If you’re a website owner or designer, you’re probably always on the hunt for more bang for your buck, in terms of conversion. There’s nothing more frustrating than keeping track of your analytics, seeing that you’re getting tons of website visits, but having nothing concrete to show for it.
Regardless of what result you’re seeking, generating leads, generating sales, or simply enhancing customer engagement, it can be difficult to find ways to improve conversion. Or, at least, to find ways that work for you.
There are plenty of tactics out there that are worth a try, but here are five proven ways to jumpstart your conversions and make an impact on your follow-throughs with a powerful SEO (search engine optimization) strategy.
Reduce Potential Risk and Maximize Potential Benefit
Conversion doesn’t always come down to your advertising techniques — but the rate of conversion and the method of advertising does have a lot to do with each other. Marketing influences conversion a significant amount, and one of the most tried and true ways to deliver marketing effectively is to reduce risk while highlighting benefits.
Your potential customer is weighing the advantage of conversion (of taking whatever action you want them to take) against the potential for backlash. You can help tip that balance in favor of conversion by first providing a guarantee along with your special offer. Guarantees along the lines of “money back after the first month if you’re not satisfied” or “free returns, no questions asked” catch the eye of the customer and make her more likely to opt-in.
At the same time, it also builds confidence, which is a nice perk.
The second part of highlighting the benefits of your product or service should be applied on a personal level, rather than generalizations. The best way to do this is to approach your marketing and advertising tactics from the perspective of the customer. What will your product or service do for them? Why should they invest now? What difference is your product or service going to make from the moment they do invest?
While these are “classic” and commonly used methods of marketing, their impact on conversion can’t be denied. Highlight benefits. Reduce the potential of risk. Encourage conversion.
Keep Actionable Content Above the Fold
This holds with both websites in general and specific pages, such as landing pages: don’t make people search for a button to click or a form to fill in.
If you’re generating leads, or if you’re including CTAs in your content, you should pay careful attention to the placement of the actionable content. Buttons, forms, and the like should be linked above the fold, so that your potential customer doesn’t have to scroll down and search for the next action to take to convert. You should also make sure to include brand visuals, such as your logo, in a highly visible spot.
Make conversion easy. Put your lead-generating forms and your “buy now” buttons where they can be easily seen, and just as easily reached.
Feature Personal Testimonials
If you’re shopping on Amazon, one of the first things you probably do when looking at an item is to check out the reviews. If customers see that there are no reviews, they are more likely to back-click right out of there. Review-less products are intimidating, and do not lead to conversions.
And if that’s true, then the opposite must be true, too: reviews can influence and cause conversions.
It usually takes more than just a thumbs up, like, or even star rating. Consumers often look for reviews that have the ring of authenticity, which include personal details and notes that do prove that the other buyer purchased, used, and recommended the product.
In that same vein, one of the best ways to up your conversion game is to include detailed reviews and testimonials from satisfied customers. However, this is not to say that every single review needs to be five stars, over the top, and full of long-winded praise. Even if you have overall positive testimonials that still mention suggestions of how to improve, that can be a benefit to your conversion rate by adding the much-needed human element.
Highlight Rarity
This is a great tip that can be used in a variety of ways, regardless of what product or service you’re attempting to sell. Put the focus on the rarity of the product or of the service, or at least of the offer that you’re currently offering.
This can be done in several ways. If you have a special deal running for the next week, put a countdown clock near the advertisement copy. If you have a product for sale, include the amount of stock you have left available, as in “Act fast! Only three left!” If you’re selling a course, even if it’s online, keep the “seats” limited and highlight that there is a shortage of available enrollments.
Make it rare, and that in itself will push your potential customers and clients to convert.
Be Clear And Forthright
Think about the traits that you appreciate when making a purchase. Do you like knowing exactly what you’re getting, what the risks are, what the benefits are, and what you can expect from the company you’re buying from?
If that’s the kind of shopper you are, that’s the kind of shopper your customer will be, too.
Be clear and forthright about what you’re offering. Yes, you want to talk about your services and products. But make sure that you stay in the realm of reality, and include all the information that your customer might need, including information like size, color, uses, manufacturing materials, and so on. As a bonus, you can include tutorials for your products, or suggestions on innovative ways to use them. Everyone loves bonus content!
Whichever of these methods you choose to utilize in your website design — or even if you decide to give all of them a shot, which is what I recommend — make sure to keep track of your conversion rate once these techniques are implemented. Keeping your conversion rate rising is contingent on keeping track of that rate — and making adjustments as needed.
Author Bio
Sofia Paterson is an enthusiastic freelance content writer and digital marketer who likes to explore new ideas through creative writing. Her specialty include online marketing, engaging content, and graphic design.
About Millennium Agency
Millennium Agency is a national, award-winning, digital, creative, content/PR, and video marketing firm. With offices in Boston and New Hampshire, our team unites creative branding and data analytics to accelerate our clients’ growth, while combining our clients’ vision with our marketing expertise to increase sales opportunities and drive brand success. From video advertising and web design to social media and PR, Millennium can guide your marketing efforts every step of the way. Contact the professionals at Millennium Agency to learn more.
