The raison d’être of a website is to increase business by attracting and collecting new customers. Businesses without websites can find themselves hamstrung. Equally, a poorly designed or neglected website is almost as bad as no website at all.
There are plenty of simple things you can do with your website to get better results and make a huge difference to your number of conversions.
Here are the top 4.
A strong call to action
The call to action is the entire purpose of the site, yet far too often it takes a back seat to eye-catching design. Too many sites allow their call to action to blend in. This is the wrong approach entirely. The call to action must stand out through whatever means necessary, be it contrasting colours, larger fonts, better positioning or more compelling phrasing.
Additionally, each page must have a call to action which can be as simple as collecting an email address, getting an up- or down-vote, or visiting another page. The ultimate goal is to create a customer. Gaining a further action, no matter how small, gets you one step closer to that.
Sign-ups
One call to action is to get website visitors to subscribe to an email or newsletter. This grows the database of potential and existing customers with data that can be mined to improve and streamline the sales process (as well as the content of the site itself). Try using pop-up or modal windows for sign-ups rather than asking visitors to access a separate page. The act of visiting a new page can feel like quite a commitment, while a pop-up seems casual and decreases the risk of distractions.
To increase sign-ups, psychological barriers must be minimised. The form must be as simple as possible. The longer the form, the less likely your visitors are to fill it in and the more opportunities you give them to change their minds. Restrict the form to the absolute essentials: name and email address. Checkout forms should be stripped back to the minimum data requirements of the card processor.
Incentives
Freebies are hard to resist, which is why incentives can do wonders for customer conversions. Incentives can be as inexpensive as free additional subscription months for inviting friends, an eBook or tips guide, or free delivery.
Offer your customers something they won’t get from your competitors. A simple extended guarantee can make a difference to the decision-making process of your target audience. Guarantees encourage use; use fosters commitment. For example, a longer refund period gives customers a chance to invest in a product or service. This makes them less likely to cancel than someone who has only a few days to make a final decision.
Content
Content is the mortar that holds everything together and attracts qualified, convertible traffic. Research shows that customers are hungry for information. They want to be educated and entertained, and the longer they spend on your site, the more likely they are to convert. The quality of your content will determine how long visitors stay on your site.
Attracting the right visitors to your website is a crucial aspect of any effective marketing strategy. A well-maintained, professional site adds value by converting visitors into customers.
