Is your website living up to its full potential?
Many websites give 100’s of irrelevant options to the user. When was the last time you checked your website analytics? Maybe the better question is, do you have any type of analytics platforms set up for your website. If not, get with your web developer and have him implement a simple 3 sentence HTML code that Google provides and set up the best analytics software available, Google analytics.
I would like to give you a couple of radical ideas that could increase you sites conversions and reduce your bounce rate. Now, if you aren’t currently monitoring any analytics for your site you may not even be aware of what bounce rate is. The bounce rate of a page is fairly simple. It is a percentage of how many visitors come to your site and then immediately leave. They can leave for a number of different reasons but usually they leave because they did not find what they were looking for. Example, there was a point in time where I was bidding on the keyword “mortgage rates” which I have no where on my site. Because of this the bounce rate on visits from that keyword purchase was extremely high. I obviously had two choices, add mortgage rates to my site or discontinue the bidding of that keyword. I chose to stop the bidding on that keyword. I stopped bidding on this keyword for the same reason why you need to update your web-page.
I have a friend that has a popular e-commerce site, which sells tennis gear and apparel www.doittennis.com, he has been working on perfecting is PPC campaigns and noticed that he was spending money on keywords that did not convert. He also found that specific keywords that may have lower impressions, but that were “buy keywords” converted at a much higher rate and generated a higher ROI. Illuminating the the lower converting keyword bids saved him time, money and lost opportunity.
So here is my advice to you, cut out the crap! Really, get rid of it. Make it simple. Seth Godin, points out the “small is the new big” and he is absolutely right. I like to put a slight twist on his quote and say, “simple is the way to go”. There are service out there that will set you up with a template website and it will include all the bells and whistles, such as an A La Mode xSite. These site are, in my opinion a waste of money. If you want a corporate site that does not generate leads than fine, but last I checked we all want to generate your own leads.
So first you need to set up Google analytics on your site. You than need to dive into it and find what consumers are doing on your site. Are they coming to your page and then bolting? If so, they are probably becoming overwhelmed with too many choices or just not finding what they want.
My suggestion is to simplify. Give the visitor to your site 3 choices immediately:
Your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) This should be placed in the top left section on the site and should should stand out. This could be a tag-line, a special offer, or 2-3 bullet points.
A box that include the first three questions of a lead form. (See LowerMyBills)
Give them 3 choices and make these choices bold and easy to figure out. An example would be: Special Products, Rates, Definitions, About the Company. Each page should have some corresponding call to action, “Want more rates?” “Lock in your rate today”, “Learn more about ‘company’”.
My second suggestion is to test different images, formats and USP on the home-page. The key to a successful website is testing. Try different colors too. Obviously you will need to stay to true to your corporate colors however test different colors for your call to action buttons. Many people will tell you that red is the best color for call to action buttons, but I want to tell you now that all websites are different and you can not assume this will be true for your site or even every page on your site.
I know many of you guys where many different hats out of necessity and are thinking when am I going to find the time to do this? Well, I don’t know…lol. I would suggest first, if you don’t have a website , find a developer that is fluent in Internet Marketing, not only design. Second, spend an hour a week reviewing your analytics and looking for ways you to increase your sites conversions.
If you have any further questions let me know or if you would like me to evaluate your site and give a few tips, shoot over an email to me a info at leadcritic dot com.
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You are absolutely right that there is little to no value in a templated web site that does nothing but acts as a pretty brochure. However, our Mortgage XSites don’t fit into that box.
We’re very proud of our Mortgage XSites, which are anything but static. On the lead-generation side, our Mortgage and other XSites offer lead capture through email forms, SMS, and blogging. We entice visitors with 18 mortage calculators. And we’re rolling out on-site chat in a few weeks.
To get people to your XSite, we offer the newly-revamped XSites Network, with geographical search capabilities, very high SE visibility, and great SE trust factors. LOs love the referrals they get from the XSites Network.
On the back end, our Office Level Mortgage XSites offer completely seamless Calyx and other LOS integration with the XSites Desktop product. LOs can spend more time following up on these great leads and less time on the phone because their clients can log in and see their loan status automatically. If you use Calyx, you don’t even have to log into your XSite. Just change it in Calyx and it updates the clients’ files on your XSite.
We offer a free version of our Originator XSite that any LO can set up and use forever, for free. And if you want a demo of our Office Level product with Calyx integration and integrated lead management, just let me know. I’ll set you up. You can see how amazing our Calyx integration and autostatus features are for yourself, without risking a penny. We don’t even need a credit card to get you started.
You can do all the web site marketing ideas you suggest with a Mortgage XSite, and much more. Give us a try – you won’t regret it.
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I don’t mean to be rude but blah blah blah blah. What a sales pitch. you entice consumers with 18 mortgage calculators? That is exactly my point. That is BS and fluff, but I will admit on some level useful tools to have. From the examples I couldn’t find, which were difficult in itself to find even on your own site, there was practically NO call to actions. The navigation of the sites were ridiculous. Listen there are plenty of fun calculators and check lists to add but very few of them generate leads. I take that back, they could if they were set up properly and your sites do not do that. I am sure there is plenty of functionality to the sites and the integration with Calyx sounds great, but none of it means anything if the site does not generate leads. These site are not Lead Generation sites.
These sites are fine for the small guy who wants all the bells and whistle, but bells and whistles don’t generate leads and may even force people away from the site because they can not find what they are looking for in 3 seconds.
I assume xSites have some type of analytics platform on the back end right?
I would love to see the stats on a basic xSite. I can guarantee that the bounce rate is high. I am sure the people that do stay on the site stay there for a long time because they can’t find what they want, but do you provide this type of data??
I also really want to know why it is extremely difficult to find website examples and many of the links take me to the sign up page instead?
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I guess the proof of anything is the pudding. Any LO can get a free Originator Level XSite, which includes a 20 day trial of our big seller, the Office Level.
Get it for free, and you can test drive the analytics, all the lead generation features, the Calyx Point integration, the XSites Desktop, the DirectFax tools, and the dozens of other features nobody else offers at any price. You don’t have to take our word for it (or anyone else’s) – you can see it for yourself, with absolutely no risk. Check it out.
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To People reading this exchange please take notice: They (Dan, xSites) don’t fully understand consumer behavior and how a website should be set up. This should be a perfect example. All Dan wants to do is get you in a free trial and can not show proof that the xSite has a low bounce rate and visitors to the site convert well.
All the features they offer are nice, but are completely useless if not set up properly and on xSites they are not. The websites are a mess.
If you want a website, and it is difficult to find a good designer, hire someone that is fluent in Internet marketing and consumer behavior as well as graphic design.
If you want a quick website property go get a template website that you don’t even own and that 1000 other brokers have too.
Dan please don’t respond with another sales pitch or offer.
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