If your website makes people work too hard to find what they need, they won’t stick around.
Confused people don’t convert—and most websites are more confusing than we realize.
In today’s episode, I’m going to walk you through how to structure your site so visitors can get where they need to go in 3 clicks or less.
This isn't just about user experience—it’s about building trust and increasing conversions.
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Episode Transcript
If your website makes people work too hard to
find what they need, they won'tstick around.
Confused people don't convert,and most websites are more
confusing than we realize.
In today's episode, I'm goingto walk you through how to
structure your site so visitorscan get where they need to in
three clicks or less.
This isn't just about customerexperience.
It's about building trust andincreasing conversion.
(00:24):
So let's dive in Struggling toturn website traffic into real
sales.
You're not alone and you don'thave to figure it out all
yourself.
Welcome to Smarter OnlineBusiness, the podcast.
For course creators, coachesand e-commerce entrepreneurs who
want their websites to convertvisitors into buyers without the
tech overwhelm.
I'm your host, Carrie Saunders,a website strategist and
(00:45):
conversion expert with over 20years of experience.
Each episode delivers simple,proven strategies to help you
generate more revenue and makeyour website your smartest sales
tool.
Welcome back to the show.
Today, we're talking about howto get your website to three
clicks or less to help buildcustomer trust and customer
conversion.
So, first off, why do we wantto do this?
(01:08):
A simpler site structure justsimply converts better.
It also makes the searchengines happier too.
They aren't wanting to clickmuch farther than your customers
are either.
It's a balancing act, in thatthe search engines are looking
for what makes the customershappy too.
So if you're making thecustomers happy, you're also
(01:29):
going to be helping the searchengines rank and list your site
too, and most websites are toocluttered, they're too deep or
they're too vague.
So what we want to make sure isthat we have everything
accessible within three clicksor less.
Users sometimes are forced toguess where to click, which
(01:50):
kills the momentum that theyhave on your website, and it
also kills their trust, and whenpeople can't find what they're
looking for quickly, they do endup leave.
So we want to make sure yourkey pages and actions are never
more than three clicks away.
So one thing we need to realizeis that your site isn't a
brochure.
It's a guided path to action.
(02:12):
That's what we want to be aguided path to action, not just
a static brochure.
Those don't sell.
So let's talk about thethree-click framework.
We want to first identify yourkey actions.
What are the top one to twothings that you want people to
do when they're on your website?
Do you want them to book a call?
(02:33):
Do you want them to sign up fora lead magnet?
Do you want them to buy aproduct or a course.
Do you want them to shop?
Everything on your site shouldpoint to these goals.
Not 10 goals, just a few.
Those who are looking for theextra things will find them.
You want to tailor it to themajority of the people, who just
(02:53):
need the one or two things thatyour main offers, or the main
things that you want them to do.
So, first off, we want to makesure that our navigation is
simple.
We only want about five toseven main menu items at the top
of your page, and the commonones that I recommend are a home
link so that they can get backto your homepage, your services
(03:17):
or your shop or your productsthat you offer.
That should be a link somewherenext.
And then I recommend you know,say, maybe some resources,
freebie or your blog would bemaybe the next link.
And then the last two criticallinks are there about you or
they're about your business,whichever is appropriate and
(03:38):
then a contact link so that theycan find out how to contact you
.
So let's go over those menuitems again real quick, in case
you're multitasking and need alittle help getting them to sync
in.
So, first off, we want a link toyour homepage so you can get
back to your homepage.
And then next is your shoppinglink.
So whether that is buying yourone-on-one coaching or shopping
(03:59):
for e-commerce products, orwhether it is buying your course
, the next one is some sort ofshopping type of link.
And then next we want to have,whether it's your resources, so
a freebie, or your blog post,whatever it is, that's your give
back type of resource.
And then, finally, the last twowe want to have about you or
(04:20):
your business, and then acontact page.
So those are the top five thatI recommend minimally, and again
about seven max, if you can.
We don't want to overwhelmpeople with drop down after drop
down.
Fewer choices equal lessfriction.
So let's say you do have ane-commerce site and you do have
(04:41):
the need for drop downs.
Just make sure you keep itclean and don't like nest
dropdowns too much.
We want to maybe have onedropdown, maybe one more
expansion after that, and that'sit, cause that's about three
clicks, right.
And then we want to create theclick pass.
So I want you to map how a usergets from the homepage to your
freebie or your blog, from yourservices to how do they book to
(05:08):
your freebie or your blog fromyour services to how do they
book from your blog to a productpage.
Make sure that nothing takesmore than three clicks.
Use smart internal linking, andall that really means is
linking to other things withinyour webpage.
And you probably just heard Macmeowing.
He has decided to talk to mewhile we're doing the podcast,
and then we want to have maybesome sidebar call to actions, if
(05:28):
needed, and buttons to guidepeople.
We want to make sure this isreally clear and really easy to
get to.
And then, speaking of blog, I dowant to touch on that because
this is something I find prettyoften, honestly, is that
somebody who have a really niceblog and years and years and
years of articles that are greaton there, but what they don't
(05:53):
have is they don't have a way toget to the old archived
articles, and what I mean bythat is they don't have a menu
structure.
Here comes Mac, and if you'rewatching this on YouTube, you
get to see Mac today he's beingvery needy.
So if what I mean by that isthey don't have a menu structure
to get to the old archives, sowhat I've seen before is just
(06:16):
blog posts and pages where it'sjust the blogs are listed, and
then it goes to page two andpage three and page four and
page five.
They don't categorize them orcreate a menu on the right or
left of a blog archive so youcould go to, like, august 2025
(06:36):
or, let's say, home organizationfor your living room, so they
didn't categorize it out andhave a menu way to get to it.
So then what happens there isthat Google drops those old
pages because there's too manyclicks to get to the old blog
posts.
And the old blog posts mightstill be great for search engine
(06:58):
optimization, but it doesn'tmatter if Google can't find them
, and it definitely doesn'tmatter if your customers aren't
looking at them either, becauseGoogle knows when they look at
your pages if you have GoogleAnalytics installed.
So we want to make sure thatthis is something common.
I find that the blogs need tohave that architecture, that
hierarchical architecture, thatthey can get in to the older
(07:21):
articles, because many timestheir older articles are still
great and still relevant.
And then let's go to a realworld example of a menu or how
you want to have thingsstructured on your site.
So let's say you're a coursecreator and someone lands on
your homepage Can they figureout how to learn about your
course.
See if that's easy for them tofind.
(07:43):
Is it easy for them to findtestimonials or FAQs about it?
Is it easy for them to joinyour list, or do they have to
dig around to figure it all out?
This is why this matters.
The easier you make it, thefaster they can act, the faster
they can get their information,which gives them more confidence
and more trust in you.
So this again goes back toconfidence, and trust in your
(08:05):
website helps you convert better.
If they can get the informationthey need quickly and
efficiently, they'll feel likeyou have thought about your
website.
You have thought about howthings are laid out, and this is
all subconscious.
They aren't really thinkingthis like in their head
consciously, usually, unlessthey're a web developer or
somebody who analyzes this stufffor a living.
(08:27):
They will just have more trustin you because of this.
So make sure that you look atyour website from your client's
eyes.
Is it easy to do the goals thatyou want them to do?
Share it with a business friend.
Share it with somebody who'sgoing to give you some great
honest feedback.
You know, you know you knowthose people in your life who
(08:47):
are going to give you greathonest feedback.
So share it with them and askthem the questions.
You know, who am I, what?
Who do I serve, what, what do Ido?
You can ask them that too andsee if they know your answers
real quick.
Because if they can't figurethat out fast, then then we have
a bit of a disconnect there.
So if your site feels too deepor too disorganized, don't worry
(09:09):
about it, it is fixable.
You can work to get this fixedand if you need professional
help for it, you can alwaysreach out to us on our website
and contact us and get someprofessional help for it.
And if you want weekly tips tohelp you optimize your site
structure, increase conversionsand grow your business smarter,
not harder, just go on over tosmarteronlinebusinesscom and
(09:31):
find our newsletter signed uplink and go ahead and sign up
for our newsletter.
We just send that out aboutonce a week and provide extra
tips on our newsletter.
And then I want to give you,before we wrap up today, the 60
second navigation test.
So I want you to test your sitetoday.
Ask a friend or someone in youraudience can you find my offer
(09:52):
or booking in three clicks orless without me helping you.
So pick it.
Pick whatever it is that youwant them to find and see if
they can find it in three clicksor less.
If their answer is no, thenstart tightening your structure,
start taking some of the tipsfrom this podcast episode and
make some adjustments and somefixes, and if you ever need some
extra help, you can always jumpout and reach out to us in our
(10:15):
emails or on our social mediasto ask the question.
And simplifying your website isone of the fastest ways to
improve trust retention andresults, so it's something I
want to challenge you to look atand not ignore.
I hope you found this episodeof Smarter Online Business
helpful.
I hope you found this episodeof Smarter Online Business
(10:37):
helpful and, if you did, pleasebe sure and rate and review us
and share with a business friend.
That really helps.
Spread the word out so we canhelp more businesses just like
yours.
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