3 STEPS TO INCREASING YOUR WEBSITE'S CONVERSIONS
May 23, 2014
A conversion rate is the percentage of people who take a desired action as a result of visiting a website, whether it’s buying something, signing up to a mailing list, making an enquiry or registering as a member.
First thing’s first: to get website conversions, you need website visitors.
Just before we look at how to get more visitors to convert, I thought it would be good to summarise a few techniques for getting visitors in the first place. The below is just a quick guide, but if you need any more information about how to get more website visitors, the articles on our blog will be able to help.
5 Ways to Attract People to Your Website
1. Optimise your website for search engines
2. Be active on social media
3. Invest in Google AdWords
4. Update your website content regularly
5. Include your website address in all email & print correspondence, business cards etc.
Now let’s look at the steps to getting website visitors to convert…
Step 1: Web Design
The design of your website is one of the most important factors to consider when you are thinking about getting more conversions. These statistics speak for themselves:
- 48% of people cite a website’s design as the number 1 factor in deciding the credibility of a business
- 94% of people cite web design as the reason they distrusted or rejected a website
- 40% of people leave a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load
- Therefore, by making sure your website is credible, trustworthy and easy to use, you are much more likely to see an increase in your conversion rate.
The components of a great website design include:
- A unique design that fits your branding
- A clear layout, not a cluttered one
- Plenty of navigational aids
- Good use of colour
- No pop up advertisements
- Quick loading homepage
- Easy to read text (consider both size and font)
- Not too much text
- Personality – don’t let it become cold and corporate
- Easy to search for things
Step 2: Content
Your website’s content makes a huge difference to how your potential customers view you. Custom content builds trust with potential customers, making it more likely for them to buy or make contact when you ask them to. It’s also been proven that companies with an active blog get more leads than companies who don’t, although website content isn’t just about written content; visual elements like video are also really effective.
Here are a few examples of great website content:
- A regularly updated blog or latest news page
- Interesting and valuable articles
- A video about your company
- A virtual tour of your premises
- Options to share on social media
Step 3: Calls-to-action
Once you’ve assessed your website’s design and content, it’s time to look at where, when and how you call your customers to respond. This is usually in the form of a clickable button, but it could also just be some text above your contact form or next to your telephone number.
Tips for effective calls-to-action
- Have a clear goal for what you want your visitors to do (e.g. sign up, make a purchase, get a quote)
- What works for one company may not work for you, so be open to trial and error
- Don’t overload with opportunities to respond – be strategic
- Make sure people know exactly what they are getting as a result of responding
- What can you give away for free? (e.g. Free postage, free quote, free trial)
I hope this has given you a few ideas for increasing your website’s conversion rate, but if you need any more advice we’d be happy to help!
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