9 CX Issues Lurking On Your Agency’s Website

If I had to guesstimate a percentage of agency websites I’ve seen in the past year with at least one of these CX issues, it would be over 80%. And many agency websites struggle with multiple CX challenges. That alone should be enough to get your attention.

But it couldn’t be happening to?your?agency website, could it? Not the one you just completely redid? It might be.?

When agency leaders aren’t aggressive about identifying potential CX and UX issues, they go overlooked. In other cases, agency leaders are aware of their website issues but have them on a laundry list of things “to get to” as resources permit. It may be time to make your agency’s CX a higher priority.

CX isn’t just important for your clients’ businesses — it’s important for your agency’s business, too.

88% of users are less likely to return to a website after a bad user experience (Hubspot ). Do you have any idea how many people visit your website, leave, and then write your agency off?

Your website is just one component of your agency’s CX, but it’s an important one. As an early-funnel touchpoint, it sets the tone for what people can expect from your agency, and they will interact with it throughout their?customer journey . The (hopefully positive) first impression you give to prospective customers through your website should be reinforced through a consistent, CX-centric culture and process.?

Here are nine areas where agency websites often fall short on CX:

Page Load Time

I still find myself landing on agency websites that automatically load videos or animation that I have to sit through before accessing any of the website’s navigation options. Not only do I dislike that experience, but those types of artsy features tend to be code-heavy and create slow loading times. Slow page load times are an invitation for people to wander away from your site.?

Google has a free?PageSpeed Insights ?tool. If your site tests below 75-80, try to address what’s slowing it down.

Accessible Formatting

Many agencies fumble with CX on formatting issues because they prioritize art and brand consistency over functionality and accessibility. Being on-brand with a fancy font doesn’t serve the agency if it results in illegible content. Whether on your website or in pdfs and decks that you share with prospective clients, be mindful of font color, font size, and text density. Also, don’t forget to test how content conveys across different devices.?

You might be sharing amazing work and results, but if people can’t read it, it’s a miss. And one that could have been easily avoided.

Navigation

Website navigation is not the place to innovate. People like to find logical, clear navigation options where they expect them to be, which means they should be consistent with most other websites. Your logo should take people to the homepage when clicked, and there should be top and bottom navigation options. Site visitors want to find expected destinations in the drop-down navigation menus that easily direct them to information they need. Omitting expected information or couching it under creatively-named categories that aren’t immediately clear is a sure way to frustrate visitors.

Contact Info

Most visitors will expect to find your agency’s contact information in the footer of your website, as well as on a “Contact Us” page. It should include (at minimum) a direct phone number, an email address, and links to social media properties. Preferably, it will also list a physical address and the option to submit a form for a quick response.?

Additionally, people may also find it helpful to see maps or photos of the agency’s location and contact information for agency leaders and specific functions.

Example:?

For business development queries, contact:

Angie Golucky

Email:?[email protected] ?

Direct: 888-123-5675

?

Clear Positioning

Positioning is something agency leaders tend to think they have done more effectively than they actually have. Many considerations go into positioning, but when someone comes to your agency’s website, they want to know what your agency does and who you do it for. If that information is not clearly presented upfront, your ideal prospects may leave because they aren’t sure how or if you can help them.?

Sometimes an agency’s positioning immediately introduces additional questions or is such an eclectic smattering of word salad that the meaning doesn’t convey well to outsiders. The very things you may think help set your agency apart and demonstrate its personality may make it less obvious that it provides business solutions for prospects' challenges.?

Work Examples

When it comes to work, case studies with KPIs tied to business results are the bar to aim for. But even when you can’t deliver that format, don’t serve up examples of your agency’s work without providing a clear context. Otherwise, even beautiful, attention-getting work has little value to prospects. For prospects, art must be functional.?

TIP:?Another place to check for this is your “sizzle reel.” Try incorporating some context to make random video clips more meaningful.

When providing context, consider:

• Who did you do the work for??
• Why did they come to you?
• What challenge were they trying to overcome??
• How did you arrive at this creative solution??
• What was the goal??
• Who was the target audience??
• What process did you use, and how did you refine it along the way??
• What did the client have to say about the work??
• Was there social or other media coverage that could be referenced??

?

Agency Leadership

I come across this more often on smaller agency websites, but every so often, I’ll see a larger agency that is missing basic information about their team. People want to see who’s behind your agency. Not only to understand their expertise and backgrounds but also to get a sense of their personalities. At a minimum, your core leadership team should have profile pics, bios, and contact information available on the agency’s website. You may also want to include your entire agency or more of the agency’s top leaders and talent.?

Not incorporating your agency’s people is a missed opportunity. When visitors see your team, it humanizes your agency, making people more likely to want to connect with you (compared to an “anonymous” website with no people shown). Additionally, if your agency's team is visibly diverse, it is a competitive advantage and may inspire interest in working with your agency.

Self-serve Information

Hopefully, you've identified the personas and roles that typically come to your website. You probably also know what types of questions they typically have and what information they are usually looking for. Make this information readily available to them on your website.

Such content might be presented via a FAQ section, thought leadership content, videos, or blogs. It is an easy way to differentiate your agency and demonstrate your understanding of prospects' industry(s), challenges, and goals. To support a positive CX for visitors, remember to provide clear titles on your content and include indexing options to facilitate sorting by logical categories.

Ongoing Communication

If people are coming to your site and can't opt-in to your agency's blog or eNewsletter, how will you stay in touch with them? If they watch your videos, read your content, and visit pages to learn about your services, do they leave your site without ever hearing from you again? When someone reaches out to your agency, are you able to look them up and see what content they've viewed to understand their areas of interest and inform your conversation?

Part of good CX is providing (only) highly relevant information to your prospects and clients. Use martech tools to quickly understand what content your prospects have viewed and interacted with. Everyone across your organization should reference that detail in follow-up communications to be as relevant as possible. Additionally, use?lead-generation tactics ?on your website to make it easy for prospects to stay in touch with your agency.

Parting thoughts

Because of their related expertise, agency teams may put too much trust in their own intuition and opinions when it comes to their websites. Thinking that they “present” better than they do may lead them to skip some necessary steps to test for CX.?

Remember that you can't experience your agency or its website as an outsider. You will never have the experience of a prospect interacting with your agency and its website for the first time. So be cautious about thinking you understand your agency’s CX based on your own interactions.

The best way to confirm your CX is on point? Test. Be aggressive about seeking input from external parties about your agency’s CX and be willing to listen to their feedback even when it is counter to internal agency voices. Consider bringing in outside resources to audit your prospect-facing materials and discover what you are doing that is working or not. Treat your agency like a client and dig deeper to get real answers.

Originally published on The Agency New Business Blog on July 22, 2021.

Mark Duval?is the Founder and President of The?Duval Partnership, a full-service sales organization working exclusively with agencies. The Duval Partnership helps agencies acquire new business through the creation and implementation of customized, strategic sales solutions.

Image credits: Photo by?Sigmund ?on?Unsplash;?Photo by?Surface ?on?Unsplash