Why Your Website Is Failing to Convert Leads

When we talk about lead conversion, we’re not just talking about retail sales for businesses. Nonprofits have leads, too, that can convert casually interested individuals looking to do good into highly active supporters and donors. In the same way that companies like Amazon, Zappos, or Apple want people who land on their site to put items in their cart and check out, nonprofits want people who land on their sites to sign petitions, subscribe to email newsletters, become recurring donors, or download advocacy toolkits.

But you can have the most compelling cause and the most fascinating and impactful stories and fail at lead conversion if your website doesn’t do its job. How many times have you gone to a retail website and abandoned it because of a terrible shopping experience? How many times have you struggled to find out how your charitable dollars will be spend?

The struggle is real. But it doesn’t have to be.

5 Reasons Why Your Website is Failing to Convert Leads (And How You Can Fix It):

#1 FAIL: Your website doesn’t clearly state what you do

An overly cluttered website with too much content, too many menu items, and not enough purpose leads to major confusion for your possible supporters. Visitors should not have to hunt down your mission statement to figure out how you’re making a difference in the world.

FIX:

1. Create a compelling tagline and feature it prominently on your website
2. Use a couple of stunning and clean visual elements to illustrate your work
3. Clearly define who you are and what you do through simple menu navigation and with bold mission and vision statements

#2 FAIL: Your website gives away the store, with nothing to explore

While you want to be clear about what your organization does through crisp, compelling copy and fresh storytelling and visuals, you also want to encourage curiosity and engagement for a deeper dive.

FIX:

1. Offer exclusive content that can only be consumed by email subscribers or repeat site visits
2. Refresh your content, even if it’s just the homepage images and adding media to pages to start. Don’t appear to be static in looks or mission
3. Drive people to other channels to continue their engagement in different ways (i.e. Instagram, Twitter, an external blog, etc.)

#3 FAIL: Your website has no lead funnels

This might be the most important — if you don’t have an email capture or some other way to exchange information  or take people a step further in the process, you won’t be able to get them on board as active supporters.

FIX:

1. Place an easy email subscribe capture on your homepage and on other prominent pages on your website
2. Create other opportunities to collect emails or information through surveys, downloads, petitions, and more
3. If you accept donations, make sure the GIVE or DONATE button is clearly visible, and the form is easy to complete

#4 FAIL: Your website isn’t device responsive

This is an absolute must-do today, when 56% of traffic to the top U.S. websites is via mobile, and your Google rankings will now suffer if your site isn’t responsive.

FIX:

1. Use Google Analytics to determine your own site’s mobile and tablet traffic, and make it a priority to adapt accordingly
2. Analyze your content and visuals and determine how you can make them more mobile-friendly
3. Select a handful of actions that are easy for supporters to complete via their phone and promote those via social media

# 5 FAIL: Your website doesn’t have enough visuals

We all know that attention spans are shorter than ever — cut down copy-heavy pages and drive action in other ways.

FIX:

1. If you have thousands of photos sitting on your server and no place to go, create a great rotation of images as headers for every page on your website that help to illustrate your work
2. Find a good graphic designer and create icons, illustrations, and other art to share stats, stories, and information in new ways
3. Invest time in clean, colorful layouts and formatting that enhances great content

Follow these simple fixes to turn your website from a fail to a success and start converting leads into a strong, active community for your cause. Still not sure what your site’s issues might be. Drop us a note on our contact us page, and we’ll get a conversation started.