9 Easy Ways to Increase Online Conversions
So you’ve created a great website with professionally designed graphics, user-friendly navigation, and compelling content. But instead of the expected steady stream of hits and purchases, you don’t get even a trickle.
So what’s up?
Too many entrepreneurs and small business owners have an “if you build it, they will come” mentality. They think they just need to build something that looks good to attract buyers.
The truth is that building a website, no matter how visually appealing, isn’t even half the battle.
The hardest work comes after your website is up and running, when it’s time to market your product or service, attract potential customers, and convert them into leads and sales.
Whether you’re struggling to see your offers, build your list, or want to increase your sales, these tips will help you use the best marketing tool you have effectively: your website.
1. Look under the hood.
Is something technically wrong? There are many wannabe developers out there who don’t understand what it takes to build a robust, responsive website.
Follow the path a customer would take from the moment they land on your homepage through the entire buying process. There may be an error message when trying to add a specific product to your cart, or a 404 page that should show your shipping and return information.
Make sure you also check your site on multiple different browsers and devices to ensure responsiveness looks good everywhere and not just on the typical browser you’re using.
Checking your website speed is a good place to start. If a page takes forever to load, people won’t wait.
2. Pay close attention to your headline.
The average web surfer using a search engine visits around 25 websites in just 3-4 minutes. That’s not a lot of time to get someone’s attention.
How to increase online conversions and increase your sales:
- Avoid saying “Welcome to my website…” or other fluffy space wasters. You don’t want to waste your precious seconds with words that don’t inspire visitors to take action.
- Be short and sweet. Your headline isn’t the place to stuff into every detail. Focus on 6-12 words that contain your target keywords to generate interest.
- Get descriptive. Using a thesaurus is the perfect way to find different ways of saying things that speak to people’s emotions. Think beyond words like “good” and “great” and wow your visitors.
3. Show people how your product or service will benefit them.
Don’t bother trying to explain the mechanics of what you’re selling. Instead, answer your visitors’ questions, such as: How will it change people’s lives for the better? Why do you need it? Unlock your visitors’ pain points and tell them the right story in a video, blog post, headline…
Here is an example from one of our customers who Institute for Financial Recovery. Rather than telling people the course names or how she teaches, Karen describes the benefits they will have from taking Money Coach training.
4. Inspire your visitors to take action.
Using concrete action verbs can help increase online conversions. Excite your visitors about what you are selling and instill a sense of urgency.
For example, instead of saying “register now” for a webinar, you could say “save space here.” Instead of “earning the course” for a program you teach, try something like “start learning today.”
Create more enticing value propositions than just “buy” or “shop now” to motivate people to take advantage of your offer.
5. Have strong calls to action.
Whether it’s filling out an online form or clicking a button, tell your users what to do next. Like your headline and body copy, your CTAs should be concise and value-driven.
However, don’t put CTAs all over your body copy because you think more is better. You want one main per-page call-to-action, or “action” that you want someone to take, rather than one that gets tucked into every paragraph of content.
Read Intelligent calls-to-action for each purchase phase to maximize conversions on our website.
Have you ever wondered why some websites convert better than others? You can have the best copy in the world, but if you don’t have effective calls-to-action on every page, you won’t make the sale.
This article provides effective example calls-to-action to reach shoppers at every stage of the buying cycle and increase conversions.
6. Make it easy for visitors to give you information.
People don’t like filling out long forms to download an eBook or sign up for email newsletters. Popular digital marketing entrepreneur Neil Patel increased his conversion rate by 26% on NeilPatel.com by removing just one form field.
To get more website leads, ask for what you want in as few fields as possible. We only ask our visitors for a name and email address before giving them our free Ultimate Guide to Improving Profitability and Conversions.
7. Make the right visual impression.
It’s time to take stock of your stock photos and take a good look at the images you’re using to represent your brand.
Your visual brand should be consistent across all of your marketing materials, from your blog images to your email newsletter images. Too many small business owners use tacky stock photos or low-quality images simply because they’re easy and available to them.
Pictures are worth a thousand words, and neither of those words will be “leads” or “sales” if you don’t carefully choose the images that represent your brand.
And please, while we’re on the subject of stock photos, never use a stock photo that hasn’t been purchased and still has the watermark on it, whether it’s on your website, social media, or in your newsletters. Not only does this look very unprofessional, it is illegal use of the stock photo and you could be fined if you find out.
8. Use ratings and testimonials as social proof.
We use social proof every day to guide our decisions – online and in the real world. Here’s a real-life example: When choosing a restaurant, do you prefer the busy restaurant full of happy customers or the empty one across the street?
Now think about how you shop online. I’m sure you used a positive or negative rating to influence a decision. Research by BrightLocal shows that positive reviews make 91% of consumers more likely to use a business, while negative reviews deter 82%. And the average consumer reads 10 reviews before feeling able to trust a local business.
A unique opportunity this online marketing platform confidence pulse gives shoppers social proof by dynamically sharing the name and location of people who have signed up for their services.
9. Never stop testing and optimizing.
To get more website leads, you need to know what works and what doesn’t. Use A/B testing to show visitors different versions of your site, or try out a variety of headlines over a period of months.
Remember, what helps one website owner increase online conversions may fail miserably for another.
It can be a challenge to successfully create the most compelling copy, images, and calls-to-action. Therefore, consider hiring a professional marketing company to help you get results.
Whatever method you use, you need to try, test, and try more… finding the right formula to increase your sales is an ongoing process.
for your business success,
Suzanne
Thanks to Susan Friesen | #website #leads #increase #sales
