Conversion rates measure a website’s ability to convert visitors into customers. For an ecommerce site, the ultimate conversion is the completion of a sale, while for an information site, it’s often generating a lead through the submission of a contact form or a phone call to the business.
In terms of optimization though, you sometimes need to look at conversion as any action a visitor takes that follows your intended path to that ultimate purchase. In that sense, almost all of the other optimization techniques we’re discussing have an impact on the conversion rate. That said, here are some of the focused tactics for increasing conversions.
Research
Measuring conversion rates on different versions of a page, referred to A/B testing, tells you which version performs better. But how do you design and layout those two particular pages, and what else do the results tell you? Those questions are key, because to find the answers, you need to do much more research. While formal focus groups and professional surveys can be costly, they can also produce a lot of very valuable information. And, even if you don’t want to make that kind of investment, a few phone calls or purposeful chats with customers in person, can also yield profitable results.
Ask for feedback about your site. Ask customers who come in person why they didn’t use the website. Call customers up and ask them if they have any issues with the website or how you could improve it. You can also get specific by looking at your site’s analytics to see which pages visitors are leaving from, and ask about that particular page, or contact those who have abandoned a cart and check in with them.
The more information you can provide from your customers, the better able we are to generate a truly useful A/B test; and, we can then use those results to improve other pages as well.
Trust and Social Proof
If you want people to give you personal information, like a phone or credit card number, they need to feel safe. A professional looking website that shows a secure connection and only asks for pertinent information are a great start.
Forms, for example, should be limited to the absolute minimum amount of information needed for you to follow up.
Testimonials and reviews are also a big factor in buyer decision making, so at least some of these should also be right on your site.
The Value Proposition
To make a sale, the customer needs to believe that they are getting value for their money. While every business plan establishes a value proposition for the company, a lot of businesses forget that every product or service you offer also needs its own value proposition. What problem are you solving with this offering? What are the benefits to the consumer?
Calls to Action
We talked about the need for calls to action in the last article, but here we’re going to talk about the different types and placement of them. Think about that path again. The customer lands on your home page. The first “conversion” is getting them to click on a link within the site. Which link leads to your ideal scenario? Yes, there is a menu item that links to your products or services, but nudging them to the ideal next page is the task of a call to action. This could be as simple as placing a “Learn more about our services” link in the narrative, or it could be an entire side bar. For an ecommerce site that has repeat customers, you want to separate new vs. returning early on, so you might even want a call to action in your header, so regulars can reorder quickly, while new visitors are directed to more information before the “Buy Now” button appears.
While every business is different, these are some of the many factors that need to be thoughtfully considered to optimize conversions.
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