How do I improve my website’s conversion rate?
It can be very expensive and time consuming to generate traffic to your website. Don’t let this be a sunk cost. Get the most out of your website traffic through conversion optimization.
In this article we will discuss the website development and design tactics you can use to maximise your website conversions.
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What is a Website conversion?
Depending on what your business does, a conversion may mean different things. But essentially a conversion is when a website user completes the end goal.
For an online retailer a conversion is a sale of a product. While for others, a conversion may be filling out a form in a booking system, signing up to a newsletter or just interacting with content.
Do conversion rates affect SEO?
Conversion rates do play a role on the web rankings of your website. If users are converting on your website, then google knows that the search term they used to get to your website was relevant. Google now knows to rank your higher for that search term in the future.
What is a good conversion rate for my business
There is no set conversion rate benchmark. Each business is different and has different margins and market size.
For some industries a 2% conversion rate may be considered good, while others may be 0.02.
According to a Ruler Analytics report, these are the average conversion rates per industry
ruleranalytics.com/resources/conversion-benchmark-report/
The Sales funnel
To convert a user into a sale, they must be brought through what is known as the sales funnel. At each stage of the sales funnel users will drop off and not be converted. Conversion optimization is building a system that minimises drop offs at each stage of the funnel.
Stage 1: Awareness
This is making users aware of your business. For websites this is done through Google ads, SEO and Social media ads.
Users can also be made aware of your website through offline advertising such as TV, newspaper and radio ads.
Stage 2: Interest
After the initial drop off of people who have seen your ad and have shown no interest, you are left with those who think your product / service can help meet a need they have.
These users will go to you for more information and decide whether they think you meet that need or not.
Stage 3: Decision
After deciding you do meet the need they are now ready to make a decision to choose you or a competitor.
It is important to give as much information that a user may need at this stage to choose you. The user will be conducting their own competitor analysis and will be looking to your website for this information.
Stage 4: Action
Any user who has made it through the full process is now ready to convert into a sale. The website should make this process as easy and simple as possible. Any added steps may make the user annoyed and you may lose them on the final step
Not until a user has passed through all 4 stages of the sales funnel are they considered a conversion.
How to improve website conversion rates
Here are some tips on how you can improve your website conversions.
Minimise Clicks
People online are lazy. They want to be shown what they are looking for fast. That is why it is important to minimise the amount of clicks it takes them to find what they are looking for.
The golden rule for website layout dictats that users should be able to find what they are looking for in 3 clicks or less. More than this and users are likely to get frustrated and leave your site without converting.
Ignoring the 3 click rule can have devastating effects on your conversion rates. It may seem like a small factor but has major implications.
Pop Ups
Having pop ups are a great way to encourage users to make a conversion. They are most commonly used as a reminder to sign up for a newsletter, accessing PDF’s or having users sign in to access premium content.
It is important to not over use pop ups as the user may find them to be annoying if they are too frequent.
Build Trust
One of the biggest issues online retailers and service providers face is building a high level of trust with website users. Not being able to speak face to face or test the product quality can be a hindrance to your businesses conversion rates.
Having reviews and testimonials give reassurance to website users that it is safe to buy from you. The more reviews the better. Having a lot of positive reviews is also going to have a positive effect on your website’s SEO.
Including logos of companies that are either former or current clients is also a great way to build trust. If these big companies can trust you, then so can anyone.
High quality multimedia content in your business area shows potential customers that you are an expert in your area and can be trusted to deliver high quality work.
If you are a retailer, having sufficient product imagery, video and text content is needed for each product. It can be difficult to assess product quality, so product content can help users make their final decision.
Calls to Actions
Call to actions are perhaps simplest and the most effective way to maximise your website conversion rates. Having clickable icons with text such as sign up now or buy here are often used as call to actions. CAT’s can be page width banners or a simple and small clickable button.
Call to actions help guide users to the end goal of making a conversion. The text used depends on what the end goal is.
Effective Website Design
We tell all our digital marketing clients, it doesn’t matter how much effort you put into google ads and SEO. If your website isn’t to the highest standard, you will not convert traffic into sales.
Especially for professional services, having a professionally designed website is very important to convert.
The design of your website is your first touch point with customers. If they log onto your website and it is slow, outdated and offers a poor user experience, conversions are going to be hard to come by.
Looking to improve your website’s conversion rates?
If you currently have a website and are looking to improve the conversion rate, why not get in touch with BeQuick Media, the top Web Design Agency in Dublin. There may also be available grants such as the Trading Online Voucher from the Local Enterprise Office. This will cover up to 50% of your website development costs.