When I say website sales I do not mean e-commerce. I am not excluding e-commerce, but for purposes of this post ‘selling through a corporate website’ means that said website generates sales leads. A good corporate website is an extension of a storefront, it can and should generate leads.

It's a wild, wild web out there...

1. Be easy to reach.
Sounds simple, right? You’d be amazed how many companies miss this. Is there a contact form on your site or method for contacting you easily? Don’t expect people to wade through your site for a ‘contact us’ webform – they won’t. Don’t expect them to hit a link to send you an email (aka mail:to link). People tend to not trust this method, it’s fairly outdated.

Also a greater point to be made here is have that 800 number front and center. Is your number wrapped up in an image or is it text? My suggestion is make that number TEXT so a smartphone can dial it easily. Smartphone web surfing has long surpassed desktop surfing. The easier you make it for people to reach you, the more likely they will.

2. Be relevant.

As much as I love to blog about web trends and things that interest me, it’s not necessarily great for sales. My philosophical Apple thought pieces are fun to write, but do they really attract the people I want to my site? Not so much. If you want to attract potential clients to your site by way of content then craft your content as such. So often in life our intentions determine our results – a philosophy that directly relates to this post. My specialty is in helping companies generate leads via corporate websites… Perhaps this well-focused blog will generate interest around that topic?

3. Keep testing and refining.

It never hurts to ask people what they think. Prepare yourself for brutal honesty. As you publish new content on your corporate website be sure to send it to people who will give you honest feedback. My best testers are immediate family. While none of them are technically proficient, they understand roughly what I do and provide brutally honest feedback. I know that if I publish something my Dad cannot understand, then any person off the street probably won’t either. Who is going to put forth more energy to understand you than your family? Probably nobody. If you miss the mark with those you trust, then keep refining your content.