Why Your Website Should Be One Big Conversion Funnel

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Take a look at your website and ask yourself what it’s doing. Is it dutifully channelling leads towards conversion? Or does it look more like a directory or menu, showing what you have to offer? 

If it is the former, then you’re in a good place. If it’s the latter, you’re in trouble. 

We have this notion that websites should be a kind of digital storefront where we showcase everything that we have to sell. After all, what is the difference between selling online and in-person? There is none, right? 

That analogy is only partly true. While it is correct that selling happens through both channels, the medium is different. And that’s the crucial element. There are different factors in play. 

Selling online should be all about creating funnels. That is, capturing consumers at different stages in the buying cycle and then directing them according to their current situation. 

Some visitors to your website will never have heard about your products before or what you offer. In these situations, your main goal is to educate. You want to find ways to use your website to tell them about the benefits that buying from you offers. 

Other visitors will be pretty sure that they want to make a purchase but need a little extra push. For these people, your website has to make it easy to check out and so on. 

Websites should be funnels, and not menus, for the following reasons: 

Funnels Show Visitors What To Do Next

Don’t assume that your customers know what they should do next. They might have a product in mind. But if you offer a wide range, it’s not always obvious which they should pick. 

You see this kind of phenomenon playing out all the time in the outdoor equipment industry. Let’s say that a customer is on a clothing website looking for a jacket that will keep them warm during snowy weather. There are so many options, that the person can’t usually make an informed decision for which they should buy. Without a funnel, they’re stuck. 

With a funnel, however, the choice becomes obvious. The funnel helps them pick out the specific jacket they need, based on their inputs. 

Funnels Are Compelling

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If you look at standard DNN websites, you’ll find that they include the ability to create funnels. But why would you want to do this in the first place? 

The primary reason is that they are more compelling. Your leads will often put off the decision to buy from you because they can’t quite see the benefits that you offer. Funnels make these obvious and direct the person in precisely the direction they need to go to derive value. 

Funnels Are The Best Conversion Strategy

A lot of companies have great product funnels. But when it comes to their homepages, they abandon the idea and revert to a simple menu format. 

But that makes no sense. If funnels are the best strategy, businesses should apply them everywhere, including generic homepages. It doesn’t make sense to only partially apply the technique.