Convert Your Website Traffic To Terrific Sales!
Mind if I take you away from this cold, snowy winter we’ve been having (at least that’s what we’ve had here) and talk about spring for just a minute?
I didn’t think you’d mind.
I cannot wait to see all of the beautiful spring flower gardens in my area coming to life again! Azaleas, daffodils, tulips, forsythia…I love them all! I can’t help but slow down and look at them and let my eyes and nose take them in! It’s essential; it refreshes the soul like few other things can. I’m sure many of you entrepreneurs also possess green thumbs and have gardens of your own!
If you were at home and looked out your window, you might be able to see just how many vehicles and pedestrians go by your house and slow down to admire your garden. It makes me stop and think about, believe it or not, the difference between how many people visit your website and how many actually give you their business. Compare the number of “lookers” to how many people actually come in your door to ask you for your gardening secrets. It’s a little like a small business’ website in that it is similar to the difference between the “traffic” you drive to your business’ website and the actual “conversion rate” your business has. And what a critical difference that is! So why do so many businesses spend massive amounts of capital and thought on driving traffic to their website, but neglect to put the same amount of interest in determining the percentage of website visitors that take the desired action (make a purchase, schedule an appointment, request a service, etc.)?
Think about your own website. Is the investment you’ve put into driving traffic its way actually paying off? If not, sometimes the solution is found in a few minor “tweaks” that can result in dramatic increases in your conversion rate. Here are a few I recommend:
1) Pictures Speak Volumes…Make Yours Excellent! Images on your website that are of low quality (unfocused, inattentive to detail, etc.) can end up saying things about your business that you would never intend. Make your pictures showing your products or services clear and as professional looking as possible. Show things from multiple vantage points so that your customers know precisely what it is they are getting.
2) Copy RIGHT! Look over the content on your site. Is it focusing on the needs of your potential customers? Does it succeed in presenting your business as one that can do the best job at meeting their needs? Is your language effectively descriptive without becoming too verbose or overburdened with complex technical terms? What about your spelling and grammar? Think those little things don’t matter? Think again! For some of your Internet visitors, a misspelled word on your business’ website spells “goodbye” because it suggests carelessness. If writing really isn’t your strong suit, consider engaging the services of a professional for some editorial assistance.
3) Make Contact! Do you ever go to websites and discover that finding their contact information is like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack? It is advisable, particularly if your business deals with customers by phone, to have your phone number displayed prominently in your header and your footer. Don’t gamble on people playing a game of hide and seek to find out how to reach you. Your business will lose that game more often than not. Also, many businesses find that by having a small customer contact form on each page, their visit-to-inquiry rate of conversion increases significantly.
4) Let People “Brag” For You! No doubt you have satisfied previous customers. You may even have a “testimonials” page. Don’t wait for your site visitors to go there. Use some of those testimonials throughout your website! Put one on every page! Use them in conjunction with the services or products on specific pages. If you run a spa and someone wrote a testimonial on your excellent massage therapy, place it on the page describing those services. Testimonials do a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to closing the sale, but they can’t do anything if people aren’t seeing them.
5) Have Easy Breezy Navigation! Few things cause people to exit a website like the feeling of being lost in a convoluted labyrinth. Simplify the process for your customers by making it user-friendlier. Is your navigation function easily seen on every page of your site? Does it allow your customers to narrow down their search? A children’s toy store might consider designing their site to allow visitors to shop by gender, age range, or brand, which would make the shopping trip more personal and customized and less like sorting through a colossal bin of everything in the store.
Without a doubt, it is exciting to watch the traffic to your website grow. Just remember that the ultimate goal is conversion, the rate of which should be monitored regularly. Try out some of the tips I’ve shared with you and measure how they affect the productivity of your website.
You will find that your profits can blossom like a spring garden!
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