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You have a website for your business.  But are you using it to its full potential? 

Websites used to be considered an online version of your business card.  They allowed people to check you out, to confirm that you were a legitimate business.  Many businesses figured that this was enough and they haven’t subsequently spent much time doing anything with their sites – does this sound like you? 

If so, then you are overlooking a huge opportunity to maximise your business sales and grow your business. 

TURNING BROWSERS INTO BUYERS WITH CONVERSION RATE OPTIMISATION

Websites are now capable of so much more.  Attracting customers to your website is one component of a good marketing strategy.  Another component – and this is where your website’s design plays a key role – is how to convert them into paying customers. 

Thoughtful web design considers the experience of using your website from your customer’s perspective. There are lots of things you can do to help your customer buy from you. What does it matter if you had 20,000 people visit your site if you only had 2 sales? A good Conversion Rate Optimisation plan will help you turn browsers into buyers.

HAVE YOU CONSIDERED WHY POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS WOULD VISIT YOUR WEBSITE?  

There are many different reasons why a customer may check your website.  And all those reasons stem from a desire to solve a problem.  A potential customer has landed at your website because they need something.   

Perhaps they are looking for a recipe that uses one of your ingredients for example – gluten-free flour – and they’ve ended up at your website because Google showed them a recipe you’d posted using your product. 

That potential customer now likes you because you helped them. And at that moment you offer 10% off their first purchase of your product via a pop-up.    

Or maybe your potential customer needs their car serviced and they want to know if you’re in their area, what your opening hours are and if you look like a trustworthy mechanic.  While looking for this information the potential customer sees that you also offer a complimentary car while theirs is being serviced – they think ‘awesome, now I don’t have to ring around and do an entire logistical exercise just to get my car fixed”.  The customer is grateful and you got a new client. 

Or a potential customer has seen your product on Instagram and is thinking of buying it.  They go to your website to find out a bit more.  Your site took ages to load because you have too many unoptimised images (basically your images are full of hidden clutter – background data and information that is only of use to your developer).  Luckily for you the customer has hung in but they can’t easily navigate your site.  The menu headings don’t make sense.  And they can’t find any information about the product.  Finally a pop-up appears asking for their personal information and they can’t see how to close it.  That’s it, they’re fed up and they abandon your site.  You don’t get a sale, far from it – the only thing they take with them is a negative view of your brand and a resolution to avoid it all together. 

These are examples of how a Conversion Rate Optimisation strategy (and a lack of one) can affect your business. 

FUNDAMENTALS OF CONVERSION RATE OPTIMISATION

 URGENCY 

Marketing research shows that having a deadline prompts people to take an action.  Examples include “claim this offer now – expires in 24 hours”.  People are prompted into action by the fear of missing out.  Your Conversion rate Optimisation strategy should be using this marketing tactic. 

 SOCIAL PROOF 

Social proof is all about trust.  Does your potential customer believe you are a good business?  Does your product work?  Client testimonials, social media shares, and product reviews are great online replacements for “word of mouth” referrals. 

 CLARITY 

 A customer uses your website to get a feeling about your brand and your product. Every piece of information, every photo, every graphic on your website should serve a purpose.  Make it clear.    

If your website was designed years ago and you’ve neglected to upkeep it you will be losing opportunities to make a sale. Are you using outdated fonts and graphics with a poor layout and useless and irrelevant information? Can people view your website from smartphones and tablets or is it only designed for desktops? Do you have AfterPay? 

Give your website a design overhaul – make it attractive and useful to your customer.  

MAKING IT EASY FOR YOUR CUSTOMER TO BUY FROM YOU

Have you got detailed product descriptions?  Is your site easy to navigate?  And is it easy to buy from you?  Do you have instant messaging so that potential customers can ask questions quickly and easily?  Do you offer AfterPay?   

Streamline the purchasing process and make it easy to purchase from you. Customers don’t have time but they have options.  If it takes too long to purchase from your site they will go elsewhere. 

Here’s an example of how it works:

A customer browsing your newly updated online store.  Navigation is easy and the site looks beautiful (‘clarity’).  They are looking in particular at product ‘A’.  A pop-up appears on your customer’s screen offering them 10% off their initial purchase with you.  On the same page they see a client testimonial talking about how the product has helped them (‘social proof’).  They provide their email address to claim the discount.  You subsequently send them an email highlighting features of product “A’ and a link to the product but the offer is only valid today (‘urgency’) 

You make the sale.

HOW A CONVERSION RATE OPTIMISATION STRATEGY HELPS YOU

Websites are so much more these days.  They are a powerful tool that can give you in-depth analytics helping you to run your business more intelligently and efficiently.    

They can help you learn more about your customer.  You may think you know who your customer is but the analytics from your website may show something different.  You get real facts and data, not hunches: where they’ve come from (via social media or google search results for example), where they live, which products they’re interested in, what they are saying about your brand (on social media).  These insights can help you determine which factors your customers are more likely to respond to – discounts, free samples or free shipping for example. 

WE ARE WEB ARE READY TO HELP YOU GROW YOUR BUSINESS

We can create a Conversion Rate Optimisation strategy for your business and we have the technical team to ensure smooth implementation. Call us today  on (03) 86091078.