Online business has changed in the age of social media—have you changed with it?
The age of social media is massively changing the way people use the internet. So it’s crucial to understand exactly how your website should capitalize on this—and why.
Back in the day, we used websites as discovery tools and engagement platforms. We’d read about interesting topics and connect with others who shared those interests.
But now both of these mechanisms—discovery and engagement—happen on social media. So what does that mean for your website?
The simplest answer is that your website is now essentially a closing tool. Your pages should be configured as landing/sales pages that engage your visitors’ attention and direct it somewhere meaningful.
This is known as a call-to-action or CTA.
A call to action compels your visitors to take the one or two actions that immediately benefit your business.
There are many possibilities, such as these below, just to name a few:
- Lead generation
- Appointment booking
- Email opt-ins
- Watching a video
- Initiating a live chat
- Sharing content on social media
You need to optimize your website to deliver these desired outcomes.
Bottom line? Your website pages need to function like landing pages, and they need to be formatted for maximum impact.
You’re probably already familiar with the basic elements of attention-grabbing content—headlines, sub-headlines, images, videos, and other “trust signals”—but savvy marketers use enhanced display elements to make their pages even more effective:
- Callouts — brightly colored boxes that highlight important content or CTAs (see the one at the bottom of this article)
- Bleeds — full-width sections with different background colors—perfect for features, testimonials, etc (see the home, about, and service pages of this site)
- Cards — card-style presentation that directs visitor attention precisely where you want it (see cards used in the bleed sections of my home page and services page)
- Extensions — display huge, high-impact videos or images (see the extended image at the top of this article)
- Breakouts – anchor page elements to the edge of the browser without interrupting text content flow (see an example on this website case study)
- Pullouts – another neat way to position page elements within the margin of the browser window
These display elements take advantage of visitors’ attention habits and function as potent weapons for better conversions and more sales leads.
All of these high-impact display elements are baked into the WordPress Theme I use to build fast-loading, engaging and high-converting client websites. Visitors are compelled to take the actions my clients want them to take—usually to call, schedule an appointment, or complete a contact form.
Depending on the level of your competition, you may need more compelling website elements, such as sales or explainer videos, for your business to really stand out in the crowd and win more leads.
You can learn more about my expert website services here.
Reach out to me below if your website needs to make the shift!
