How to Give Your Visitors Every Reason to Convert
Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) is all about marginal gains. If your business is ticking along nicely with a conversion rate of 2 percent, just imagine what an extra percentage point could do for you sales volumes. That small, almost imperceptible increase in conversions represents a 50 percent increase in sales, which could make all the difference to the performance, success and growth of your business.
If a 50 percent increase is your sales target, this could be achieved by producing 50 percent more content, or investing 50 percent more time and money in marketing your business online. But neither of those methods is fast or cheap, and success is certainly not guaranteed. Instead, why not follow these simple steps to give your visitors every reason to convert…
Create a clear value proposition
How will your product or service improve your customers’ life? It might sound like a cheap American sales mantra, but clearly and effectively communicating the benefits for the customer is the single most important conversion rate factor.
Crafting a clear value proposition requires considerable skill. You need to understand what is unique about your company and communicate this effectively to optimise your results. You should be able to hone your proposition into a single sentence that typifies your offering.
As with all of the techniques in this article, you will not know whether the changes you have made resonate with your visitors until they have been thoroughly A/B tested.
Build trust
Clear, direct language is essential in building trust. People are not impressed by jargon; in many cases they’re suspicious of it. Keep your copy jargon-free and implement the following techniques to help build trust:
• Highlight the bricks and mortar behind your business — Visitors like physical signs that a business really exists. Listing your company address and posting photos of your offices or team are a great way to show the human face behind your business.
• Substantiate any claims — Never make claims such as “the UK’s favourite” or use statistics in your copy without citing or linking back to the original source. Very few visitors will actually click the links, but their very presence will increase confidence in your material.
• Highlight expertise and accreditations — If there are experts in relevant fields on your team, make sure you highlight their credentials. Perhaps you contribute to authoritative and well respected industry websites? Or are you accredited by an industry body or organisation? These are all excellent signals to build trust.
• Apply restraint with promotional material — Your website should be professional, regularly updated and easy to navigate and use. Refrain from using pop-ups or advertising banners which visitors associate with spam.
• Be meticulous — Even the smallest error such as a spelling mistake or broken link can damage the credibility you have worked so hard to create.
• Include a contact us — Websites without contact details can arouse the suspicion of visitors. Gain an easy boost to your credibility by including your business’ physical address, email and phone number.
Make it easy for customers to buy
Don’t fall at the final hurdle. Ease the visitor through their purchase with a process which is simple, seamless and secure. Make your buy buttons obvious and guide visitors to the checkout in as few clicks as possible.
• Make it clear what you want visitors to do — This can be achieved with an effective call-to-action on each page which includes a link to help them navigate. The call-to-action for each page should always be the next logical step in the buying decision.
• Limit their options — People are paralysed by choice. The more options they have, the less likely they are to act. Make it easy for prospects to make the right choice by limiting their options and guiding them through each step.
• Only ask for essential information — Never ask for more information than is essential to make the sale. The same applies for enquiry or subscription forms. The more information you ask for, the less likely prospects are to complete the action, so keep it short and sweet. In the case of enquiries and subscriptions, just an email address will do.
• Allow prospects to buy without registering — Many visitors don’t want to build a long-term relationship with a retailer. Forcing prospects to sign up before they can make a purchase is guaranteed to reduce your conversion rates. Let them checkout as a guest and watch your sales volumes soar.
What strategies have you used to optimise your conversion rates? Have you experienced much success? Share your thoughts with our readers below or drop us a Tweet @servertastic
