Thank you for shopping at IKEA!

Have you ever tried to “just run” in to Ikea? This map is what I was confronted with! Fortunately for IKEA, the only way for a visitor to exit is to walk all the way to the end! However, web browsers, can hit the back button in a split second, out or simply return to the browser’s search bar, and you’ve lost them forever.

If you suspect this might be a reality for your visitors, you are just delaying the inevitable – you need to take a deep dive on your usability

For B2B Sites, The More Ideal Customer Experience Should Be:

1. Welcome, You’re In the Right Place
2. Here is what you are looking for
3. Please take it.. no charge, really
4. Please come back

If You Can’t Prove That Your Ideal Customer Will Arrive at Your Site & Experience This.. Google Analytics is Probably Proving to You That They Aren’t Staying Long!

Before chasing down more traffic, it’s important to look at closely at how your site performs as a lead capture ‘pipeline.’ Unfortunately, most websites have pretty serious “plumbing problems.” Before you go out and spend money on putting more traffic to your site, make sure you ‘fix your leaks.’ It will pay for itself immediately!

B2B Site Usability Starters – Set Goals

It is important to try to keep a B2B site down to 3-5 ideal “goals.” One of the Best Ways is to think of 2 things:

1.    What You Want From Your Site

• Leads
• Direct sales
• Subscribers

2.    Demographics

Most importantly, define your ideal customer X the 3 buying phases & what they are looking for (example):

“Senior Sales Manager of Mid-Market Firm” that is..

• Buying Today – Contact Info & Evidence You Can Solve My Problem
• Early Research – Some Good Ideas & A Reason Why I Might Want to Come Back
• Solving a problem, unaware of solution

Existing Customer that is..

• Learning more
• Looking for help
• ??

Create Goals & Use Cases

Now that you’ve created a matrix of scenarios, actually start listing them superficially in order of priority. Use your existing customer’s real names to paint a clear picture:

Julia, has 10 years experience in marketing and is a Marketing Manager for Chapters Books. She typed “marketing recruiter into google” and found us. Her goal is to shortlist 2 qualified vendors by the end of the week to help her find a top-notch senior webmaster.

Now map write out the ideal path through your site Julia will take:

Where does she go from homepage?

• Practice Areas > Marketing Professionals

Does the next page keep her moving in a clear direction?

• Download case study
• Free 20 minute consultation
• Place a job order

.. these might all be obvious next steps for a recruiting squeeze page

Does the final landing page convert?

1. Relevant messaging
2. Clear value to complete inquiry
3. Clear call to action
4. No confusing links or buttons

If you want, these cases can be the underpinning not only for your own testing, but you may want to conduct small usability tests by assigning these tasks to test-subjects.

Turning Your B2B Site Into a Lead Capture Machine:

1. From homepage to lead capture in 3 clicks? (give or take)
2. There are no irrelevant calls to action from squeeze pages & landing pages
3. Value of completing an action is clearly stated “Get My Report Now” etc..
4. General landing page best practices have been employed
5. Deliver on your promise – give something and expect almost nothing in return (an email address will do)
6. Nurture leads & continue to add value
7. Clear call to actions for sales ready leads should be apparent in subsequent campaigns

July is Get to Work On Your Site Month! Stay Tuned for 3 More Usability Tools This Month..

• Examples & Best Practices for Homepage Design
• Top 10 Mistakes (or Opportunties) with Site Usability
• the 2009 B2B Website Usability Self-Assessment Checklist Coming this Friday!