Online Marketing Blog from metrocafe311

Increase Online Conversions

When determining the success of a site or the success of a brand because of a website, it seems there are many people overlooking what really matters: Conversions. It is easy for the majority of people to concentrate on increasing site traffic; but forget to follow up with what happens once they enter the site.  People may visit your site and become familiar with your brand; but if you’re not considering search engine optimisation tactics in order to increase conversions, then what are you are doing is cutting your customer’s lifecycle short, and are most likely steering them away from your site in the long run.

Interactive Return has always made site conversions, or getting your visitors to perform a desired action, central to their online business strategies for their clients.  While tracking conversions and increasing your conversion rate can often be the careful balance between art and science, doing so will inevitably increase your company’s bottom line. Mitch Bettis of Practical eCommerce writes on this very idea of turning your visitors into customers.  He wants people to continue to make driving traffic to the site a key goal; but ultimately, he points out that you want the answer to be “yes” when someone asks “Did the customer do what you wanted him or her to do?” If the answer is no more times than you’d like, then there are things you can be doing to change this.

First off, the website is an employee, make it work for you. Traditional branding can be extremely expensive and often times wasteful; but branding using SEO is affordable and cost-effective, especially when you enlist the experts.  Bullseyefind.com outlines this very comparison between traditional branding and search engine optimisation and says that SEO will win for your brand online, every time.  They say that an affordable SEO optimisation firm can help you with improved web site structure, website content, and linking strategies; which continue to increase website traffic, but also allow you to concentrate on conversion rates.

Additionally, there are some key areas of website content that can be used to yield a greater conversion rate.  Omaro Ailoch outlined some tips for doing this. He suggests that your website is easy to use and navigate.  You should perform usability testing on your site; and try to understand your potential customer, so that you may be able to determine what will lead them to the final step for a conversion, and make it intuitive for the visitor. For example, when someone is requesting a quote on a website, how easy does your site make it? Utilising Google Analytics or the Website Optimiser Tool may also help you to discover how well your site is performing; and garner insight for how you may improve it.

Ailoch also stresses the importance of being honest.  Always give your customers the right information, up front.  If something is out of stock, tell them early, or tell them what the shipping costs will be, so that you don’t lose a customer at the very end. Similarly, if someone has come onto your site looking for a quote, are you being honest from the beginning or doing something that might steer the customer away in the end? You must build trust with your visitors to get them to complete the desired action. Also, don’t use too many words. If you can say those 1,000 words in 100, remember that for the average user attention span of 3 to 12 seconds, less is more.

Also important to remember is pushing your USP, unique selling proposition, and the Call to Action.  Try to remain unique, depending the position the visitor is in along the buying process.

While all these tips are great ways to set you on the right track to turning all those visitors into customers, remember that you must remain dedicated to understanding your customer at a deeper level. The most effective site owners will spend time learning what their customer’s needs are. Understanding the buying cycle will lead to higher conversions for a happier site, brand, and company with a whole lot of happy customers.