5 easy tips to make your website convert like crazy.

You’ve got a website, it functions well, it looks nice, it generates leads. But there’s a niggling voice in your head saying it could be better. In fact you’ve put ‘website refresh’ on the to-do list.

There’s just one problem…

The thought is overwhelming — what do you tackle first? Does it need a whole new template, or a custom design? New photography? A full rewrite? Or just a spruce up here and there?

And so, alas, each week ‘website refresh’ moves from the to-do list, to the too-hard basket.

Good news — refreshing your website doesn’t have to be a mammoth task, a few small changes can make a big difference. In fact these tips will take your bounce rate down and conversion rate up, all without having to start from scratch, and the best part is they’re really easy to do.

So let’s get started.

Well, kind-of, because before you actually get started there’s something absolutely crucial you need to do; crunch the data (it’s won’t be boring, promise).

Most websites will have basic analytical information in the front end, or ideally you’ll have set up Google Analytics, which gives you a much deeper dive.

The hot stats to look for are:

1. The page(s) your visitors are spending most time on
2. Which page(s) have the least frequent visitors and/or biggest bounce rate
3. Which page(s) harness the most click throughs (not necessarily directly lead to sales)

Armed with this knowledge you can now make informed decisions on which pages to spruce up, which you don’t need, and which are your conversion hotspots.

OK, now we can get started.

Tip #1

What’s the end goal?

Each web page should have a purpose; a raison d’etre. Your homepage, for example, acts as a shop window, from which visitors navigate and decide whether to have a look around.

Other webpages will have very different purposes, for eCommerce sites the goal of a product pages is straight forward: get the sale. An ‘about’ page may lead the visitor to sign up for the newsletter. A blog page may encourage social media following, or link to product pages, depending on the content in the blogs.

Look at each of your webpages and decide on it’s end goal or purpose. Then ensure that content on the page leads the visitor towards it, and the call to action is clear (more on that next).

And pages on your site without a clear goal? Probably don’t need to be there.

Tip #2

Tell them what you want them to do

Initially visitors are going to scan your pages, so you need to make it unbelievably obvious and clear to them what you’d like them to do on that page. All hail the ‘call to action’ (CTA).

This is soooo much more than just a click here button, think of your call to action like a mini story within your page; it should have a beginning — this is where you sum up (in no more than two sentences) the main takeaway from the rest of the page. A middle — a sentence reiterating your strongest reason why they should take action. And an end — the button itself.

Make it big bold, inviting, colourful and persuasive (there’s much debate as to whether ‘click here’ is good or bad copywriting, but I say if it works, it works).

And remember, your CTA doesn’t necessarily have to be a sale, use some pages to take visitors on a journey, providing them with extra information from other areas of the site, so that when they get to a purchase CTA, they’re ready to do just that.

Tip #3

People like pretty pictures

A tongue-twister and what may seem to be an obvious tip, but there’s a bit more to it. Include imagery to break up your copy and make page headers attract attention, and, if you’re an eCommerce site, make sure product is professionally shot and images pre-sized before they’re uploaded to your site, as to not affect page loading times.

The real tip here is in the image caption. This is PRIME real estate and should not be wasted. We know the eye is drawn to the image on a page, so readers will inevitably see the caption — use it wisely. Put your most important, or persuasive copy here. Do you have an offer on? Have you won awards for this product or service? Do you provide a free 20 minute consultation?

Think of what you’d most like people to know when they’re on that page, write the caption first and use an appropriate image to support it.

Tip #4

People like to paint pretty pictures too

Including imagery on a page is one thing, but getting your reader to paint a picture in their head; that’s everything.

Use visual language which appeal to the senses, such as texture, scent and movement words, to help the reader use their imagination and provoke emotion. But just throwing a load of adjectives in ain’t going to cut it, in fact adjectives should be used very sparingly, if you want your copy to be concise and easier to read and understand (which you do).

When you use adjectives to aid visualisation, make them vivid, sticky, meaningful and emotion-rich. Make them count.

Let’s look at some examples:
‘Rub the lotion on to dry hands’ becomes ‘Rub the lotion on to leathery hands’

‘Watch your show in colour HD’ becomes ‘Cosy-in to watch your favourite show in dazzling HD’.

‘Follow these rules to write interesting copy’ becomes ‘Follow these surefire rules to write seductively, sparkling copy’.

Tip #5

Copywriting 101

There’s is an art to writing persuasive copy; but there’s also a science. Visitors will scan-read your page in an ‘F’ pattern. Meaning you need your most meaty (technical term) copy in the first few lines and within the first 3–4 words of each new line.

This technique is called ‘frontloading’ and it’s such a simple change to make. Ensure your most persuasive words are at the left-hand side of the page, will have a drastic effect on how long visitors stay on the page, read the rest of your copy and take an action.

Another simple change and copywriting basic, is you make sure all your content is about ‘you’ the reader and not ‘we’ the business. For example ‘we specialise in cosy, organic cotton baby sleeping bags’ should be ‘Your baby can feel extra cosy all night, in organic cotton’. The golden question to ask, when writing any copy, is what’s in it for the reader? This makes sure all your copy is always customer-centric.

The wise words

Remember that the goal of each line of copy on a page is to get the reader to read the next line, and so on until your call to action, at which point they should be so hooked that they click.

See, refreshing your website doesn’t seem that hard now, does it?

Like any task, just break down the elements into smaller chunks (i.e take each webpage one at a time) and work from there. Your website should wholistically tell a story — the story of what your business can do for the reader. Each page is a chapter in that story, which leads to an inevitable conclusion — the sale.