Getting traffic on your website is great, but if that traffic doesn’t convert, it’s almost useless. Make sure that you’re doing all you can to make your website visitors click that magic “Buy” button! This blog post has 25 quick ways to increase conversions on your website. So, grab your coffee and let’s get to it.
- Use buttons instead of links.
Having a clear call-to-action is critical to getting your website users to actually take action. Effective call-to-action buttons are easy to read and stand out from the rest of the page.
- Use a chat tool.
Having a live chat box on your website can help users navigate through your pages and ask questions when they need help. This is also a great way to ask for an email address so that you can start building up your email list. I use HubSpot’s live chat, and it is awesome.
- Use as few fields as possible.
When building a form or including one on your website, ask for ONLY the things you really need. For example, you don’t really need someone’s phone number for them to sign up for your newsletter.
- Offer a great newsletter.
Speaking of newsletters, offer an amazing one with freebies, deals, and other valuable content. When you can offer helpful information that people crave, prospective customers will want to sign up.
- Use testimonials to build trust.
No matter what you’re selling, social proof is a game changer. Your conversion rate will improve if you can show website users that other customers LOVE your product or service.
- Sell the experience, not the product.
A classic Sales tip that you’ve probably heard before. But it’s true. People prefer to hear about the solution you can provide to help solve their problems, rather than the sales pitch about your product.
- Tell visitors exactly what they’re getting.
Try to be as straight up as you can. Tell website users everything they need to show about your product. Or better yet, show them with images and videos.
- Include a clear value proposition.
Tell your website visitors why your product or service is better than anyone else’s. Why is it unique? What will they get from your product that they won’t get anywhere else?
- Get your visitors excited!
Use emotionally-charged language, fun ideas, and exceptional storytelling to get your website users hooked.
- Use videos to humanize your brand.
Try including tutorials, BTS footage, social media clips, how-to videos, client video testimonials and more to add a face to your brand.
- Give your visitors tunnel-vision.
Start big picture, then get smaller and smaller. Remove anything from your landing pages that could distract the user from finding your product or contacting you. You run this show!
- Include contact info.
Make sure your website visitors know how to take the next step when they’re ready. This could be through a form, social media integration, email, phone number, etc.
- Don’t make registration required.
Having visitors register when they are trying to download a freebie or start a trial is a big deterrent. Allow your potential customers to try your offering with no strings attached, and make them fall in love and come back for more.
- Match your copy’s reading level to your audience.
Using difficult language, or language that is too simple, can push potential customers away. Make sure the language you use on your site matches up with the reading level of your target audience. Are you writing your own website copy? Check out these writer’s block tips.
- Don’t offer too many options.
When there are too many options on the page, users can get distracted or even overwhelmed. Be incredibly clear about what the next step is and why someone would want to take it.
- Use directional cues.
Experiment with micro-animations to direct your users to important areas on the page. Be careful here though – too much animation can be distracting.
- Use high-quality images.
Striking images are a big trend right now. Using crisp, high quality images that relate to your content help users visualize what life might be like with your product.
- Be clear in your calls-to-action.
Try to be as clear as possible when you are creating call-to-action buttons. What exactly does the call-to-action get the user? For example, “learn more” isn’t very clear. Something like “reserve your seat” or “download ebook” is much more direct.
- Optimize your page design.
88% of website users are less likely to return after having a bad experience on a website. In order to keep visitors engaged, ensure that your page design and user experience is beautiful and seamless.
- Offer a money-back guarantee.
Offering a money-back guarantee will help build trust with your users and will reduce risk of purchasing in their eyes. This will encourage them to buy. Just make sure that your product is good enough that they won’t return it!
- Speed up your website.
40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load. You’re shooting yourself in the foot if your website takes too long to load! Ask a web developer to help increase your page speed, and you may end up getting more traffic on your site.
- Include additional value in your newsletter.
Encourage website visitors to join a newsletter in exchange for a value offer. This could be a discount on your services, a coupon code, or a freebie. This is a great way to warm leads up and get them ready to purchase your product. Try not to be overly sales-y, but instead provide something that subscribers will find helpful.
- Cut the jargon.
People are less likely to continue exploring your website, let alone buy your product, if they don’t understand your offer. Make sure that the benefits of your solution are clear as day.
- Make it easy to buy from you.
People are more likely to continue with purchasing your product if the process is easy and requires little effort. Get rid of any and all roadblocks to ensure the buyer journey is seamless.
- Test, test, test!
The key to making sure your audience resonates with the content and offer you are giving them is by testing. Test out different images, different lengths of copy and different CTAs to find out what your audience wants to see.
I’m Sydney from SL Creative – digital strategist & director with a passion for good food, and good design. I build ready-made websites and hand-crafted brands for the food and travel industry.
