Internet Mortgage Loan Leads and Website Usability

Note: This blog post is part of an ongoing series about mortgage loan lead generation via the web. Click here to access the full list of articles in this series.

In the previous tip in this tutorial on generating loan leads online, I stressed the importance of having a quality website for your mortgage business. With all other things being equal, having a well designed website will help you generate more loan leads because people will be more inclined to trust you — and contact you in some way.

Website usability is one of the things that makes up a “well designed” website. In this context, usability refers to the ease with which people can navigate and use your website.

What does this have to do with mortgage loan lead generation? Everything! This whole article series is about generating leads through your mortgage website. If the site is easy to use, it will produce more leads. If it’s hard to use, it will produce fewer. So yes … it’s well worth your time to conduct a usability review of your mortgage website and make improvements where necessary.

If your web visitors can’t use your website — if they can’t find your services or your online contact form, of if they just find the whole site confusing and hard to navigate — they will leave without hesitation. After all, what loyalty do they have to you at this point? None whatsoever. So they will not give you the benefit of the doubt. Say goodbye to that mortgage loan lead (and the business it represents).

Here’s the bottom line. You need to focus on website usability is you want to generate leads through your business website. If somebody visits your site and has trouble using it, you won’t be able to connect with them or capture their contact info before they leave the site. Traffic in … traffic out … but nothing gained.

Entire books have been written on the important subject of website usability. So if you’re serious about the subject and would like to learn more, you can certainly do so. In this article, however, I’m just going to touch on some of the usability “hot spots” that can often be improved.

1. Navigation. Your menu and navigation system are the lifeline for visitors. Organize your menu in a logical way. Make it easy to use. Label menu items clearly so people can find their way. Use more than one type of menu when needed.
2. Home page. This is where most people will land when reaching your website. So make sure it’s clean and uncluttered. More importantly, be sure you have some way to capture mortgage loan leads from the home page (in addition to providing links to information and resources). Related topic: landing pages.
3. Action paths. Where do you want people to go when reaching your website? What do you want them to do? These are your “preferred action paths,” and you should spend some extra time to make them clear and easy to follow.
4. Interactivity. If you have interactive areas of your website, such as an FAQ program or a contact form, be sure to offer clear and ample instructions. Remember, the easier it is to use, the more loan leads will come from it.

Website usability and website conversions are two inseparable concepts. A site that is easy to use converts more traffic into leads, while the opposite is true of a challenging site. This has everything thing to do with your online marketing program. If you want to produce a steady stream of mortgage loan leads through your website, you have to make the site simple to use.

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