In just one minute you can look at your website from the perspective of your ideal client and spot any “red flag” missed opportunities to connect with them. (I like to use the word client, but you may think of them as customers, students, members, fans, etc.)

You should not spend more than one minute on this. I will explain why.

First, imagine your ideal client. . . the kind of client you could use more of. Think about what their needs are, why you are a good fit for them, and why they chose to work with you in the first place. Take one minute and visit your website from the perspective of that ideal client and ask yourself if it would connect with someone else just like them.

It’s very important to only spend one minute on this, because that’s a fairly long visit for a first-timer to your website. Most people who visit a new site for the first time only stay for a few seconds to a minute. By giving yourself only one minute to look at your website, you can get a better idea of what the typical experience is for your first-time site visitors.

Remember, you want to ask yourself if your website connects with the kind of person you would love to work with.

Take a minute and do it now . . .

OK, so now you’ve spent one minute on your website. It’s not a lot of time, and you may have noticed a few things that you want to fix.

If there is nothing there to grab your ideal client on the first visit, you may have missed your only chance to connect with them.

Recently a client looked at their site this way and realized they needed more photos. Their products and services are often sold on the basis of their visual appeal, and their website was largely missing the important element of product photos.

If you can’t find anything obvious to improve after the one minute exercise, ask yourself this question: what does your website ask your ideal client to do? Does it make any specific requests?

One way to immediately improve the performance of your website is to figure out something that you want your site visitors to do and then simply ask them to do it.

Possible calls to action include:

• Download our worksheet.
• Fill out this contact form.
• Sign up for our newsletter.
• Visit our physical location.
• Call for more information.
• Sign up for this free trial offer.
• Read this article.
• Email for info about our gift certificates.
• Print out our coupon.
• Call for personal assistance.

People are visiting your website to learn what they need to know and to find out how they can work with you. Does your website connect effectively with them, provide clear guidance and a simple next step?

It only takes one minute to find out. . .

You can do it yourself as explained in this email, but if you really want to receive some valuable feedback, you can ask someone else to spend one minute (and one minute only) on your website.

What to do next . . .

Visit your own website for one minute only. Send me a quick email letting me know what you discovered.