I’ve already explained how your homepage is your most important page when it comes to conversions. It really makes or breaks whether your website is a killer converter or if it’s a digital lemon. Then comes the ‘about us’ page. A couple of people have disagreed with me on that one, so I’ll gracefully accept that there IS a close second to the about us page, and that’ll be your services page. So, let’s recap: assuming you’ve grabbed your visitor’s attention with a great home page, that you’ve drawn them in deeper to your about us page (which means you’ve now explained the why of what you do), you should now have built enough trust that:
- they feel you’re legit and,
- they feel you’re someone they’d do business with.
So, what’s next? Glad you asked! It’s time to bring them in deeper. It’s time to lay out what services you provide and why they need ‘em. We’ve come a long way, you and I, and we’ve talked a lot about designing effective websites, so I don’t think I need to explain why having a clean, well-designed page showing off your services is important. After all, this page contains the bread of butter of what pays your bills!
The point of a services page is that you want people to be interested, to enquire and hopefully, to buy.
So, let’s get to the look at all the elements that creates a successful ‘our services’ page.
Firstly, creating a good page structure is crucial.
If you have more than just one service then you’re going to need a page for each different service. Having separate pages for each service enables you to have unique page titles and meta descriptions, unique content and images and probably even more importantly to getting you that conversion, a unique call to action that is crafted around the specific service they’re looking at.
Second, you need to make sure all your content is structured logically.
That means you’ll need categories and sub-categories. This is good for visitor usability and it’s good for Google too. Start with a broad category like cleaning, then sub-categories could be carpet cleaning, tile cleaning, window cleaning, etc. The only thing to say here, though, is don’t spread your content TOO thin. Don’t break it down too far, for example ‘carpet cleaning’ and ‘carpet steam cleaning’ should be together because it’s basically the same thing. Don’t bloat your website without a good reason!
Next, is navigation.
You don’t just need a simple way for your visitor to delve into your service pages but, if you have quite a few categories, you’ll also need to remind them where they are (and how to get back). One way of doing this is aid navigation with what we call a breadcrumb trail. Here’s an example… Home / Services / Websites / Website Strategy But, my only warning about breadcrumbs is if you have a really complicated list of services that aren’t easily classified into simple categories, or you don’t have enough depth to warrant it, then don’t use it as it won’t be helpful.
Headlines and sub-headings are important.
Use a heading to make sure your visitor knows they’re on your services page (helps Google too). Make sure it’s super-obvious what each of the service categories are with sub-headings and a brief description (and maybe even an image). Keeping it simple and clear will weed out visitors who aren’t looking for what you have (get rid of them early), and it will also bring those who DO want what you have that step closer to making contact.
The call to action (CTA) on your services category and sub-category pages need to be really strong.
If they’ve come this far, if they want what you’ve got… then make it easy for them. Have great big, blinking box that says what they need to do next (no, actually please don’t make it blink). And that next step should be something like ‘call me, call me now’, or ‘request for a quote’, or whatever you need them to do. They want to be led, really they do. Also, don’t just have it once, have it twice. One on the top of the page, and one on the bottom of the page. Just in case the poor little web visitor gets confused. Don’t let ‘em get away! See how it’s all about making it easy for your visitor? Seriously keep that in mind and you can’t go wrong. Also, one last thing.
Just to be triple-sure you won’t lose your web visitor, make sure somewhere on every services page is a bit of lead-bait.
Probably along the left or right hand side column (if you have one). You know, that glorious offer that you’ve created, whether it’s a free eBook a free how-to video, a guide, whatever. Make sure they can always sign-up to something for free. That way you can do some sales nurturing through email later. Good email marketing where you offer something of value (like valuable free advice) is a friendly reminder for your visitor that they visited your site, and they obviously liked something about you. It’s increases your chance of converting them into a customer… and that my ABN’ers, is what it’s all about! If you have any questions, please just leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you. Love to hear what you think! Til next time, Bianca
