Famous Bloggers

How To Blog and Start a Business

Home » The Famous Blog » One Simple Change That Can Increase Your Website ROI

One Simple Change That Can Increase Your Website ROI

- by

Website ROI

Have you ever been to a website and had an experience where you just don’t know what to click on? I swear I’ve been to some sites where there are so many things trying to grab my attention that it makes my eyes hurt.

It’s impossible to get a sense of what exactly it is the website owner wants you to do let alone enjoy the experience.

Are you making this mistake with your site?

Most websites and blogs start out pretty good. Remember when you’d just installed that theme? How clean was it?

After a while though, if you keep adding to your site, putting widgets in the sidebar, highlighting featured posts and adding newsletter signups, pretty soon you’ll start to lose focus on what the purpose of the site is.

Let’s take it back to basics…

One of the cornerstones of a great website is how well it converts visitors into customers.

And I don’t just mean selling something, but whatever your “conversion” is.

A conversion might mean selling a product, but it can also be disguised as getting someone to click on an ad, getting someone to go through an affiliate link, subscribe to a newsletter, or even call a phone number.

What is it you want your visitors to do?

I like to think of it like this:

If you conceptualise your website so that there is 1 major goal that covers your whole website, be it buying a product or subscribing someone to a newsletter, then you can clearly define what you want your visitors to do.

It’s this simple change, getting clear on a major goal for your website, that will help you in every other aspect of your website and marketing.

So do you know what the overall goal is for your website?

Now it’s time to take some hard action.

What is the one action you would have people take if you knew they couldn’t do anything else on your site?

Let us know in the comments, but don’t stop there…

Write down the one action you want people to take PLUS one thing you could change/do today to help increase the amount of people trying to do this action.

Image © iQoncept – Fotolia.com

About

Josh Kohlbach is a web developer and entrepreneur working in the WordPress space. He is also the owner of ThirstyAffiliates, a free plugin that helps bloggers cloak affiliate links.

Reader Interactions

Related Posts

{ 24 Responses }

  1. Nick Stamoulis says:
    A website should have a nice design and layout, but in many cases simple really is better. A website should lead a visitor down a path to conversion with clear call to actions. Don't assume that a visitor knows what to do next and don't include too much extra "stuff" that can distract them.
  2. Aditya says:
    Hey Josh, A website makes a huge impact on the visitor.It can be a long lasting impression or an impression with no benefits. To make things work (if they are not working) one have to re-think their strategies and use as much less adds which diverts the mind of a visitor.
  3. Amy Bales says:
    Great Post. I don't know how many people start off with that in mind, but then go off-course during their first few months. Sometimes you just need to take a step back and think about why you're posting and think what you're purpose is in the end for it. - Amy Bales, balescene.blogspot.com
  4. Anton Koekemoer says:
    Hi Josh, Segmentation and re-evaluation is key to adding that one “missing” aspect on your website. And taking it back to basics is a great way to start with the foundation of your goals and overall marketing plan.
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Hey Anton, You hit the nail on the head mate...
  5. Abhik says:
    "One Simple Change That Can Increase Your Website ROI" -Fine, but what's that change? In simple words, 'your attitude'.
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Well.. yes... but I think you need to read it again. That's not really the point of the article.
  6. Robert Koenig says:
    Totally right. People came, hopefully at least, to read your content, not accidentally click on the millions of links and pop ups and prompts built in. Plus, if your blog looks a little simpler, the mobile version is probably going to translate better.
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Popups and prompts are totally fine in my book as long as they have a purpose behind them. People should ask themselves, does the popup on my site help lead people a little further along the way to converting? If it's to gain email subscribers, what's the next step after becoming a subscriber? You're totally right though, simplifying the experience will lead to better conversions.
  7. Glen says:
    I can attest to being on those sites that are SERIOUSLY confusing. Actually, one of them was my own site. LOL! I admit, when I built my first few sites I didn't take the time to consider "what action I wanted my visitors to take." Thanks for reminding me that blogging is all about strategy, and being serious about what you're trying to accomplish.
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Too right Glen, in the beginning it's about strategy not tactics and lots of people forget that the simple strategy changes like what we're talking about here are worth more than the best tactics.
  8. Raina Bright says:
    This topic seems to be making the rounds - great job covering it by the way :) It's one of those things that can't really be stressed enough. So many businesses lose potential customers who might very well have been happy with their product, if only they could've navigated their way through the website.
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      You're right Raina, if you don't know what your end goal is for your visitors then you're losing customers (or subscribers, or newsletter subscribers, or leads, or whatever).
  9. Constance Khuzwayo says:
    There is nothing worse than being on the website that is full of ads and affiliation links where ever time you click something then taken to another website unwillingly
    • Ben Troy says:
      Sure, almost every readers feel annoyed when getting in a web loaded with ads, popup. I prefer the content marketing .
  10. Ben troy says:
    Of course, as with many things in all media,CONTENT IS KING. So make sure that your site is engaging , grab attention. You only have a few seconds. Visually take your searcher by the hand and lead them through the website through a common sense path to conversion.
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Hey Ben, You're dead on, content is what grabs the attention, so the question then becomes what are you going to do once you have their attention.
  11. Wayne Melton says:
    Guess I have to agree with focus on one thing you want visitors to do first. In my case it is a new blog and I am just building it. So coming back to get more information is probably my goal to start. I will use email optin on sidebar, footer, after posts, and on contact/about pages. Obviously at some point I want money and affliate sales but I always will need traffic and repeat traffic so the email will help me with that. Wayne Melton
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Hi Wayne, Why hold off on affiliate selling if it's going to be your eventual goal? My suggestion would be to make it your focus from the get-go. That way all the actions you are taking, like building a newsletter list to get people to come back to the site (great idea btw), will have an ultimate purpose.
  12. Dave Lucas says:
    I trust people visiting my site will be able to figure out what they want to click on - if not, they can always ask me in comments or facebook comments, or simply email me! I see no reason to simplify or dumb things down. Look at the uber-busy newspaper and magazine blogs and websites! They are LOADED with links of all kinds, yet people find what they want, advertisers are happy, and comments abound - without a single complaint about "oh gee, what should I click on!" People in 2012 are so much smarter than this article gives them credit for! Blog On!
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Hey Dave, Perfectly valid comment there. But what I'd say is that newspaper and magazine sites have a primary purpose of getting people to read the article. That's the overall goal, to get people hooked on the content and therefore it makes sense to load the site up with links to lots of great articles. That's probably also why you'll find many more link boxes than adverts and many many more links to articles than your average blog. Good point though, you're right on target. What I was getting at with the article was that many people don't have the purpose of getting people hooked on articles like a magazine/newspaper so what is the purpose of their site? They shouldn't be led down the garden path trying to copy these types of sites if that's not what their visitors are there for.
      • Josh Kohlbach says:
        Hi Dave, Another thought in response to your comment. What do you think the main purpose of a magazine or newspaper site is? Many of these sites sell premium memberships. I would say this is their focus, the vast amounts of great content is simply the hook to get you coming back and possibly eventually take up a membership. Here's two examples: theaustralian.com.au - there's a bit call to action to try a digital pass for $1 right on the homepage (and littered all through the site). This is just the first step in their sales funnel, everything on their site points to this. nytimes.com - Several calls to action to "try it for 4 weeks for 99c" on the home page and throughout articles. Again, just the first step in the sales funnel.
  13. Zach says:
    Josh, It's true that you really need to focus on a certain action that you want your visitors to take. For me, my site is new, and I don't necessarily have any one thing I would like my visitors to do yet in terms of making a sale. Sure, I would like them to leave a comment and sign up for my list, but I am not promoting anything yet simply because my site is so new. What would you suggest to be the first "conversion" a new site goes for? Simply signing up for the list? Clicking on an affiliate link? What should be my plan of action starting out? Thanks.
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Hey Zach, Do you sell a product? If you do, make that the main purpose regardless of the age of the site. There's no time like the beginning to start making positive changes. If you don't sell anything, ask yourself what it is you want people to do. If it's sign up for your newsletter, what are you going to do with them after that? Ask yourself tough questions (and then more questions on top of that) and you'll figure out what it is you're trying to achieve if it's not apparent yet.