There are two ways of making use of your website, the right way and the wrong way. You can have a wonderful website, which has all the great features websites should have, tons of traffic and yet the conversion rate is terrible? Now it could be you are doing all there is to be done to generate traffic and yet that traffic is not yielding results.
You have invested a pretty large sum of dollars, devoted time to ensure your business thrives and yet visitors to the site leave and never look back. All those resources and traffic will account for nothing if it does not reflect in increased earnings. What do you do about it? How can you remedy that situation? Are you going the right way or way off in getting those customers?
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
You must ensure that your website is created to optimize conversions in order to convert website visitors into followers and, even better, buyers. The method of doing so is known as Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO). Developing a CRO plan isn’t as simple as you might believe. It’s tough to predict how people will act and react to certain situations. However, by using the correct digital marketing methods to increase your website’s conversion rate, you can ensure that the money you spend on marketing pays off not only in sales but also in the development of long-term relationships with with each and every website visitor.
Today I’m going to walk you through some basic steps to convert that traffic to great sales.
Defining your website’s goals
It’s important to know exactly what action you want people visiting your website to do. This will assist you in keeping track of the job your site is doing. There is no way to improve the site if you don’t have a goal. Only what you can measure can be improved. Your site’s goal could be encouraging visitors to sign up for an event/newsletter, make a purchase, click on something or order for an item.
Pay special attention to Calls to Action (CTA)
This is the main purpose of any business site. The idea behind them is simple: what do you want people to do when they land on a page on your website? You can subtly direct their actions instead of hoping they act on their own. Encourage them to take the action you desire from them.
Every page on your website should have a CTA based on the unique goal you have for that page. CTAs on a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) page, for instance, will encourage visitors to volunteer or donate to for a cause. CTAs urging visitors to join an email list or download an ebook are more likely to appear in a blog article.
It’s critical to determine the best CTA for each page. However, determining how to word and display the CTA in the most successful manner is an important element of the CRO process. A small change in phrasing or the color of a CTA button might yield unexpected outcomes.
One of the best methods to improve your conversion rate is to make sure you know what action you want your visitors to do next and to pay close attention to how you urge them to take it.
Create a persuasive and clear-cut value proposition
Creating a value proposition that your site’s visitors can key into greatly determines your conversion rate. Your customers are not just concerned with what they are buying from you but also what differentiates what you have on offer from competitors. This is what comprises of your value proposition.
Marketing experts do all they can to bring an upturn in conversion by changing variables like images, button sizes, incentives and so on. This can be of help but the main focus should be in targeting their energy towards strengthening their value propositions.
Developing a value proposition demands a deep understanding of what you are putting out for users and an in-depth understanding of what makes your company stand out. There are many sites with powerful and captivating value propositions and yet lack an essential component to generate sales with these value propositions; they lack the ability to convey effectively their value proposition. Create a value proposition clear enough and simple to understand in as little word as possible.
In order to find out your value proposition’s effectiveness, you must test to see if its getting the job done of pulling in CTAs. You can do this using the A/B test.
A/B Testing
The A/B test is a procedure to continually optimize conversion. This helps you to experiment and discover what page with different value propositions is getting the most desired action from visitors.
In this test, you can have possibly two headlines for your page to determine which one resonates with the incoming traffic to your site. A/b testing software equally divides the incoming traffic to your site between the two pages. Each page features a CTA, and in the end you count the actions taken on each page and see which one people clicked on.
Only change one portion of a website at a time, according to experts, to receive precise evidence on which aspect affects behavior. As you conduct a series of A/B tests over time, you’ll learn a lot about what your audience likes and dislikes, and you’ll be able to apply what you’ve learned to your website.
Site-User interaction
Another major part of CRO is the user experience (UX). It is important to make your site as user friendly as possible so as to allow visitors easily do what they need to do on it. Developing a site where there is little (if necessary) to no barrier will go a long way in improving the user experience.
Everyone seems to be in a hurry online. This isn’t meant as a criticism, it’s simply how the internet works. Consider this: have you ever considered reading an article, downloading anything, or purchasing something and then decided against it because it needed a somewhat longer time commitment than you anticipated? This is just a bit of how the net works.
Creating a user friendly experience in reality could mean lowering the amount of fields on a form that someone must fill out. More people will fill out a section that only asks for their name and email address than one that also asks for their age, gender, business title, and firm size. It includes the checkout procedure as well. It may come as a surprise, but someone who wants something badly enough to pay for it may not want it badly enough to spend time filling out further forms to finish the process.
Add Incentives to CTA
Is there any reason to act right now? Urgency can be influenced by the presentation’s tone, offers, and deadlines. The tone of the presentation, the offers, and the deadline can all have an impact on the sense of urgency. I’m sure you’ve come across emergency alerts.
A good example is stating there are limited quantities of a good or service and urging the visitors to take action right then. Some may think it is obvious, and others may believe it can’t possibly work, but it does, and it works quite effectively. Scarcity is a powerful motivator.
There are two types of scarcity you can create:
- shortage in terms of quantity (3 seats left at this price)
- scarcity in terms of time (last day to buy)
If your product’s supply is limitless, you can provide time-sensitive benefits, such as a free present to the first Q number of buyers or a discount if they complete the transaction within a particular length of time.
In doing this, please you must be genuine. Your sincerity on such a matter cannot be overemphasized. Never ever, ever, ever lie to your customers. People will notice if it’s a ruse, and your credibility will suffer as a result. It’s not even close to being worth it.
Set and Understand the Conversion funnel
One of the ways to get your soon-to-be customers is gently wooing them. Do not rush to ask them to take a CTA too fast. Some might just be surfing through the net and not ready or feel the need to buy or sign up or whatever action you desire they take.
People require longer time before they are ready to commit to a product that is more expensive and/or difficult. You can understand their skepticism if you place yourself in their position. You probably would do the same.
For software products, it is advisable where you can to offer demo or ‘freemuim’ ( free trial) in place of asking for a sign-up or purchase. This has been proven over time to bring in massive conversion rates.
Also, if a blog post consistently generates conversions to your email list but the majority of the individuals who sign up later unsubscribe without taking any further action, the blog post isn’t as important as the conversion figure suggests. Another post is more beneficial if it results in fewer email sign-ups but more people taking subsequent actions with your brand.
Understanding your conversion funnel allows you to put a more accurate value to certain conversions as well as discover wider trends in what is working.
Use easy to understand words
The use of words to persuade should never loose its clarity. It’s important your choice of words conveys whatever you want the reader to do without the reader being confused about what exactly you are saying. Remember you are writing for every-day people and don’t go about using terms as if your page was for marketing directors or purchasing directors.
One way to keep it simple and yet convey whatever message you are putting out is to write as if you were explaining your product to someone who has no idea about the product. Use language you will normally use in your day-to-day conversations.
Offer Proof
One distinguishable factor that sites who have a high conversion rate is that they most times offer proof of what their product has done as said by other people. Whatever you present to the public, it’s vital you back it up with evidence.
You can present this proof by
- Research and case studies. Present verifiable facts which have been proven over time.
- Third party reviews. Were you featured in an article or magazine with commendable review? This adds prestige to what you offer the public
- Mentioning actual users. Be proud to tell the world how many customers use your product. Many will be turned off by the thought of being the only user of a product.
- Showcase it. Why don’t you present your product in action? Back up your value proposition with a video of what your product does!
- Customer testimonials. This has to be the most popular of the proofs. Glowing recommendation from customers who used your product is a big proof of the validity of your product.
Promote coupons
Coupons over time have been proven to be conversion boosters. A few dollars off can sway someone who is undecided about making a purchase.
Take note of the outcome each time you present coupons. What differences can you pick out? Do you get more conversions from some channels more than others? For instance does your email lead converts more than your social media lead? How about the knowledge that most of your conversion rates come more from those in your loyalty program compared to those who have made just a single purchase? Digging and getting the answers to these questions and more give you a better and clearer understanding of who your customers are.
Final Take
These hacks are bound to give your site an uplift and have you smiling to the bank in time. Some of these hacks have to be mastered more than others but they work hand in hand with each other to optimize your conversion rate. Your days of traffic with no customers to show for are over!