Your Website Has a Job to Do

Think of your website as an employee of your golf course. What job is that “employee” supposed to be doing? Is it doing a good job? If it is, great! Could it be doing a better job?

If it’s not doing a good job, it’s time to fire your website and get one that brings in more money.

Your website should turn visitors into customers

This is called conversion. Conversion takes on many forms on the web. Buying movie tickets, requesting a quote, signing up for an email list, and downloading an ebook are all forms of conversion. In the golf business, booking a tee time or requesting a membership package are common conversion goals.

Your website should be designed with a conversion goal in mind

The simplest way to approach this is to ask two questions:

1. What do I want visitors to do when they get to my website?
2. What are my visitors looking to do when they come to my website?

The first answer should be simple. For example, you might want visitors to book a tee time.

The second answer might be a little more complex. You visitor might want to book a round of golf, but they likely also want it to be a simple, quick, and secure process. It’s important for your website’s goal to be designed with your visitors’ expectation in mind.

Use a call-to-action to steer visitors toward conversion

A call-to-action (CTA) is a message designed to get a visitor to execute a particular behavior. Think of a button that says “Book a tee time.”

For this golf club, the visitor is presented with a “Book a Tee Time” button front and center when they land on the website.

Your CTA should be:

• Big
• Contrast – the color should stand out, not blend in
• Uncrowded – let your CTA stand alone
• Prominent – Make it front and center

Your CTA should also have a hover effect; it should change slightly to indicate that the CTA is a clickable item.

And make sure it’s working

You can check the analytics on your website to see what visitors do and whether your CTAs are working. If you find that visitors aren’t meeting your conversion goals, it’s worth it to consult with a website designer to see how much more business your website could be capturing.