Perhaps your website was created years ago and you’ve been adding to it ever since, making it feel disjointed, or it might be built on an outdated template that malfunctions with every update.
You might even be using a brand-new AI-built website that isn’t generating the leads or sales you anticipated.
People don’t usually let you know if your website is boring to them. They simply leave, and you’re left wondering why. This silent feedback could be costing you numerous leads and sales!
To check if you have a boring website in the eyes of your target audience, ask yourself:
- Is your website failing to convert your visitors into sales?
- Are your analytics showing a bounce rate exceeding 75%?
- Does your website look unique, up-to-date & memorable?
- Are your competitor’s websites newer & better looking than yours?
- Is your website failing to make you look like a leader in your niche?
If you are experiencing some or all of the above issues, then it’s highly likely that your website is boring to your visitors!
5 problems to fix if you have a boring website…
You can transform your website into a captivating, brand-defining online presence that truly stands out and converts your visitors into hot leads and sales, by fixing these 5 problems…
Problem 1: No Storytelling
No one cares about you & your business when they first land on your website. They only care about what’s in it for them. If your website only talks about how good your business is, or it just talks about features, then you will bore your visitors. Instead, put yourself in their shoes, and draw them in with stories.
The Power of Storytelling
People buy based on emotion and justify their purchase with logic, and when you use storytelling in your messaging, your ideal audience is more likely to engage with your brand.
Every great brand has compelling stories but most websites don’t tell their stories.
Your brand would have an origin story, and you might have a struggle story, a story around your mission, values, and how you help your customers.
Have a narrative throughout your copy to resonate with your audience and create an emotional connection to your brand.
It’s not just about what you do; it’s why you do it. Your stories can evoke trust, empathy, and loyalty from your visitors. Stories can help people understand your product or service, and also help them believe in your vision and how you can help them on their journey. Stories are memorable, so on your About page after you talk about your mission and how you can help your target audience, tell the story and history of your business, or what led you to start your business.
Include some of your customer success stories and any milestones that help position you as an authority in your niche to resonate more deeply with your audience. The story is even more effective when told in a visual timeline, like on Studio1’s About page. This leads to higher engagement and conversions.
Your Action Plan:
- Count how many times your website uses words like ‘We, me, our us’ versus ‘You & your’. Make sure you use ‘you & your’ much more than, ‘we, me, our, us”.
- Your messaging needs to be empathetic to your ideal audience’s situation and let them know that you have a unique solution to help solve their problem.
- Add case studies with stories of how you helped your previous customers. Describe their situation before they found you, then explain how your offer helps them, and the results they experienced.
- On your About page, tell the story of your business in a timeline format, display your customer success stories, and anything that helps position you as an authority in your niche that resonates more deeply with your audience.
Problem 2: Conversion-Killing Confusion
One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is writing the words on their website themselves. If they aren’t a seasoned pro-level sales copywriter, they usually don’t articulate clearly what they do and how their audience will benefit from their offer. Instead, they use jargon or focus on features their audience may not understand, and they confuse their visitors. Website visitors usually leave because they don’t want to invest the time to work out if you have the right solution for them or not.
Define Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
What sets your brand apart? Your website should clearly explain what you do, what makes your offer unique, who it’s for, and how it will benefit your ideal prospect. Ideally all of this will be articulated above the fold on your home page.
Also, consider using the SPIN Selling framework (Based on the book by Neil Rackham), to clearly demonstrate that you understand the ideal prospect’s Situation, the Problems they face, the Implications if they don’t address the cause of the problem, and to show you have a unique solution to help solve their problem (Need). This creates supreme clarity with your website visitor.
Consider Their Intent
A visually stunning website is meaningless if it’s frustrating to understand what to do next.
Consider the intent of your visitor, and give them a clear pathway that suits their intent.
The goal is to segment your visitors. Offer something different for cold, warm, and hot visitors.
It could be to segment different audience types, like Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced.
Or it can be to segment into different niches or product categories, etc. The goal is to take them to a page that talks directly about their situation and offers a solution that’s right for them at the time.
A seamless and enjoyable user experience relevant to them will be far more likely to convert them into customers.
Confusing Layouts & Navigation
Don’t have your website visitors wondering what to do next! Ditch the information overload and create a layout that breathes. Prioritize white space, use clear headlines, and implement intuitive navigation that guides users like a GPS to their destination.Give them a clear, compelling ‘call to action’ on every page that leads them towards an action such as: opting into your lead magnet, making a purchase, booking a call, or contacting you, etc.
Your Action Plan:
- Define Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) to clearly explain what sets your brand apart.
- Segment your audience type to take them to a dedicated landing page that talks directly to their intent.
- Remove unnecessary information, and use clear & persuasive wording around the CTA buttons.
- Only have one ‘call to action’ (CTA) on each inner page. Your home page can have multiple CTAs because it is essentially a gateway to segment people into the pathway that suits their intent.
- Make sure you have clear navigation that helps guide your visitors easily
Problem 3: Boring Website Design
If your ideal customer is comparing your website to your competitors, you will want to make sure your design is not boring. Instead, it needs to look unique and different from your competitors so it’s more memorable.
Create a Lasting Impression
Your website should not just be a one-time experience for visitors. It should be a memorable journey that keeps them coming back and converts your visitors into hot leads and sales.
To achieve this, you will need to have a compelling copy, a design with a visual hierarchy that balances the copy, color palette, a design style that resonates with your audience, a design layout, clear space, psychological drivers, and elements that guide your visitors to take action.
Avoid Using Stock Photos
Generic stock photos are the yawn of the internet. Invest in visuals that showcase your brand’s unique personality: high-quality product shots, professional lifestyle, headshots, or even user-generated content. Remember, visuals are your megaphone, so use them to shout your brand story loud and proud.
Invest in Professional Design
While DIY website builders and templates may seem like budget-friendly options, they often lead to generic, uninspiring designs. If you want your website to stand out, and you’re an established profitable business, it’s worth investing in a professional website design.
A pro-level designer can translate your brand’s vision into a unique and captivating visual identity. They should understand the importance of colors, fonts, and layouts in conveying your brand message effectively. Be careful with choosing a designer. Most designers just focus on the visuals and use the latest design trends, however, they usually don’t understand conversions and psychological drivers that entice your visitors to convert.
Your Action Plan:
- Have a color palette that’s appealing to your ideal audience, and is different from your competitors, and contrast CTA color.
- Your layout needs to have the right visual hierarchy that enhances the messaging and focuses on leading to the CTA.
- Say No to Boring Stock: Ditch the staged smiles and predictable landscapes. If you use stock images, make sure to customize them and make them unique
- Use a design layout with a visual flow to guide users to take action.
- Choose clear, readable, Google web-based fonts that are user-friendly across devices, have large headlines, and short paragraphs for the body copy.
Problem 4: No Authority-Boosting Content
Content is king in the digital realm, and your unique perspective matters more than ever these days in a world of boring AI-written content. So share your opinions, especially if it’s polarizing or counter-intuitive. Let’s see AI do that!
People buy from people they know like and trust so to be seen as an industry leader, put yourself out there more in the form of blog posts, videos, podcast, webinars, or speaking from stage, etc.
Visuals can be a powerful tool in web design, helping to enhance your messaging and draw in visitors. Use real photos instead of stock images to humanize your brand. Having quality videos and photography can add a personal touch and convey your brand’s authenticity and authority.
Your Action Plan:
- Embrace Your Authenticity: Share your unique thoughts on your subject to build trust with your audience.
- Highlight your expertise and share your knowledge in your industry in the form of a blog, videos, or podcast, etc.
- Publish content regularly and have a consistent voice throughout your content so you are memorable for your methodology and beliefs around your subject expertise.
Problem 5: No Strategy To Build Trust
The problem with most website owners, is they expect people to buy from them or to reach out to them, without giving them enough reason to. That’s usually because they don’t offer enough value upfront, or have a strategy to warm up cold traffic.
The main purpose of your website is to build trust in your brand so that it automatically draws your visitors towards you. Always lead with value first because the majority of your visitors aren’t ready to buy on their first visit.
We can’t assume that we know what the intent is of your website visitors, so we need a strategy to cater to not knowing their intent.
Your Action Plan for each visitor’s intent:
- For cold visitors: Offer something for free that’s valuable to your visitor, in return for an email address. The free offer should align with your paid offer as the end goal regardless of how long the nurture duration is. Always have another offer on your ‘thank you’ page with a video to explain the benefits of the next offer.
- For warm visitors: if they are already familiar with your brand, and they have come back to your website, offer something that’s either free or a low price. The goal here is to have them spend more time engaging with your offer to build more trust in your brand. Always have a video on ‘thank you’ page to thank them, and to let them know what’s going to happen next.
- For hot visitors: If they come to your website ready to buy, then we want to remove all friction. On your offer sales page, reiterate the unique value they can only get from you. Focus on the benefits and outcomes they will experience from purchasing your offer. Prove that your solution helps solve their problems with social proof, and reduce the risk where possible, by having a money-back guarantee, or similar.
Your Action Plan
Follow the action steps above to transform your website from a snooze-fest into a user-friendly, conversion-generating machine. Remember, great design isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about clear communication, intuitive pathways for your visitors, and ultimately, achieving your online goals.
Your website is often the first interaction customers have with your brand. Don’t let it be a forgettable one. Break free from having a boring web design, and invest in a website that reflects your brand’s uniqueness and converts your audience.
By telling your brand’s story, and client’s stories, prioritizing user experience, and focusing on high-quality design and content, you can transform your website from boring to booming.
Remember, it’s not just about attracting visitors; it’s about keeping them, earning their trust, and turning them into advocates for your brand. Your website is your digital storefront, make it one that leaves a lasting impression.
Not confident to tackle a website redesign on your own? We would love to help…
The ‘Studio1 Design’ Approach to Custom Website Design
Your website should not blend into a sea of sameness. The key is mastering the art of creating a unique design with a brand personality that resonates with your ideal target market.
We can help you with the following:
- Conversion-Boosting Strategy: We start with a 60-90 minute Zoom video call to deep dive into the brief before we start designing. We’ll figure out the reasons you’re not seeing the results you want, pinpoint where your website is losing leads and sales, and highlight the opportunities and a clear pathway for your website’s success.
- Become a Memorable Brand: All of our websites are custom-designed by our world-class team to suit your unique business and to resonate with your audience.
- Have a Website that You Love: We offer unlimited design revisions, so you’ll have a website that you love, and that is a 24/7 marketing machine!
Your website can’t afford to be boring in your visitor’s eyes. It needs to be a reflection of your brand’s creativity and uniqueness. If you want an estimate to see how we can help transform your website into an industry-leading digital presence, press the ‘Get a Quote Now’ button below…
