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In the world of marketing, there’s a lot of talk about building traffic to your website. There’s no question that building traffic is important, but what happens when these customers land on your website? They have to be converted. Don’t take the “if you build it, they will come,” approach. In 2017, focus on converting traffic that comes to your website by following these tips:
Make it easy
Once customers land on your site, they shouldn’t have to search for a way to buy your product, sign up for your mailing list, or schedule a consultation. Converting shouldn’t be a chore—so make it easy for your customers without going overboard by asking them to convert every chance you get.
Give them something in return
What do customers get as a thank you for converting? If you offer them something in exchange for signing up or buying a product, you might be able to increase your conversion rate. For example, offer new customers a small discount or free shipping on their next purchase so they feel more compelled to convert. If you want more people to subscribe to your newsletter or sign up for access to your blog, offer them a free consultation about your services or free informative e-book in return. The key is finding out what appeals to your audience. If your audience landed on your page to read a blog about SEO, a free e-book related to link building or keyword targeting would be relevant and therefore effective in increasing conversions.
Use pop-ups
Pop-ups have been used for years, but there’s a reason why they’re still around—they’re effective. Visitors should be greeted with a pop-up enticing them to convert once they land on your site. If you are offering something in exchange for the conversion as mentioned above, make sure this is clearly stated on the pop-up so they understand what they get out of the deal. But, remember you need to restrain yourself so you don’t begin to annoy your customers with non-stop pop-ups. You should never have multiple pop-ups on one page, and you should always make it easy for visitors to click out of the pop-up and continue browsing through your site.
What kind of pop-ups should you use? Timed pop-ups are one of the most popular choices. These pop-ups are timed to appear after a visitor has spent a certain amount of time—usually around 30 to 60 seconds—on your website. The logic is that visitors who spend this time on your website without leaving are more engaged, so they may be more likely to convert when a pop-up appears. Another popular pop-up is the scrolled pop-up, which only appears once the visitor has scrolled down on the page. This is another way to ensure the pop-up is only given to people who are engaged with the site. Obviously, if the user is scrolling, he is interested enough to want to see more.
These are just two of many different types of pop-ups, so take some time to figure out what works best for your site. Test different pop-ups on multiple pages and see which leads to the highest conversion rate.
Use exciting calls to action
Be specific and create excitement with your calls to action instead of using generic phrases such as “sign up” or “buy it now.” If you are trying to encourage people to sign up for a conference or event, try “reserve your seat,” or “save your spot,” which are both more descriptive and interesting calls to action than “buy a ticket.” Don’t be afraid to brainstorm a number of different ideas and test each of them to see which works better.
Limit the number of fields
When you ask customers to subscribe to your blog, do they have to provide you with more than just a name and email address? When customers make a purchase on your site, do you require them to create an account first? If you answered yes to either of these questions, this could be one of the reasons why your conversion rate is low. Customers don’t want to jump through hoops, so the more you ask them to do, the less likely they are to do it. If they have to fill out a form on your website, stick to the bare minimum—name and email address—and keep the rest of the fields optional. You only need this basic information to establish a relationship with your visitors, and if you need more information, you can always ask later.
Use a live chat feature
There are many reasons why a visitor may come to your website and leave without converting. One of these reasons could be they have a question about something, but can’t find the answer. To eliminate this problem, consider adding a live chat feature to your website. This tool will allow customers to ask questions about your products or services, where they can find certain information, or how they can get in touch with you. Once they get the information they need, they will be more likely to convert.
Test your load times
Visitors won’t stick around to sign up or make a purchase on your website if each page is taking too long to load. Remember, people are impatient, so your load times have to be fast if you want people to convert. Be sure to test load times on all devices—smartphones, tablets, and computers—so you can be certain everything loads quickly regardless of how people are visiting your site.
Post the right content
You may think converting traffic is all about the way your website is laid out or the method you ask for information—but content plays an important role, too. Visitors will quickly leave your page without even considering converting if the content they land on is not relevant or informative. Get to know your audience so you understand what they’re looking for when they come to their page, and then give it to them with valuable, well-written content.
Are you interested in learning more about website conversion? Contact us today to schedule a free consultation regarding your website!