Concerned about how customers react to your website?

What are potential customers saying about your website?  More importantly, what are they NOT saying about your site?  It’s a good business practice to explore how potential and current customers react to your website.

Don’t take silence as positive feedback

It’s great when customers comment about your website without you first asking questions about it because then you know it made a real impact.  I want to take some time to explore the other end of the spectrum by thinking about the potential and current customers who are NOT saying anything to you.  Just because you don’t hear any complaints, doesn’t mean they love your website.

A short time ago I had a business owner tells me no one had ever complained about his website or said they didn’t like it so he took that to mean they liked his website.  I say, not so fast.  Don’t take the absence of complaints as an endorsement of your website.

Do first time visitors stick around?

I really don’t know many potential customers who would go out of their way to complain about your website (I am referring to new customers here-not long time customers).  I think most people who land on your website for the first time and can’t find what they’re looking for or find the navigation doesn’t work will simply leave the site.  Studies show 1st time visitors rarely stick around when there’s a problem with a website.

It could be that it isn’t mobile friendly, doesn’t function well, there’s not enough information or it just simply looks terrible.  After all, they don’t know your business and there’s always another website to look at so why would they bother wasting time on a bad website that doesn’t work properly?  (The answer is -they won’t).

First impressions count

Let’s face it, your website is more for new potential customers than for current customers and these people don’t know anything about your business-except what they will learn from your website and the impression it makes upon them.

If a large portion of potential customers are leaving before contacting your business, that’s a problem.  While you can’t possibly know how many people are leaving your site, you CAN look at the analytics to help you figure out what’s wrong.

Questions to help pinpoint the problem.

• Are lots of people finding your site yet you never get any calls or anyone filling out the contact form?
• Do you have a large bounce rate? (Bounce rate is the number of people landing on your site and leaving without going to another page.)
• What is the average time spent on your site?
• What is your percentage of visitors from mobile devices? (look at both phones and tablets)

Some business owners would rather be in the dark than know the truth but that’s not a good way to run your business.  It will only hurt your business as the problems don’t magically go away-you need to be proactive and find a solution.

What do you want to hear from customers?

It’s definitely not good to take “no comment” as a sign your website is fine.  Actually, when people use the word “fine” it usually means it’s ok but nothing spectacular.  I don’t know about you but I want customers to have a terrific experience on our website; so much so that when they call or email, they mention how wonderful the website is.

How you can improve your website

Instead of letting your website wither like an unwatered plant, make sure you water it regularly by updating the content and making sure it works in all browsers and on all devices.  Always be aware of how potential customers react to your website and be proactive to ensure they have a positive experience.

Don’t be satisfied with silence; make your website so wonderful that new customers can’t wait to tell you how much they loved it or how much better it is than your competitors.  That kind of comment would really make your day, wouldn’t it?