Traffic generation is what you get; conversion optimization is what you do with all that traffic, which is significantly more important because that’s’ how you turn your website into a source of income. We’ve pooled together a list of tips to help you transform your site visitors into buying customers.
In order for trust badges to carry any weight, they must be common at online checkouts and possess security features that encourage customers to trust brands where they find these badges. Popular trusted badges include Trusted, Trust Badges, Baymard and Truste.
There are various methods of payment options and the type of payment you accept impacts on your site conversion rate because not everyone has access to all types of payment options. Ensure you have a handful of popular choices including PayPal, credit cards and Google Wallet. To prevent users from backing out at checkout, offer last minute discount that popups in their shopping basket to entice them to follow through on the purchase.
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This is an effective tactic to assure your customers that they are getting their money’s worth when they make a purchase. Fewer strategies have been successful to convert customers like hooking them with the bait of a small taste of the benefit of your product.
Include your personal details in your website, especially when you’re a startup trying to gain the trust of your customers to add legitimacy to your company. Some customers don’t want to conduct business over the internet or they might need further reassurance from you before making a purchase.
Businesses have succeeded on the sheer power of their social media following plus it’s a great way to advertise your products and get people talking about your brand. People won’t believe a word you say until they hear it from other users who post in the comment section talking about their buying experience, your return policy, how it really works, the efficacy of your product and the type of service they received from your customer care. These are important factors that could break any company or improve conversion rate so show off your social media following if you have a respectable one. Highlight comments from satisfied customers to give your brand a high level of authenticity that will serve you in the long run.
Testimonials are probably the best way to connect with your audience on a personal level and convince them that your product works. When displaying a testimonial, display some personal information of the customer so it looks credible and not entirely made up. Alternatively, you could have a small sidebar beneath your website where the best customer feedback is aggregated from your social media accounts and displayed in real time on the website for customers to read through
Red colour establishes a sense of urgency, purple is calming and everyone loves a call to action buttons with orange colours. BMI increased their conversion rate by 2.5% with a red background behind their message. However, test colours to see what works best with your target audience.
Generally, visitors will skim through your site looking for keywords that describe your products and the benefits they offer. Videos are an ingenious way to connect with your audience because people by nature are visual learners. Show your product in action, teach people how to apply it for best result and assure customers of your commitment to their satisfaction.
Develop your web presence and brand visibility with content marketing. Your appearance on numerous websites gains trust and credibility, which leads to more backlinks and conversions.
Pictures of people on landing pages are effective and increases signups by 102.5%, as revealed by 36signals website redesign. You could also use simple visual cues to guide the user’s eye to your call to action button or conversion form. Pinterest is a perfect example of utilizing visual media to increase conversion. People are likely to trust other people rather than a faceless brand so use pictures from your target demographic on your landing pages or homepage.
To drive sales and improve conversion you need to connect the needs of your potential customers with the solutions offered by your product. An impactful way to drive conversions is with A/B testing to determine what users want as assumptions have been known to be the biggest killers of conversion.
Sales doesn’t end when a customer makes a purchase. Self-service is great but sometimes people need to talk to a support staff in real time. Ensure there are detailed information for phone, live chat or co-browsing to make online conversations more effective. If your customers are satisfied and happy, they are likely to become repeat customers.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a great writer, no one is going to buy your products if they don’t understand a word you say. Keep in mind that the average consumer has a low reading level so you need to use simple language that appeals to the core of your audience. Avoid using big words or complex sentences that might lead to text misinterpretation.
Some inexperienced copywriters focus their attention describing the product without properly highlighting what the product can do. People don’t buy products, they buy solutions. Focus on the benefits and explain how the product can be used to enhance the customer’s life.
The headline is the first thing that grabs the attention of a visitor to your website. Creating a good headline is an art form that requires certain best practices to make it as concise as possible. Get a copywriting expert to help you write a headline that describes what you offer in a compelling and attractive way.
There is a fundamental barrier to users making purchases on your site. They might be interested in the product and consider them of good value but they need a push in the right direction to urge them into taking action. Powerful adjectives that spur people to actions and emotional action words are ideal when trying to instil urgency in your visitors. Such words include:
Everything you need
Instant
Guaranteed
Powerful
Real results
100% money back guarantee
Premium
No obligations
Most web users are mobile which means your visitors will have to click interactive buttons, read text on a small screen so ensure it’s comfortable, and function for the larger portion of your customers. Use Google’s mobile friendly test to find out if your website is optimised for mobile if you’re unsure about the status of your site.
Consider how you present your services or product on the website. Reduce the options you offer to users because less is more when offering the best online experience. Its’ easier to make a decision on a product when you have few options to choose from instead of stuffing the site with pages of different products that could confuse the buyer.
The four elements to any action are ability, willpower, incentive and opportunity. Before you think of increasing conversion rate on your website, you should understand that:
Potential buyers can’t find your website if it doesn’t rank well in search results
Customers won’t make a purchase if the website is in a language they don’t understand or the “buy now” button isn’t clear.
What incentive does a customer have to complete a purchase?
Is the purchasing process misleading in any way that causes frustration for the buyer?
Successful brands use a variety of landing pages to showcase different product categories to their customers. They exist outside of your site so you should create a landing page copy that increases conversions, and highlights the best products or services for each of your target demographics.
If you’re reading this, it’s likely you’re not a big name brand like Amazon or AliExpress, you have a select product you want customers to buy so you have to understand your audience and identify what they want. Collect feedback regularly to understand what their experience was like on the site and if there were any changes or product they would like, to enhance their shopping experience.
Discount offers and bargain deals are a great way to drive sales but they can go wrong when customers start feeling that they are not getting a good deal after the offer expires. One good trick is to make sure everyone has a discount or to move code redemption to the account system instead of at checkout.
People buy from you because they are convinced your product will do what you say it should. If a user picks one product, show them others along the same line of their purchase. Cross-selling and upselling are proven techniques marketers use to boost conversion rate.
One of the most important strategies for online marketing is the Unique Selling Point. This is the killer feature that sets you apart from the competition or the reason why customers buy from you in a sea of similar products. What’s’ your USP, do you run a family business? Free delivery and return? Alternatively, is it unique items at affordable prices customers won’t find elsewhere?
People are cautious when buying online. With all the hacking attempts on big name brands, it’s not every website that is worthy of a user’s details. If you have a SSL certificate, display it. If you use secure payment, let the users know. Write copies that describe your product accurately instead of writing what will sell the product. Users are more likely to buy from you if you use a direct, honest approach in advertising.
This is one of the most important ways to convert customers because returns on the web are still a big issue. With brick and mortar stores, you know the physical address of the shop so it’s easy to return a product if you’re unsatisfied with a purchase, online purchases are a bit tricky especially in relation to clothing items and accessories that people can’t try on until they’ve made a purchase. Some websites increase conversion by offering free returns on items as long as it’s within the stipulated grace period.
If a product is out of stock, say so. This is an annoying trait employed by some companies when customers go to checkout only to find the product is unavailable. It also applies to pricing; a product might be a bargain deal at £200, but when users find out the cost of shipping is £100, they are unlikely to continue the purchase. Show delivery charges to countries or regions where most of your customers come from or use IP to country database to figure out the country of your customer and the shipping charges that would apply. Transparency is everything when you’re trying to make a sale.
Some websites ask for too many information on their customers before letting them make a purchase. Don’t ask for information you don’t need to know, especially information users deem private. You don’t need their phone number for an email enquiry form, what if the customer is only making a one-time purchase? Give the user the option to fill out those details but don’t make it compulsory.
This might sound simple but its’ complex for many companies trying to put too many features and pages on their sites. The harder it is for visitors to navigate your site, the lower the chances of new customers. Visitors need to understand the layout the moment they enter your site. Flashy graphics, annoying popups and adverts in the sidebars are distractions that cause customers to run to your competitors. Use a simple website layout optimized for browsers other than Internet Explorer. How to do users purchase items on your site? What happens when the purchase button isn’t obvious? Can they view their purchases at the top of the screen while they keep shopping?
If your conversion goal is to obtain visitors information with a lead, you should display the submission form in a way that is easy to find. Some websites use large colourful arrows, exit redirects and pop-ups to catch the lead. Your call to action should be simple and clear. If the goal is to make purchase, replace words like “add” with “buy”. CloudSponge was able to increase conversion by 33% with an updated website design featuring a demo, clear call to action and reasons to choose CloudSponge.
