How to Increase Your Website Conversion Rates

Whether you own an e-commerce site or not, your conversion rate is undeniably an integral aspect of your online profile. It can determine the success of your business and offer an honest look into how users are responding to the services on offer.

But what is a website conversion rate? With regards to e-commerce sites, the conversion rate is measured by the amount of purchases completed on the website. Otherwise, conversion rate could relate to a number of goals set out by the website owner that the site should achieve through visuals, content, and services on offer.

Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, is about ensuring that your website obtains a high ranking placement on a search engine in order to increase traffic. Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO), however, is a systematic approach which uses data and analytics to offer website improvements. As a digital marketing company, Active Internet Marketing (UK) are experienced and knowledgeable on both subjects, and are conscious that designing and building a fully functioning website can take many hours and a lot of manpower. Therefore, upon launch, it can be disheartening when your website does not seem to be drawing in visitors or boosting your revenue.

If you have started to notice a large increase in bounce rate, and a subsequent decline in conversions, it could be time to re-examine the framework of your website. Below, I have listed out five key ways that will decidedly improve your website conversion rates:

Utilise visuals

One simple way to increase your website conversion rates is to consider the outward appearance of the site. Is it appealing? Are the colours inviting? Is the terminology used engaging? A large volume of website visitors will judge your website simply from its presentation, and will exit the site without even browsing through your services if they are not immediately enticed by your visuals. If your conversion goal is to get your users clicking on the contact buttons, make sure that button is large, concise, and easy to locate. Users react well to simple websites that don’t require a degree in rocket science to navigate. Make your social buttons a clear point of action, increasing social acquisition and immediately creating trust and credibility for your business.

Make unique selling points (USPs) clear

Tell your website visitors exactly why they should choose to employ your services on every landing page. Do you offer free delivery? Great, put it into the header. Are your services available 24/7? Brilliant, highlight that through a large contact button or in your content. Offer excellent customer service provisions, such as a live chat tool on the website, effectively building a bridge between the customer and your services that is otherwise blocked by the screen. You might be fully aware of your unique selling points, but your website visitors will be more likely to convert when they are confident that they cannot find services you provide anywhere else.

Streamline the conversion process

Visuals are an important aspect of your site, but the navigation journey should not be overlooked. Are you users enjoying their journey on your website? By making the journey to conversion as simple as possible, you are reducing the risk of losing a user by providing poor browsing processes. If you own an e-commerce site, make sure that you are only asking for the essential information when the customer is inputting their details to make a purchase. An overstuffed page which requires the user to add their name, address, contact details, their favourite band, and the name of their first ever pet is likely to cause frustration. Once the user has completed the purchase, they may choose not to visit your website again, having experienced irritation at an important point of the conversion process.

Use long tail keywords

Websites tend to rank well for long tail keywords, and lead to higher conversion rates. Say, for example, you sell blue wellies for women. By using the keyword ‘wellies’, you are undoubtedly going up against a huge competition in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) – 12 million search results, to be precise. By increasing the length of your keyword and creating a more specific phrase, such as ‘tall blue womens’ wellies’, you are significantly reducing the competition. Not only this, but a user searching with the term ‘tall blue womens wellies’ already has a specific goal in mind – to buy tall blue wellies for women. This mindset when browsing means that the user to more likely to convert when stumbling upon your extensive range of tall, blue wellies for women.

A/B testing

If you aren’t sure whether your website is fully optimised to encourage conversions, implementing a form of hypothesis testing called A/B testing could provide you with answers. A/B testing, also known as split testing, is a method of comparing two versions of the same website which have been altered slightly in order to compare results and engagement. A control site is compared to the variation site to determine exactly where your website is failing to convert users.

To begin an A/B test on your website, first you should list out all of the variables you are willing to chance. Try testing out different phrases. If you own an e-commerce site, instead of the term ‘Checkout’, perhaps try ‘Buy Now’; use phrases which demand action, such as ‘Limited Time Only’ or ‘Ends at 10pm Tonight’ to add to the urgency of the situation; try a change of colour theme, or adjust the size of your contact buttons; experiment with font size and style. Simple changes such as these under an A/B testing process can offer a valuable insight into the psychology of your customers and will ultimately aid the increase of your website conversion rates.

Contact us

Here at Active Internet Marketing, we have years of experience in a wide range of digital marketing services, including increasing website conversion rates. If you’d like to discuss your requirements with a professional digital marketing team, do not hesitate to call us today at 01604 765796.