Website Conversion Optimization is an area I know quite a lot about and I have helped a number of clients to improve their Website Conversion Rate.
I wouldn’t want to waste to much of your time so I’m just going to dive into the theme of today’s post and in the process, explain some of the areas I pay close attention to when I’m optimizing my client’s websites for even greater website conversion rate.
So, How to Improve Website Conversion Rate
1. Know and communicate value throughout your website – Know your USP (Unique Selling Point) as that’s what sets you apart from your competition and always communicate it and the value you are delivering in your product(s) and services to your customers.
I really can’t over emphasize on the above statement and the clients who have consulted me on website and usability optimization can attest to the fact that I pay very close attention to website owners communicating value and stating what sets them apart at all times.
2. Increase User Engagement by Introducing Product Offers – Offering offers on your products would often raise user engagement on your website. If you run a blog try creating more ebooks and run more webinars.
If you running are eCommerce site try offering buy 1 get 1 free, buy 1 get the next half price etc.. offers and you would see your website attracting and converting more visitors into leads and active buyers.
3. Be Clear and Communicate Value on your Product Descriptions – Be clear on the value the product adds to your buyers and help the customer answer the ‘why should I buy this product?’ question.
Also being clear on product descriptions can aid in the sale process by alienating questions marks associated with your products.
4. Use Killer (Great) Images – You know what they say – an image says a thousand words. Having worked on few UX projects, visual aids such as killer images actually makes a difference on websites, and it can be the deciding factor between who converts and who don’t on your website.
5. Always place a clear and relevant call to action – On your homepage and landing pages actually on all the web pages on your website, ensure you are always directing visitors to take action on areas of your website that matters to you.
And stop using ‘submit’ as a call to action, rather use a relevant phrase like ‘Subscribe To Our Mailing List’, ‘Download Our Whitepaper’ etc
6. Check and optimize your website speed – According to KissMetrics, 40% of your website visitors will not wait more than 3 seconds, and 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less. So it’s really important that your website loads fast enough.
For a fact if your website is loading too slowly a lot of your site visitors will go elsewhere and you want to avoid that all cost. I use tools like YSlow and GTmetrix to optimize my clients’ website speed.
7. Fix your website’s navigation – Make sure your website is navigable and for increased conversation, place your top selling products by the side where people can see them or a click away from your landing pages.
8. Ensure full browser support – if you can, try testing the appearance and functionality of a webpage in multiple browsers as soon as the page comes live. You always use BrowserShots.org for this purpose.
9. Find and fix your error pages – I was on one of the major marketing automation software vendor’s website last week and when I wanted to know more about they are offering and clicked on the main call to action on their homepage, an error page appeared.
And to be honest, I was gutted for them, I bet they lost some business opportunities and missed out on getting great leads for the few hours, days, weeks or months that link was down.
Try tracking your error pages in your favorite web Analytics Software, I would recommend Google Analytics and fix these pages as soon as you find them.
10. Use the right language and check for spelling errors – The use of right language and grammar always have effect on conversion rate, so always check and make sure you are communication your values and the essence of the product you are promoting right.
Also spelling mistakes and typos makes you appear less professional to your visitors and you want to avoid that as much as you can.
11. Display Accreditation – Displaying known and relevant accreditation clearly on your homepage and landing pages, would often create trust in your readers mind.
If you are an eCommerce site, to enable your visitors know their information is safe and secure include security seals, or certifications if you have them.
12. Add testimonials or customer logos – Your potential customers would really want to know if your product work and/or is usable, hence adding testimonials or customer logos as social proof is a great way to get your potential customers thinking positive about what you have to offer.
How long have you been involved with optimizing websites? What strategies do you have in your arsenal for optimizing landing pages for greater conversions? Is there anything you would like to add to this post? Reply in comments.
A Call-to-Action is definitely important to any kind of businesses.