The average conversion rate on websites across the internet is 2%, but many don’t even get that. Think of how many page visits you need before one of them actually becomes one of your customers. If it’s more than 50, your site’s performance is less than average on the Internet. So how can you change that? Try these effective changes that will help turn visitors into paying customers.
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Simplify your forms
Actually making a purchase is normally the last step of the conversion funnel. Before a visitor converts into a paying customer they often interact with a site in a different way. A common interaction is signing up to a newsletter, but it could be creating an account or spinning a prize wheel for a discount. Be careful what you put in your online forms – they can kill your conversion rate. It’s nice to get as much data as possible from your customers, but every single extra step you make them go through will make it more likely they leave your site and don’t return.
Having a landing page
A landing page doesn’t have to be on the same domain as your website, but it should be very tailored to the customers you want to convert. It should feature messaging based on research that you have conducted into buying triggers, as well as other simple but persuasive web elements (like a short introductory video). This can play an important part in your sales funnel, and they do get results – Xerox got an NYC agency to design a landing page for their Versalink product, and when combined with retargeting and nurturing, they enjoyed a massive 43% conversion rate.
Social proof involves showing visitors that other people like and use your product. It’s important because when somebody has made a decision and spent a lot of time thinking about it, the decision-making part of other people’s brains shuts off a bit and they are more likely to follow in the footsteps of others. Add testimonials from your customers and make sure you feature other companies’ logos on your site – whether that’s to show who your B2B customers are or which media platforms have talked about you. This will put your visitors at ease and make them more likely to trust you.
Simplify with heat maps
Heat maps are maps that show you what people are clicking on when they visit your website. One of the laws of conversion is to decrease the number of clicks that stand between a visitor and a converted customer. By looking at heat maps and deleting elements that people aren’t clicking on, you will be able to remove distractions and increase conversion.
Small first steps
People are more likely to believe in something after they have already taken one small step related to it – it’s called the foot-in-door principle and it’s an essential component of sales. Make the most of this by making your first step really easy and simple. Don’t ask for a form to be filled out – an email address will do fine, or even just a connection to Facebook or Google.
