Top 5 Ways For Improving Conversion Rates

You can call it whatever you want, but the industry parlance is conversion or the conversion rate to be specific. Conversion rate is the best way to measure whether what you are doing online is achieving its ends. Whether you are there to sell, educate, gather data; as I wrote above, “call it whatever you want,” but at the end of the day

…and that is measured by the conversion rate.

That’s the beauty of the online world, you can keep track and get exact statistics. If you compare an online business to a store, it’s much more difficult to keep track of exactly how many people enter a store, how long they stay for, what their behavior is like and how many out of convert and purchase items. Online you can see exactly how many people converted and after how long. So what if your conversion rate is not what it should be? What can you do to improve conversion rates and get the best out of your site?

Following are five top ways for improving your conversion rates:

1. A/B Testing

Whether it be font type or size, header title, pictures used; all these factors ultimately affect the conversion decision. Once you A/B Testing, also known as split testing, you can activate two options on your website at the same time. Half your visitors see one option and the other half see the alternative. This allows you to get statistics of which option works and has a higher conversion rate.

2. Choosing Website Design Colors

All of the colors on your site together build a picture which will either attract or repel Web surfers. If the colors are conducive to what you are trying to convey through your site and keep the surfers at your site, chances are that conversion rates will rise. For example, a financial website with bright, fluorescent colors will probably deter potential customers but should work a treat for a surf site. Text color against a background that makes it difficult to read is a no-go on any site. Beyond the esthetic aspect, colors have a big effect our subconscious.

3. Call To Action

The call to action is the equivalent of crunch time on a website as it is usually the final step to conversion. It must be concise and precise telling the surfer exactly what is required of them, why and how. The main call to action should be approximately 20% larger in width than the corporate logo at the top of the page and should be placed toward the top of the page as an indication of its importance.

Other calls to action should be smaller than the main one but larger than the logo and also distinguished by their position or background color and design.

Give a short sentence to show your visitors how they will benefit by becoming a customer. For example let’s say you have a book you are trying to sell about healthy living. Instead of having just a call to action “Order Now”, you can add above the call to action “Change your life and future today to a better and healthy lifestyle”. This way visitors on the site know what they can gain out this book.

4. Customer Reviews

The human element adds greatly to a website and that is what customer reviews bring to a site. People don’t want to feel like they’re the only person doing something and when they read good things from others it gives them a feeling of comfort. Even if a review is negative it gives you a chance to respond, showing that you are human but you listen to criticism and respond to it. Although you can and should have a dedicated Customer Reviews or Testimonials page on your website, you should place customer reviews in prominent places throughout the website, especially on the home page as that is the page everyone visits.

5. Using Social Media

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, YouTube; the list goes on and on. However, if you’re not using social media or the companies that use social media to promote your company or your cause than you are missing out on what is perhaps most important revolution in online marketing. These programs are omnipresent and most offer at least a basic package for free.

As part of a social media marketing campaign though, it may be best to use companies like Somoto that help drive traffic to your site and give the viral nature of social media an initial helping hand. It’s important to have the widgets of your social Medias on your website. This way if someone “likes” your product, your get free advertisement to their Facebook friends, and potential future customers.

Using these methods wisely is assured to improve your conversion rates. They are tried and proven methods that will require some investment of time and perhaps even money but will pay for themselves many times over.