On our Facebook Live, Episode #36, we talked about tips to help make your website convert! There are a lot of different ways to do this, and they may be different from business to business and website to website, BUT we’ll try and address the most common ways to help your website convert!
What Does A Website Conversion Mean?
First things first, let’s dive into what “convert” means when we’re talking about converting on a website.
A website conversion can be completely different from one business to the next. Here are some of the most common tracked conversions or goals on a website:
A website purchase – Tracked by your eCommerce website when someone has actually gone through with a purchase on your website.
A website form submission – Tracked by your website anytime someone successfully entered the information requested on an online form on your site. You can track this type of conversion by creating a “goal” on Google Analytics. One of the easiest ways to do this is by redirecting your form on submission to a thank you page, and tracking that thank you page on Google Analytics. You should also get the form emailed directly to your inbox after it is submitted.
A meeting scheduled from an online scheduling software – Especially for B2B service-based businesses, scheduling a meeting can be one of the most important types of conversions you can get! Having a place on your website where someone can directly schedule a meeting can really streamline the process and reduce friction.
You’re usually able to have scheduled meetings redirect to a thank you page on your website as well. You’ll also get an email and calendar invite when a meeting is scheduled.
A phone call originated from a website – This will typically be one of the hardest conversions to track. Even if you track calls in Google Analytics, it isn’t 100% that they will be counted. For example, someone can type in the phone number instead of clicking on a link.
Another option is to have a specific phone number that only is listed on your website that gets forwarded to your phone. There are plenty of services out there that can help with this, such as Grasshopper.
Now, these are just a few of the most common types of website conversions. You can also count things such as newsletter signups (similar to form submissions), online account creations, sharing your content, clicking a button, watching a video, and the list goes on!
Okay, so now you’ve defined what type of website conversions you want to track, how can you actually increase those website conversions? Here are our top four tips!
How To Make Your Website A Well-Oiled Conversion Machine!
The Five-Second test
Your website should be able to pass what is called the five-second test or the five-second rule. What this means is that if someone brand new comes to your website, after five seconds they should be able to close their eyes and know who you are, what you do, and either how your product/service is going to make their life better or what stands you apart from your competitors.
This is a lot of information to get across in a short time, but that is what makes it such an important task.
These five seconds is the amount of time you have to convince your new website visitors to stay on your website and to give your website more of their precious time. What happens if you don’t? Well, most likely, they’ll leave.
The key parts to help your website pass the five-second test are the graphics that are on this area of your website, the heading text, and the call-to-action. These all should help tell the story of why your website can and will help your visitors!
To learn more about how to pass the five-second test, check out our blog, Tips For Building A Website For The First Time, and check out the section called “Above the Fold”
Social Proof
Now that you’ve gotten your website visitors to stay on your website, we want to build some trust! After all, why should they trust you? They don’t know you, your business, or whatever your website is there to promote. You need to give them a reason to trust you by providing:
- Testimonials
- Reviews
- Case Studies
Anything that shows off why you’re good at what you do and any happy customers you’ve had is going to go a long way in building trust on your website.
“79% of consumers say they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends or family. These days, word of mouth can come from outside a consumer’s social circle, with an online review having a ripple outside of a happy (or unhappy!) customer’s peers.
Positive reviews also have a big impact on consumers, with 94% of consumers saying positive reviews make them more likely to use a business. Reviews with a high star rating or a positive sentiment have a significant impact on consumers’ decisions to use a business, so it’s vitally important to ensure your reviews are in top shape.”
Source: Bright Local
We’ve found that most people find testimonials and reviews hard to get. However, we’ve found when people find these things difficult, that they’ve never tried to simply ask for them! Give it a shot, especially when you come across a happy customer!
User Experience
When it comes down to it, a website that converts has to be a website that provides an overall good user experience. Things that help provide a good user experience are:
- Mobile friendly
- No broken links
- Easy to navigate website
- Make sure the users questions are answered
There really is a lot that can help improve the users’ experience on a website. We recommend asking friends, family, or whoever to take a look through your website and give some honest feedback of how they felt it is! Or you can choose to put yourself in your target market’s shoes and try to complete the tasks that they would want to complete on your site.
The key here is to be open to feedback and make changes if they can make your site a better place for your visitors!
Call-To-Actions
The last tip we have to help make your website convert is to tell your website visitors what to do! Yep, it’s that simple! By using call-to-actions (CTAs) you’re able to help your website visitors navigate through your website the way your website is designed to be navigated through.
One mistake we commonly see on websites is the assumption that the website visitor will know how to navigate through your website the way you want them to. By using CTAs, you’re able to help them navigate to the areas of the site that are appropriate for them to be viewing!
For example, if someone is coming to your website to buy a product that you have, one of the first things they should see is a button with “SHOP NOW” or “BUY NOW” text front and center.
Even in a world full of technology, a little nudge in the right direction can make a huge difference on your website!
And those are our top ways to help make your website convert! Remember to make your website pass the five-second test, add some social proof, make it user-friendly, and add a CTA or two and your website will be converting at a rate you’ve never seen before!