Today, nearly every company has a website, but not everyone is up to par on how to actually make their website “work” for them. The key is to think of your website as another virtual location for your company. Your website is a place that people visit in order to purchase your products or services or to learn more about your company. If you were setting up a commercial or retail space, you would pay attention to details like traffic flow, product placement and overall look and feel. When it comes to websites, because it’s a different medium, companies tend to forget some of these basics.
The fact is these basics are crucial to keep in mind. At the end of the day, the purpose of your website is to increase your bottom line. That means the people visiting the site need to be taking some sort of action. If you’ve found yourself in a position where you wish you had a higher website conversion rate, take a look at these five tips:
#1 – Have your priorities clear.
This tip is probably the most important. If you have no idea what you want from your visitors, they aren’t going to take the right actions. Your first step is to determine exactly what goals you have for your website. Do you want them to sign up for a newsletter, like your Facebook page, order a product, request information or all of the above?
Once you know what your goals are, you need to prioritize them. If a visitor could only take one action on your website, what would you want it to be? If they could take two, what would be the second? Keep going until all your overall goals have been prioritized.
Now that you have a clearer understanding of what you want your visitors to do, you can now take another look at your site and see how these goals are reflected in your site’s design. Is your number one goal front and center for your visitors to take action on? If your biggest priority is for someone to sign up for your newsletter, your newsletter sign up form should be the most noticeable action for your visitor to take. Any other less dominant goals should be located further down the page.
#2 – Keep it simple.
While you should make every effort to keep your visitors informed, you need to be carefully that you aren’t overdoing it. Supplying 20 pictures of a product may not be necessary when three or four would suffice. A page of text about a service you provide might be better addressed with a few paragraphs and some bullet points. Likewise, if there is an action you want them to take, make sure it’s easy for them to do it. When it comes it to this tip, applying the “mom test” is extremely helpful. If your mom (or someone who doesn’t know your industry) can go onto your website and use it in the intended way without your help, you’re good to go.
#3 – Ask for the Sale
You’re never going to get what you want if you don’t ask for it. People can’t read minds. If you want your visitors to do something specific, you’ll have to lead them down the right trail. They aren’t going to look at your Facebook button and automatically like it. You need to put context text with a call to action (Like Us for Great Stuff!). When looking over your site, it’s always a good idea to question the intent of everything there. What’s the reason for putting your social media buttons on the page? Is it to get people to follow them? If so, is that goal clearly stated?
#4 – Provide Pertinent Information
You may be surprised how many websites forget to include basic details about a product or service. If a visitor to your site can’t find the information they need to make an informed decision about your product or services, they’re going to leave and they probably won’t be coming back. Make sure information such as price, type of services, delivery information and basic product information is included where they can easily find it. A bad example of this is when you have to add a product to a shopping cart just to see how much it is.
#5 – Be Human
It’s startling how many companies lose their personal touch when it comes to their website. You wouldn’t ignore a customer that walked through your door. Your website is no different. Remember that you are always talking to someone through the text and visuals on your website. You can certainly get away without doing this, but people respond much better to writing with a little personality. It gives them a warm, fuzzy feeling inside – and who doesn’t like that? This is an area where you can give yourself an edge over your competition.
Have these tips helped you reconsider your website? Are there other ways you’ve found to help your website convert better? Take a minute and share your ideas in the comments section below!
