How-to convert way more website visitors into paying party clients!

I’ve looked carefully at A LOT of party business websites.  In fact, I reviewed a different website every week for almost two years!!

After reviewing almost 100 different sites, I’ve noticed some scary trends having looked through these sites. 

Your website should be like having a 24-hour a day salesperson for your business.  But is your website successfully converting visitors into clients for your party business?

In this day and age, a great website is a MUST.

No it isn’t optional anymore.

And, no, a Facebook page ISN’T a suitable replacement.

An interactive timeline of posts on Facebook can’t be optimized for a busy, information gathering parent.  The mother of 3 kids who also works full time doesn’t have the time, energy or desire to scroll through endless posts to hopefully find what their looking for.

They’ll just head over to your competitor who does have an easy to navigate website.

But, it isn’t the 90s anymore.  Having a “.com” website address alone isn’t impressing anyone.  Your site needs to be done right.

Having a great website is like having a full-time salesperson who never stops to sleep, eat or binge watch Stranger Things. 

Having a poorly designed website, on the other hand, means you are leaving a lot of money on the table.

That’s why in this article/video, I’m going to share with you:

• 2 reasons why your website isn’t helping you make more sales
• 8 ways to convert waaaaay more website visitors into paying clients, and
• 1 reason you might NOT want to listen to a single thing I say…

PLUS, I’ll show you how to get a free visual sample of a simple website template for party businesses that books more gigs!! (Don’t have time now to watch the video or read the full article? Click here to skip ahead to download your free template now!)

Using these pointers I’ve helped many businesses turn things around and get their website converting way more visitors into clients.

It works for them. It works for me.  It’ll probably work for you too.

Sound good?  Let’s do this…

Two reasons your website isn’t getting you more gigs

1. Your website isn’t making it easy for your visitors to WANT to take action with you
2. Your website isn’t making it easy for your visitors to be ABLE to take action

Or, even worse, BOTH!

What can you do to fix your website?

Here’s a list of things you can do to help your visitors WANT to take action with you…

1. Be clear about the EXTRA value you bring

If you’re a magician, I expect that you have great magic tricks. If you’re a character entertainer, I expect you to have high quality costumes. These aren’t examples of EXTRA value. These are baseline expectations most parents have of you already. If your website and marketing materials are focused on these baseline expectations you aren’t getting me excited about YOU. Stop looking and sounding like everyone else! Everywhere I go I’m seeing similar pictures, similar videos, similar promises, similar packages, even similar logos/colors!  If you want your website to help you book more gigs, it has to help you stand out from all the other options in your area. You need to be different, you need to show what makes you special.  Imagine a field full of zebras. You aren’t going to notice the zebra with a slightly different stripe pattern. You will, however, stop dead in your tracks if one of the zebras had red and green stripes instead of black and white! I bet you’d stop and look, take some pics and remember THAT zebra forever!

2. Be clear about who your parties are PERFECT for

This starts with knowing who your ideal clients are. Then, once you have that clearly defined, make sure your website is speaking directly to them, and gives them confidence that what you offer is exactly what they want and need. Clearly state the type of service you offer, for what geographic territory, what age children, etc. Your visitors shouldn’t have to be a detective to figure out if you service them or not.

3. Focus on what’s in it for THEM

Chances are your website is currently waaaay too “me-centric”. And, if it is, it’s really hurting you and your business. Why? Well, to put it bluntly… people don’t care what YOU do. I know they are on YOUR website, but really they came there to find out what you can do FOR THEM. The easiest place to start fixing this is to replace every “I/we do…” statement with a “You get…” statement.  And, make it benefit oriented (benefits are something of value they gain OR something terrible they avoid).

4. Address their biggest concerns upfront!

This one starts with knowing your ideal clients inside and out. You should know what their top 5 burning questions will be before they arrive at your website. Then, all you have to do is make sure your website clearly answers these questions AND make it easy to find these answers. A simple FAQ section will likely do the trick here!

5. Prove you can be trusted

There are lots of ways to achieve this on your website. Here are a few ideas for you:

• Install a SSL certificate… you know when you go to a website and it has that little lock icon next to their domain in your browser? An SSL certificate is how you do that. It gives people more confidence to fill out forms on your website, it makes you look more professional and as an added bonus it ranks you higher on Google!
• Put reviews and testimonials on your website… real ones!
• Add a “trusted by” section on your website where you include logos for larger known organizations that you’ve worked with
• Replace your “gmail” or “hotmail” account on your website with a professional email address
• Offer a “Satisfaction Guarantee”!

Here’s a list of things you can do to help your visitors be ABLE to take action with you…

6. Keep things clear & concise

A very common mistake I see are website with just TOO MUCH stuff! When it comes to the content, they have too many options, too many add-ons, too many decisions your clients need to make, etc. Then the design is also often cluttered with too many words, too many pictures, too many animated elements, etc.

7. Pick ONE goal for each page of your website and include captivating calls-to-action for it

You should know exactly what ONE single action you want your website visitors taking on every page of your website.  Then make it stupid simple for them to be able to take that action.

8. Make booking with you easy & efficient

There’s both a science and an art to getting your booking form just right.  You want to ask for enough info to avoid extra back-and-forth, but you don’t want to ask for so much that people avoid filling it out in the first place.  There are amazing tools out there that do this just right for you. Party Pro Manager is the best I’ve seen for party businesses. It’s way more than just a booking form tool, but it’s booking form is ?

But wait, there’s more!! Here are a few bonus tips…

9. Focus on your website goals more than your website design

Yes, your website needs to look professional. But, NEVER sacrifice pretty design for strategic website functionality and usability. The first step here is to figure out what the primary purpose of your website is. Do you want visitors to call you? Do you want them to email? Fill out a form? More importantly, what is THEIR preferred first step? How can you work that into your operational systems? I know, lots to think about, but don’t underestimate how important this is!

10. Make your site mobile-friendly

This one truly is a bonus, because I don’t even mention it in the video above! I’ll bet over 50% of your website visitors are coming to your website by a mobile device.  If your website doesn’t look good and isn’t easy to use on mobile, you’re losing money. Plain and simple. 

You may want to IGNORE EVERYTHING I’VE SAID, and here’s why…

11. Monitor your website stats and analytics

You should be constantly testing and refining your website. What heading works best? What color button converts more sales? What calls-to-action are most effective? The only way to know for sure is to track your stats and keep a close eye on them. You can install and use Google Analytics on your website for free, so there is really no excuse!

If your stats show you that something is working (or isn’t) then trust the numbers more than you trust me and this article!! There are soooo many factors at play; the type of service you offer, where you are located, what your competition is doing, who your ideal clients are, and so on.

Now what??

Now you know exactly what you need to do!  But, I totally understand that it can be difficult to visualize.  That’s why I’ve created this visual sample of a simple website template I made for party businesses.  This template will put you in a position to convert way more page visitors into party customers, without reinventing the wheel or having to struggle to figure it all out on your own.

Party on!!