| One of the biggest problems on websites, especially | | | | 3. A home page that answers these basic questions: |
| coaching websites, is a high bounce rate. | | | | "What is this?", "Is this for me?", and "Why should I be |
| A bounce rate is the rate at which people simply | | | | here?" Your tagline, website name, home-page copy, |
| "bounce" off of your website; specifically, your home | | | | and even the choice of words in the navigation can |
| page. For instance, a person might land on your home | | | | help answer these questions. |
| page and won't click further to any other pages. | | | | Now that your visitor is grounded, he's ready to |
| The impact is obvious. When people bounce off of | | | | continue. Your home page needs to lead the prospect |
| your site, they don't spend time or take any action. | | | | to another page. |
| They don't subscribe to your email list. They don't ask | | | | The essence of getting people to take action is to |
| for a free session. They don't buy a product. Quite | | | | know what they want, and what you want. Then |
| simply, it's a waste of your marketing efforts. | | | | devise a next-step plan that'll help achieve both. |
| The main cause of high bouncing is confusion. Many | | | | Let's say you want visitors to sign up for a free |
| home pages aren't clear, aren't easy to look at or read, | | | | session. And, as you know, your visitors have |
| and don't lead visitors to other pages. | | | | challenges they want to overcome. To get them to |
| A successful home page gets visitors clicking deeper | | | | move towards this action, you'll want to lead them |
| into the website. To do this, the home page needs to | | | | onto a page that shows that you understand their |
| ground people and direct them to the next page. | | | | situation; that you know where they want to go; that |
| Three things that get visitors engaged are: | | | | you have a method to do this; and that you've helped |
| 1. Pages that download quickly. Slow-loading websites | | | | others like them. |
| give visitors time to get distracted and/or think your | | | | Another example is to invite people to sign up for your |
| website doesn't work. It must open up in a few | | | | email list and grow a relationship, providing helpful |
| seconds. | | | | information over time. |
| 2. Professional-looking pages. A professional design | | | | Whatever the action you want visitors to take, be sure |
| says you're a serious coach. It says a serious effort | | | | to make that button or link stand out. |
| has been made to help the client; meaning, there's | | | | The bottom line: confusion and lack of clarity cause |
| probably value here. Keep your layout simple. Use | | | | visitors to hit the road before exploring your services. |
| easy-to-read fonts; have an easy-to-follow navigation; | | | | Make sure you ground visitors and lead them into your |
| and use two to three colors that are attractive and | | | | website to build a relationship that ultimately leads them |
| appealing. | | | | to hiring you as their coach. |