Website conversion rate is only about 2%, which is actually better than what most see in terms of actual numbers. Some sites get as little as .1%, which means it would take 1,000 visitors to get 1 actual customer. There’s a lot of buzz in the internet world about how to improve your website conversion rate. From A to Z, tips flood the web in blogs and articles urging everything from bolstering calls to action to conducting A/B testing with a seemingly endless amount of information available on the subject.
Though there are some that would offer specific recommendations on products to purchase and services to employ in the process of increasing conversion on a website, we’re going to focus on the top 10 most frequently recommended strategies that can be used to up your website’s game from gaining views and hits to inspiring real customer action. Though these are not in any particular order, they will naturally evolve as the journey into conversion analysis and remediation require you to review each of these areas.
Optimize for Mobile and Improve Your Page’s Speed
Mobile optimization impacts your Google rankings, and therefore conversions. Always make sure that your site is mobile friendly by compressing images, increasing font size, or trying to improve the page speed.
Write Strong Calls to Action
One of the biggest ways to improve conversion rate is to hone in on language that motivates the visitor to take action right away. Create incentives that influence urgency. Use creative, but authentic language that lets the reader know what to do next.
Include Testimonials from Customers/Users
Growth market experts claim that adding logos, testimonials, reviews, or news articles about your service or product can impact conversion sometimes up to a 400% improvement. Quotes from past customers or social proof as it is sometimes called, will help build trust in your brand.
Conduct A/B Testing
Studies indicate that while 8 out of 10 people will read the headline, only 2 out of 10 people will read past it. A/B testing (or split testing) is a process of testing things like your website headline to experiment with variables to yield a higher rate of conversion.
Shorten Your Forms
If you A/B test your forms, you’ll find that shorter is better in every case. People are intimidated by too many required information fields on longer forms. Lose the extra fields and get it down to the bare minimum to increase your conversion rate.
Add Live Chat Tool
Adding a live chat feature will make it possible to alleviate concerns or answer questions for visitors that may not otherwise convert due to being on the fence. Live chat tools are easy to add onto your site and really help with conversion numbers.
Remove Distractions
Keeping your website focused will keep your visitors focused as well. Be clear, concise, and stay to the message that your audience needs. Make your site easy to navigate with headings, subheadings, benefits, testimonials, and visual elements to feature what you are offering.
Add a Guarantee Offer Discounts/Price Match
Money back guarantees, discounts, and price matches all help to build trust and eliminate risk for your customers. They help to assuage fears to encourage them to move past objections that they might otherwise use to back out of your offer.
Create Compelling and Clear Value Proposition
A compelling and clear value proposition is one of the most important conversion factors. It is an element about your business that is refined over time through testing then distilled into a concise statement that addresses what is unique about your company and why a customer should choose you instead of your competitor.
Add Video and Multi-Media to Your Landing Page
Video is one of the strongest formats for delivering a compelling message to your prospective customers fast. For example, a video of the business owner increases customer trust while the video testimonial is the most powerful form of evidence that adds credibility to your brand.
While the list of tips to maximize conversions for your website goes on and on, all it takes is a bit of research, some tools, a few programs and add-ons, and a little tweaking of your site content and navigation and you will see a huge increase in your conversion rate, though it may take some time and the employment of these tried and true methods. From testing to tracking, to focusing and funneling, the process of improving your website’s conversion rate may be similar to life itself; it is the journey, not the destination.