Conversion rates are a major factor in the success of an online business. Without a decent conversion rate, you cannot expect to produce sales in volume. Making even small adjustments in design and strategy can lead to big increases in conversion. Here are some tips on how you can increase conversion rate!
#1. Conduct a Usability Analysis
If your website design isn’t user-friendly, you’ll have a harder time converting website visitors into paying customers. Check your analytics platforms to learn more about where users are clicking, and the “flow” of pages from the start of the visit to the end.
Here are some tips to help you improve your UX to increase conversion rate:
- Use heatmaps to see where on the page your users are most active. If you discover your users aren’t following the path you intend, it may be time to make changes to the design.
- Invest in usability testing to get an inside look at how users are responding to your website. Various online tools allow you to choose people based on demographics, and watch their experience as they visit your website. Use the results of the usability testing to make adjustments to your design.
- Place the most valuable content above the fold. Users aren’t likely to take the time to scroll to find what they are looking for, but when they do, they’ll scroll all the way to the bottom where the scrolling stops. Place calls to action here.
- Make sure your design has plenty of whitespace. Though some may consider it “wasted space”, it is necessary to keep pages from being too cluttered. Whitespace breaks up the content and other elements on a page to make it easier to read. When used properly, it can help draw the eye to the important parts of the page, to guide the reader’s attention to the right places.
- Provide chunks of information, with big, bold, and easily discernible headlines. This makes the text easier to scan – which research shows people do more frequently on the web. Rarely do people read web pages word for word, instead only picking out certain words and sentences.
#2. Split Test
Even if you follow the principles of good web design to the letter, it’s a good idea to split test your design and content. Minor content and design changes, such as background color, can have an influence on conversion rates. Split testing allows you to serve multiple versions of your website to your audience, and see which one gets the best response.
Run multiple split tests to determine which gets the best response from your audience. Split test one element at a time to avoid potentially skewing results. Run one split test for color, one for placement of elements on the page, one for copy, etc. Then, combine the elements with positive response and watch what happens. You can also split test various offers to see which one customers are more likely to respond to.
#3. Nurture Relationships and Focus on Customer Service
Nurture relationships with customers, both new and old. Since it costs an average of six to seven times more to acquire a new customer than it does to sell to an existing customer, it’s important to build relationships with everyone. You want to convert that new customer to a repeat customer, and eventually, convert that repeat customer to a loyal customer, and to a brand ambassador. Do this with a customer relationship management (CRM) software.
The right CRM platform for your business depends on your business goals, but CRM allows your sales and marketing teams to work in harmony. It gives you a bird’s eye view of what’s going on in your business as a whole, while letting you zero in on a particular customer to see where they are in the sales funnel. Check out these two customer scenarios:
Paul just signed up to join your email list and get your free report. At the bottom of your first email, invite him to reply to the email with any questions or concerns about the product or service you’re offering. You’ll open the door to conversation, and if Paul’s not ready to buy right now, you can continue to nurture the relationship so that he comes to you right away when he is.
Let’s look at long time customer, Sally, who has suddenly stopped doing business with you. Looking at her record in your CRM, you see she’s spent hundreds of dollars with your company over the last six months, but abandoned her last shopping cart. Reach out to her with a special, limited time offer to see if she comes back to purchase. Look at her customer service records. Did she recently have a bad experience? Find out how you can to rectify it.
A quarter of Twitter and Facebook users expect a reply to their complaints via social media within an hour, and two thirds of those users expect a response within a day. 65% of respondents say they’ve stopped using a brand as a result of one poor customer service experience. Good customer service matters because 40% of customers start purchasing from the competition because they have a better reputation for customer service.
#4. Revisit Your Content Strategy
What does your content strategy look like? Is it designed with your customer in mind? Are you creating content to educate, inform, and entertain them? Revisit your sales funnel and make sure the content you create is written to and for that audience, at all stages of the funnel. Create content based on topics tied to your business goals. Promote your content to get it in front of the right audience.
Plan not only the content you’re going to write, but where you’re going to publish it, and how you will promote it. Consider using multiple types of content: blogs, infographics, slideshows, videos, and podcasts. Interactive content – quizzes, calculators, assessments, and polls – typically convert well, around 70% of the time, compared to 36% of the time for passive content. Interactive content drives 200% more conversions.
Be consistent. Publish content regularly. Create and follow a style guide so all content looks uniform, and helps people understand what you’re communicating.
#5. Invest in Retargeting
Retargeting helps capitalize on the Effective Frequency, the theory that customers have to see your advertising message multiple times before making a decision to buy. Though there’s no exact science on the number, we know messages are more effective when repeated. Retargeting works by capturing the traffic that visits your website and advertising to them when they visit other sites. For instance, when someone browses through a few product pages and leaves, or puts items in their shopping cart and abandons it, you can run a Facebook advertising campaign that will remind them to come back to your website again. Retargeting can boost ad response by up to 400%.
#6. Build Trust
A key to converting customers into loyal buyers is building trust. Trust is necessary throughout the entire buying process: before, during, and after. Only 69% of people trust branded websites, with the majority of trust (84%) coming from recommendations from people they know. Only 48% of consumers trust online ads, such as search engine, video and social media ads, and 42% trust banner ads. You can build trust to increase conversion rate by:
- Making it easy for people to learn more and contact you. Have an about page that details more about your business and experience. Have a contact us page with at the least an form and email address. If possible, also include a physical address, and phone number.
- Using social proof. Add customer testimonials or case studies to your website. 88% of people surveyed say they trust testimonials from other customers as much as they do recommendations from personal friends and family.
- Including a FAQ section. This helps address consumer doubt and push them closer to making a purchase. If they can’t find the information they’re looking for, they’ll either give up, or go somewhere else to find it. Not sure where to start? Look at past data to determine what customers are asking about most frequently and start there.
- Adding security symbols. If you’re collecting financial information right on your website, have your payment page verified by VeriSign or a similar company. Apply, meet the necessary criteria, pay a small fee, and get the symbols. Simply having this verification can go a long way in building trust because they know you’ll keep their information safe.
- Removing risk with a guarantee or free trial. When there is little or no risk to the consumer, they are more likely to buy. Create a guarantee that you can not only stand by 100%, but entices the customer. Take for instance, the Tempurpedic offer. New customers get a 90-night in-home trial, to see if they like the new bed before they commit. Since the beds are expensive, it’s natural for customers to wonder about making such a large investment. But, being able to try the product with no commitment – and a full refund minus shipping and handling fees, reduces the risk to the customer.
You Can Increase Conversion Rate, But it Won’t Skyrocket Overnight
With this blueprint and dedicated effort, you will see an increase conversion rate, which will in turn increase revenue and profit margin. Focus on improving one area before moving on to the next for the best impact.
