Diagnosing problems on a lead generating website
On a typical lead generating website there are 5 situations where visitors can be running into obstacles that prevent them from achieving their goals, thus leading them to abandon the persuasion process.
Scenarios |
Common Problems
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Preventive or corrective measures
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Finding
Visitors can’t find the right area of the site where the product is described. |
Search engine ranking is not effective Internal search engine is not accurate Website navigation is confusing |
Improve Search Engine Optimization
Improve internal keyword search to highlight products
Simplify navigation. Merge similar functions together. Group related items together.
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Selecting
You aren’t giving visitors enough information to select the right products for them. They can’t tell the difference between your offerings.
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Similar product images
Similar product descriptions Too many options to choose from Product descriptions are not well formatted
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Reduce distractions, remove distracting elements on the web page
Provide a product comparison feature
Reduce number of options presented
Write clear descriptions with good text formatting (one-column mode, paragraph breaks, bullet points, …)
When showing multiple offers, emphasize a product suggestion
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Deciding
Visitors can’t decide if the selected product is going to meet their needs or desires. |
Unclear unique value proposition
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Describe benefits of using the product instead of product features
Provide trust, security
Show examples of product usage or product application
Use testimonials from other customers
Try telling for who is the product appropriate instead of targeting everyone
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Submitting Visitors don’t know how to manifest they are interested in a product.
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Confusing or unclear Call to Actions
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Clear, distinctive Call to Actions Repeat Call to Actions but be careful not to clutter the interface |
Checkout
Visitors can’t complete the submission process to place an information, quote or demo request. |
Complex form filling
Long forms Lack of trust
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Reduce friction in forms, improve clear and non-blocking error messages, …
Question if each form field is really necessary and remove as many fields as possible.
Improve form usability
Do inline validation instead of delaying error messages
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