Incentives Cause the Visitor to Take Action

The biggest problem with most small business web sites I see is that there is no specific goal for the web site. Yes, the website might have a contact e-mail address or a phone number on the web site, but there is no incentive offered that would cause the visitor to take any specific, measurable action.

Incentives are Needed to Drive Visitors to the Site

One of the biggest advantages to having incentives on the web site is that they can help to drive traffic to the web site.  Whether it’s some sort of free consultation, buy 1 get 1 free, some sort of discount, or even free information, you are asking your potential customer to take a specific action.  Otherwise, they may see an advertisement and have no real motivation to visit your website.  What does it matter if you say that you are a “Top Local Chiropractor” or something like that.  There is nothing that is differentiating you from your competitors.  But if you are advertising a special on the website, people are more likely to visit it from your advertisement.  And a web site works much better than having them call up.  People love the anonymity and freedom to do this type of thing on their own time.

You Also Have More of a Targeted Market

I usually recommend that the visitor be required to enter their contact information to get that incentive.  It eliminates the “tire kickers” who probably wouldn’t become a customer anyway and it provides a more targeted market list so that you can mail them, call them, or e-mail them in the future.

It also allows you to track how effective the marketing is.  If you are using Pay-Per-Click, you can determine how effective your ads and web site is.  If you are getting a lot of visitors, maybe you need a more effective message on the web site, or a different incentive.

But until you start to offer incentives on your web site for potential visitors, you will have a tough time tracking the effectiveness of your site and you will not be maximizing the full potential that it provides.

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