You put a lot of time and effort into assembling your company’s website, making sure it’s chock full of the info you know will draw customers in. So why isn’t it working?

Here are the top 5 reasons your website might be a turnoff and drive customers away:

1. The worst marketing sin you can commit on your website is not providing immediate direction for customers who land there for the first time. Provide clear guidance: What should they do first? Next?
2. Pop-up ads might elicit a new name or two for your email list, but is it worth the price you’ll pay? Many people are so annoyed by pop-ups they’ll bail immediately — and they won’t come back.
3. Stock photographs do not qualify as quality images for your site. Sure, it’s important to provide visual/graphic stimulation, but customers will know they won’t find the people in your picture on your sales force. Plus, it can undermine your credibility (or show you don’t care enough to do better).
4. Making people look for “Contact Us” information and offering few direct ways to get in touch with you is a huge turnoff. It’s OK to ask people to fill out a form if they want more info or if they want to be included on your mailing list. But people who have one specific question or concern can be easily frustrated wondering how long it’ll take for you to get back to them after they complete a generic Contact Us form. Offer a more direct means of contact for people who quickly need your attention — a phone number, email address or way to contact you through social media.
5. A genuine call-to-action should be obvious, and it should accurately reflect what you promise in your introductory copy. If you promise visitors 50% off for first-time buyers, don’t tack on fine print that sets requirements — minimum purchase, signing up, joining a customer “club,” etc.

Tags: driving customers away, marketing sin, the worst marketing sin, top 5, turnoff, website