When it comes to digital marketing, getting people to arrive at your website is only half the battle. Converting these site visitors into customers is what separates the good from the great. So how do you make sure that you are converting as many users as possible and gain online conversions?
1) Data Analytics
The key to making sure you’re converting as many site visitors as possible is understanding what’s working and what isn’t on your website. Data Analytics allows you to dive into user habits and understand your weak spots and areas for improvement.
Some key things to look for are:
- Bounce rate – how many people are arriving at your site and leaving soon after?
- Conversion rate – how many visitors turn in to actual customers?
- Traffic sources – where are your visitors coming from?
- Total users vs repeat users vs unique visitors – how many people return to your site?
Analysing these areas will allow you to better understand how effective your current marketing strategy and website design are functioning.
2) Make your website easy to navigate
With everything now at our fingertips thanks to the internet, consumers these days are lazy and demanding. They want easy access to the information and products they want and they want it fast.
Make sure you meet consumer demand and keep up with expectations by making your website as easy as possible to navigate. Include a general search feature at the top so that visitors can search your site for exactly what they want using keywords and key phrases. Also be sure to include a navigation panel or menu that is clearly visible and easy to use.
3) Optimise your website’s speed
Research shows that 53% of visitors will abandon a mobile page if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load. This a simple thing to fix and is definitely worth it in order to retain customers. Don’t lose potential customers and sales because of something as simple and stupid as a slow-loading page.
4) Keep the check-out process simple
Much like a slow-loading webpage, customers today are quick to abandon a shopping cart or checkout process if it’s too difficult or is taking too long. Make sure you avoid this by making the check-out process as simple and straightforward as possible. Only ask customers to fill in what you absolutely need and don’t overload them with unnecessary information.
Again, losing customers over something as silly as a slow or complex check-out process in unacceptable and easily avoidable.
5) Be short & sweet
With so much information available to us 24/7 thanks to mobile devices being permanently attached to us, our attention spans are becoming shorter and shorter. Keep things simple on your website and don’t overwhelm visitors with too much unnecessary information.
If you have a lot of information to share, use short blurbs and drop-down boxes with further details or catchy headlines with bullet points or infographics to communicate it in an easy-to-consume way.
Keep things simple, especially on your homepage or landing page. Reel people in first and then supply them with more information once they are invested a little.
6) Make it interactive
Grab people’s attention and keep it by making your website interactive wherever possible. Allow space for comments underneath your blog articles or include short questionnaires to help direct visitors through your site. Anything that involves visitors actively participating in the site will keep them engaged and invested. But, at the same time, don’t demand user engagement.
People should be able to access what they want on your site with a few clicks as possible but they should also be able to interact with your content should they wish. Finding this balance is key to your success.
7) It’s all about video!
Did you know that site visitors are 64-85% more likely to make a purchase after watching a video?
A video is a great way to remain interactive whilst demanding minimal input from visitors. It also boosts information retention. On average, we retain about 10% of the information we hear something, but seeing something accompanied by relevant imagery allows us to retain, on average, 65% of that information.
Using video on your site is, therefore, a no-brainer if you want to keep customers engaged.
8) Reassure your customers
Customers want to know that they’re paying for a quality product or service. The best way of reassuring them of this by showing them that others have enjoyed your products or services. For example, if you are a company offering plumbing services, you can provide your USPs on the website to make the customers better understand your service quality.
Conclusion
People have the power to shop around at the click of a button these days so your site visitors may not necessarily be guaranteed customers. The key to converting site visitors into customers is making it easy for them to choose your service or product by giving them all the information they need quickly and easily. In the age of the internet, convenience is everything so make sure your website provides just that.
