customer abandoned, there are some simple changes you can make to stop that customer from leaving without making a transaction.

Provide Quality Content

As a potential customer reads your web page, his trustworthiness radar is scanning for content that either reassures or alarms him. If your content does any of these things, a potential customer is likely to scurry away:

The problem: Exaggerating or over-hyping the benefits of your product.

• The solution: Provide testimonials and customer reviews from real people, with names, photos, or links. If your company has been praised by a well-known business or person, mention it.

The problem: Using marketing that is high-pressure or manipulative, for example, a fake closing date for a discount or sale.

• The solution: If you promise something in your online marketing content, be sure you deliver it. Your content should always be polite and upbeat; never berate customers or criticize the competition.

The problem: Your content contains grammar and spelling errors.

• The solution: Don't cheap out on content. Poorly written content looks like you're not truly committed to your business or customers. Find a good writer to create your content if you are unable to do it yourself.

Prove You Can Be Trusted

The anonymous nature of the web, unfortunately, brings out scam artists and shady dealers. Buyers look for signs that indicate your trustworthiness. When you are selling anything online, you must absolutely provide two things--an SSL certificate that encrypts customer data, and the security badges of privacy companies, such as VeriSign and TRUSTe, which you use to secure your site.

Improve the Buying Experience

Once you have stellar content to engage potential customers, ensure that they easily find what they came for. Here are some specific problems and how to fix them:

The problem: The site is plastered with ads and other clutter. Even if the ads are for your own products, it is unprofessional and makes your website look unreliable. This holds true for popups and pop-unders as well. Even survey or questionnaire popups can annoy potential purchasers enough that they leave your site.

• The solution: Clear the clutter that distracts the buyer from his mission--buying a product from you.

The problem: It isn't immediately clear to the user what to click or where to go to get what he wants.

• The solution: Provide clear action links that guide the user through your site. Make all steps recognizable and easy to perform. The fewer CTRA (call to actions), the better your results will be.

The problem: The customer can't find customer service or contact information.

• The solution: Make customer service and contact information highly visible on every page. If you don't make it easy to answer questions that arise during the buying process, such as how returns are handled or what kind of shipping is provided, the buyer is likely to abandon his purchase.

Bad content and unclear direction turns prospects away. Look at your site from a potential customer's viewpoint and ask yourself if you would trust it enough to complete a transaction.

 

Sources:

Copy Blogger - 8 (Easily Avoidable) Ways to Lose Your Prospect's Trust
Wolf21 - Mistakes that can Make Your Website Look Untrustworthy
WebPageFX Blog - What Makes E-Commerce Sites Trustworthy?
WebPageFX Blog - Why Visitors are Leaving Your Site (and how you can prevent it)