5 Tips to Increase Your Website’s Conversion Rate

It’s all well and good having a visually stunning website, with an established communications plan across social media, search and email marketing to boost acquisition. But if your site conversion rates are still low – then there’s a problem. Improved website traffic undeniably puts you at a first-level advantage (more visitors equates to more potential customers), however, what it doesn’t guarantee is that they will always convert.

What you need, is a clear strategy to get your website visitors to take the actions that you most want them to. Struggling to gain new email leads through your sign up form? Suffering from a spike in basket abandonments? Or are you simply not receiving the number of enquiries desired from your contact page? A close look at your website via Google Analytics will help to identify such problem areas. Admittedly, we could go on all day about the incredible insights that can be gained through the handy platform. Google Analytics provides a wealth of data about not only your site but its visitors and their behaviour as well. Where are users dropping off? Which pages have the highest exit rate? And do your key conversion pages actually achieve the objectives that you set out for them?

If not, it’s time to revisit which aspects of your website might not be best optimised to help you reach your goals. Below, we outline 5 actionable tactics that – if executed well – will increase your conversions rates.

#1 Make It As Easy As Possible to Convert

Essentially, people visit your website with intent. Whether this is to browse products, find your contact details or to buy. Make these key processes as easy as possible for them to complete and you’ll see your conversion rates soar. How? Keep user experience at the forefront of everything you do. A website should fulfil its user’s needs as quickly and efficiently as possible. Designing your site with your core target audience in mind can have a significant impact on your company’s bottom line. In fact, studies have found that doing so can improve business performance by 80 – 130%.

Does your checkout process necessitate users to sign up before they can buy? Are there lots of fields for them to fill out in order to subscribe to your newsletter? Whilst we’re all for gathering user essential data from your users, compromising the simplicity of key conversion processes is simply not an option. No matter how easy they may be, online forms can often put potential customers off altogether. Consider keeping these to a minimum or give visitors the option to sign in as a guest at the checkout. Streamline the steps to conversion as much as possible – don’t make your user work to buy your product.

#2 Improve Site Speed

It may seem like a basic tip, but website speed is something that many businesses tend to forget about. Yet its huge impact on conversion rates should make it a top priority. Amazon calculated that a page load slowdown of just 1 second could drop conversions by 7% – costing it $1.6 billion in sales each year. This comes as no surprise given that the average user’s attention span is decreasing at an incredibly fast rate. The implications of such impatience online are huge. As Think with Google aptly theorises, the consumer journey is fractured into hundreds of real-time ‘I want to do’, ‘I want to know’ and ‘I want to buy’ micro moments. Each is a critical opportunity for brands to shape user decisions – and if this cannot be done in a timely manner, you risk losing them altogether.

Remove unnecessary plugins, minimise your on-page components and optimise your visual content to ensure that a snail pace site doesn’t mar your conversion rates.

#3 Support Your Value Proposition with Proof

Show, don’t tell. If you make a claim, support it with data-driven evidence or user-generated content. Trust plays a pivotal role in the conversion process – especially when it comes to new customers. For 9 in 10 consumers, an online review is equally as important as a personal recommendation, with 63% of people more likely to make a purchase from a site that features user reviews. Testimonials and case studies create a similar effect – verifying your credibility by illustrating previous successes, industry affiliations and any influencer advocates that your company may have.

Consider incorporating social proof into your conversion rate optimisation mix too. If you currently have a substantial customer base, make it known. There tends to be a herd mentality amongst consumers – and many will want to jump on the bandwagon if you provide evidence that a large number of people already have. Take Basecamp for example, which prompts users to convert by providing stats on how many companies signed up with them in the previous week.

#4 Avoid Jargon!

Wooing customers with dressed-up business jargon won’t help your conversion rate. Humanise your website copy so that it speaks to your core target market. Choose terminology that indicates transparency and authenticity, over coercive sales language – as the latter may put them off altogether. If your company seems honest and upfront, your site visitors will be more likely to convert. Remember, clarity should always trump corporate colloquialisms! Establish an emotional connection with your audience through relatable content to ensure that they are engaged.

#5 Make your Calls to Action Clear

Now more than ever, the multi-channel, multi-device and multi-platform online landscape means that the customer journey is incredibly complex. Therefore, making the process of conversion as intuitive as possible for your prospects is crucial. Guide them through the sales funnel by signposting your calls to action – tell your users what steps you want them to take next by using clear and tangible verbs such as ‘Book Now’ or ‘Sign Up Today’. Ensure that your calls to action stand out visually – whether through a unique button design, or a (very) occasional pop-up prompt. The worst thing would be to leave your site visitors wondering what they should be doing next.

Driving people to a website that isn’t optimised for conversion is like inviting somebody to a party that might never happen. No canapés, no music, no guests. Increasing traffic and conversion rates is certainly a balancing act – however once mastered, will positively contribute to your bottom line. Roll out the above 5 tips to get started, monitor how the conversion rates change on your site and then drop us a line. We’d love to hear how well they worked for you and to see where we can help further.