All website owners aim to increase the amount of traffic that comes to their website. However, just because there are more visitors doesn’t mean that they are converting, such as downloading a PDF, joining your email list or making a purchase. Here we will look at the 10 most effective ways to increase your conversion rate and how you can change your web design to improve your customer’s journey.
What Is A Good Conversion Rate?
A conversion rate is the percentage of website visitors who complete the desired goal. These actions include email signups, completing a purchase, downloading a brochure and so much more.
Many people inquire what a good conversion rate is however this will vary depending on the type of business you own and the type of landing pages you have created. Increasing your website’s conversion rate means that more of the traffic coming to your site will convert into actions that will grow your business.
When it comes to improving your conversion rates it is important to have a clear understanding of who your audience is and the goals you would like to achieve. Tracking these goals will help to ensure your business is moving forward and will help to highlight any issues that need to be fixed. Here are 10 effective ways to increase your conversion rate and to help your business move in the right direction.
10 Tips To Help Increase Your Conversion Rates
1. Use Effective Headlines
Headings are one of the first things that a visitor sees when they visit the landing pages of your website. A heading is used to explain what your business is offering in one sentence and will entice visitors to scroll through your page. There are different types of headings that you can use to attract customers and show how your page will help to answer their questions, solve one of their problems or teach them something new.
The Direct Heading: This type of heading is to the point and explains clearly what your page is about in one sentence. These are great if your target audience wants a quick fix and doesn’t have time for puns or humour.
The Problem Solving Heading: This type of heading will provide your website visitors with a specific answer to a problem they are experiencing. This helps to build a relationship with your visitors as you are relating to how they are feeling and know how they can overcome this issue.
The Command Heading: This heading instructs your visitors to take action that will give them benefits. For example, ‘Improve your conversion rates with Gekkoshot. Start your free trial today.’ These headings tell visitors to carry out specific tasks by instructing them to click on your CTA buttons.
A/B Testing Headlines: If you are unsure of which headline to choose for your landing page the best thing to do is A/B test your headlines and see which one your visitors are attracted to the most. This will help you to see which type of headline encourages your visitors to take action so you can use them again in the future.
2. Add Testimonials and Customer Reviews
Adding testimonials and reviews to your website is a great way of building trust with your visitors and encouraging sales. Testimonials will show visitors the benefits that your current customers have experienced after using your products / services and may encourage them to convert into customers themselves. This is also beneficial for B2B websites as testimonials will show the range of different businesses that your company has worked with and how you have helped their growth.
Testimonials and reviews be placed throughout your website in different ways:
- You can place them under an offer you are promoting as it shows that the products / services that you are selling are reliable.
- You can use a slider module on the different pages that will showcase your reviews.
- It is a good idea to add the name and image of the customer or a company logo as it will help to build trust with your website visitors. This will show that your reviews are of high quality and are not fake.
- Create a testimonials page on your website that visitors can read. This can include case studies and success stories that will show how your products / services helped to solve problems your customers were experiencing. This will have a positive effect on your visitor’s buying behaviours and will convert them into customers.
3. Strengthen Your CTAs
A landing page is created by business owners to encourage conversions from their visitors, whether it is an email signup, a video view or making a purchase. By using a strong CTA (Call To Action) you are encouraging your visitor to carry out a specific task. Knowing where to place your CTA buttons is key to increasing your conversions. Here are three viewable positions that you can use to place your CTA:
- One of the most viewable positions on a website is above the fold. This refers to the top of a landing page that is visible without scrolling on your desktop. This placement is beneficial for conversions as it will draw your visitor’s attention to your CTA as soon as they enter your website.
- The middle of the page is where you would explain the products / services you are offering in more detail. Here you can place a ‘Learn More’ or a ‘Explore More Features’ CTA where visitors can read more information about your company before deciding to make a purchase.
- Adding a CTA to the bottom of your page will help to conclude the page and give an overview of the products / services you are offering. This can be in the form of a fixed navigation bar or a slider. Here you can repeat one of the offers you previously used above or encourage visitors to sign up to your mailing list or get in touch.
4. Easy To Navigate
Navigation is essential in increasing website conversions. Poorly navigated sites will lead to higher bounce rates, less time spent on the site and lower conversion rates. Websites without a clear journey or structure will also be confusing for visitors and will create a negative experience.
The main goal to keep in mind when building a website is to lead your visitors towards the end of the sales funnel and convert them into customers. There are different ways to improve the navigation on your site including website optimisation, clearly laid out content, clickable buttons and menus that are easy to follow.
Whether you are building a website from scratch or updating your current website’s navigation, it is important to keep your customer’s journey as a priority to provide a smooth shopping experience and in the long run, increase your conversion rates.
5. Mobile Optimization
A majority of website users now visit landing pages using their mobile devices. This is why it is important to ensure that your website is mobile optimised. This can include ensuring the pages are responsive, the text is readable, images are clear to see and buttons are clickable. If your website is not optimised for mobile devices you may be missing out on important conversions.
6. Remove Distractions
It is important that landing pages are clearly laid out and are easy to navigate. Their priority is to educate your website visitors and encourage conversions through strong CTAs. Distractions on your page could lead visitors astray and prevent them from carrying out specific tasks. Remove unnecessary media from your landing pages alongside animations and striking colours that may distract away from the CTA buttons.
7. Page Load Speed
Page load speed plays an essential part in increasing your website conversions. In 2021 we now expect websites to load instantly and don’t have the patience to wait for the pages to load. Increasing the speed of your website will help to increase conversions as it will encourage visitors to stay instead of using a competitor’s site.
You can test the speed of your website by using the website GTmetrix. This will help you to monitor your website’s performance, give you scores on each page and show you tips on how you can improve your site overall.
8. Add Live Chat To Your Site
Customers who visit your website may have questions about your products / services. If they have to send an email or contact customer services for answers this could lead to a missed sale or conversion. This is why adding a live chat to your website will come in handy as it allows customers to get answers from the company instantly.
Live chat tools are simple to add to your website. They provide customers with immediate solutions to their questions and will have a positive effect on your conversions and in turn increase revenue.
9. Use Complementary Colours
Colours have a great psychological influence on the brain and will have an impact on the actions carried out by your website users. Colours can make us feel different emotions and react in certain ways. For example, grey is recognised as ‘peaceful, neutral and calm’ while red is ‘ exciting, youthful and bold’.
The colour scheme that you use on your website plays an essential part in increasing conversion rates. It is important that you choose colours that will complement each other and promote certain emotions as this will encourage website users to stay on your landing pages for a longer period of time. As a result, the longer visitors stay on your website the higher chance they will convert into a customer.
10. Quality Content Over Quantity
Content plays an essential part in increasing customer conversions. According to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing conversion rates are six times higher than other methods.
It is important to educate website visitors about your business and the products / services you are selling. This can include background stories, case studies, statistics and advice. The content you create must be unique as it will prevent duplicate content and Google will love it!
Before writing a blog or content for web pages, it is a good idea to read other blogs for inspiration, however, when you are writing the content remember to put this information into your own words. To check how authentic your content is and to prevent plagiarism you can use the site DupliChecker. Here you will receive a percentage of how unique your content is and what sentences you need to make changes to.
Effective Ways Of Increasing Your Conversion Rates
Improving conversions is a never ending process that requires time and dedication. By practicing the 10 effective ways that you can increase your conversion rates above you should be able to see an immediate improvement in your sales and customer engagement.
At Gekkoshot we understand that running a business is time consuming and that not everyone is able to invest time into their website. For more information on how we can help to improve your website and increase your conversion rates get in touch with us today and see how our web design services can benefit your business.
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