How to Improve Website Conversion

By Jacqueline Sinex, Friday, April 15, 2016
Woman clicking on mobile website

Website conversion means getting your website visitors to take some kind of action. This action can be anything from making a purchase, to signing up for an email list, to contacting you for more information. Because website conversion leads to sales and profit, it is an important indicator of a successful website. It is also something that all businesses must think about. Small e-commerce stores and large national brands alike are concerned about getting their website visitors to engage with them.

Website conversion can be tricky to get right because it depends on many factors, not all of which have to do with the website. For instance, the quality of the product the website offers can affect how willing visitors are to buy that product. An effective sales process might contribute to a better website conversion than an ineffective one.

Because website conversion depends on many outside factors, no web developer can guarantee you a certain amount of sales. However, the good news is that a skilled web development company can help you to improve your website’s performance. With the right help, you can design a website that makes it easy for visitors to engage with your brand.

Improve website speed.

Seconds count when your web pages are loading. On average, visitors expect a page to load in 2 seconds or less and abandon pages that take longer than 3 seconds to appear. This means that a difference of 1 or 2 seconds in your pages’ load time can mean the difference between earning and losing a conversion.

You can check your current speed through tools such as Google’s Page Speed Online. If you find that your site is slower than you want it to be, consider using techniques such as optimizing your images, uploading smaller images, and caching your web pages to improve your website speed. An experienced web developer can help you implement strategies to speed up your site.

Prioritize your main call to action.

Donate call to action button

If you want visitors to take action while on your website, you need to tell them what to do. This means that you first need to decide what the most important action is that you want your visitors to take. Whether this is signing up for an email list, accessing a white paper, or pursuing your deal of the day, make sure you know what your conversion goals are.

Once you know what your call to action is, make sure that it is the first message visitors see when they land on your home page. That way, they know right away what they should do and where they should click to do it. With clear directions, they are more likely to engage in the action you prefer them to take.

Tailor your message to your audience.

Visitors to your website want to know how you can help them. As a result, focus your message on your audience and their needs, not on yourself. For instance, use your About page to highlight the benefits you want to bring customers instead of discussing the details of your founding. Use your messaging to acknowledge the problems your customers face and to show them how your products and services can help them solve these problems. Make sure that they feel like you understand and sympathize with them. When your visitors experience this kind of connection with you, they are far more likely to engage with your brand.

Tell visitors what you are really giving them.

People want to buy products and services that they feel will solve problems in their lives. As a result, you can improve conversion rates on your site by describing how your business can meet their needs.

Telling visitors what you are really giving them means going beyond a physical description of your products. For instance, do not simply tell them that they can purchase a Phillips head screwdriver from your store. Instead, tell them that they can finally replace the batteries on the toy their child loves. When visitors see how your business can solve their problems, they will respond.

Minimize clicks.

Visitors want to locate key information quickly. As a result, you can improve website conversions by placing the most important information 1 or 2 clicks away. This means that your visitors should only have to click once or twice on your website in order to access the main pieces of information about your products and services.

Creating this kind of shallow web design requires smart website organization. For instance, use the home page navigation to quickly direct visitors to main product categories. Use drop-down menus to help visitors find information without adding clicks to their journey. While you can provide more details deeper into your website, you can improve website conversion by keeping the most important information easy to find.

Don’t hold back the details.

While you want to make sure that key information is easy to access, this does not mean that you hold back on the details about your products and services. Customers want to be informed before they make a purchase, and they are willing to do research to get that information. As a result, tell your website visitors as much as possible about your products.

This means crafting detailed product pages that cover most of the questions visitors will have about a particular item. In addition to presenting all of the positive aspects of your products, also consider occasionally including the negatives. For instance, if one of your bath products is not suitable for children, visitors will appreciate being told this before they buy it.

In addition, always make sure the pricing on your website is clear. Customers will abandon their shopping carts (and you will lose a website conversion) if they are surprised by the cost of their items. Above all, avoid the appearance that you are keeping secrets. Transparent, honest, and thorough websites are far more likely to earn visitors’ trust (and their business).

SEE ALSO: The Top 6 Must-Have Qualities of Effective Web Content

Make your contact information easy to find.

Be accessible to your customers. Place your contact information on every page in easy-to-find locations (such as a “Contact” tab on the top or the bottom of the page). That way, visitors will be able to reach you with any questions or concerns they have. Your willingness to answer their questions might be just the nudge they need to commit to a purchase or other type of conversion. Plus, it gives visitors an opportunity to talk directly with you and your sales team. These contacts are one more chance for you to turn a website visitor into a customer.

Make the buy button easy to find.

Buy Now

Finally, if you are running an e-commerce website, make the buy button easy to find. For instance, make it a different color or font from the rest of the page and put it in an obvious location. This simple step can help improve your website conversion by making it easy for customers to obtain your products and services.

Improving website conversion includes improving how your website presents itself to potential customers. By increasing website speed, prioritizing your main call to action, targeting your audience in your messaging, telling visitors what you are really giving them, minimizing clicks, providing details, and making sure contact information and the buy button are easy to find, you can encourage visitors to engage with your website.

Posted in: Austin Web Design, How To, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Web Design Resource, WWW Learning Center

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