The Mesaros Team

Why would I spend my time hanging out on your website? I need what you are selling — desperately — and that no one else offers it online? I want what you provide (It’s new to me!) and I am exploring whether I can afford it or get it elsewhere, cheaper? Unfortunately, it’s none of the above. Off I go.

That’s exactly what it’s like when a prospective customer visits your site.

There’s no telling what may have been if things had been presented differently (no second chances here), but you can take certain steps to ensure that the outcome you desire — turning global browsers into buyers — is more likely to become reality.

Here are seven tips for grabbing browsers from all over the world, keeping them and converting them to customers on your website.

1. Focus on your customers. When they stop in to explore your site, put yourself in their shoes and answer this question regarding your product or service: Is it worth it? That’s exactly what browsers will be wondering when they explore your site. It’s all about motivation. What do you have going on that makes it worthwhile for a visitor to stay awhile and eventually buy something? Are you delivering value every step of the way?

2. Keep it real. No matter how much you glitz up your Web pages with fancy words, jargon and design, authenticity comes through loud and clear. Talk conversationally with your audience. You’re human, right? Come across that way in your Web copy.

3. Evaluate your product or service. Is it exceptional or mediocre at best? If it’s exceptional, make it known why within seconds on your website. If it’s mediocre, no website, regardless of what you do or say, will make a lousy product or service shine. Get to work.

4. Begin with the end in mind. What are you trying to accomplish? If you don’t know, how will your customers? Establish an action statement, such as, “We are the best Web host on the planet!” and then build on that statement throughout your website. If it’s that important of a message, don’t bury it so people don’t get it. You’ve got a split second to seduce your prospect into falling in love with what you do. What will it take for them to hit the “Buy Now” button?

5. Make no mistakes! If browsers get an error message at any point, you’ve lost them forever, at least in terms of trying to win them over and convert them into buyers. If a visitor completes a form and it won’t transmit you’ve not only wasted their precious time, you’ve blown a potential touch point or sale. Ensure that everything you offer a visitor on your site works seamlessly with any operating system or Web browser. Your goal is to give your prospective customer lots of value — a positive first experience and one that lasts forever once they buy from you.

6. Leverage social media influence. “Express yourself!” Are you doing just that in a big, bold way by using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn? Cast your Web net as wide as possible. Integrate your social media and networking platforms right into your website so everyone can find you anywhere. The more you’ve got going on in terms of quality content and conversations, the greater your chance of pulling in larger numbers of browsers to your website. And the more browsers you have, the greater your chances of turning one into a buyer.

7. Speak everyone’s language. Is your website only in English? If you are serious about growing your business globally, then you must accommodate browsers worldwide in a variety of languages. Years ago, English was the native language of most folks online. Not anymore.