8-ways-to-increase-your-conversion-rateIf you’re actively marketing your products and services, I’m sure maximizing your conversion rate is one of your top priorities.  The bottom line is that in order to “sell more” online, you either find ways to increase your website traffic, or you figure out how to increase your existing traffic conversion rate, or a combination of both.  But I think we all agree that standing still or doing nothing is not a good option.

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Launching an advertising campaign is a marathon and not a sprint.  A lot of agencies act as is launching a campaign, or a new website or landing page is reaching the Finish line.  Yet, the real work starts after the campaign is live.  Test, adjust, repeat, should be the most common routine for anyone interested in improving conversion rates.  With that in mind, here are 8 steps the I strongly recommend.

1.     Landing Page Design. This is one of the most basic ways to experiment with conversion rates.  Sometimes, slight design changes, moving information and pictures around, or even color changes, can cause a marked increase in conversion rates. A/B testing should be a common exercise to determine which design provides the best results.  After you discover which version of your landing page is more successful, you can make that your primary landing page and move on to a new test.

2.     Landing Page Copy. Just like the overall design, the way you lay out the copy will influence your conversion rate.  There’s no “set” rule to follow.  It varies from website to website.  In some cases, you may find out that adding a testimonial at the top of the page is very effective.  In other cases, you may just experiment with different headlines, or bulleted text highlighting your product’s key features, etc.  You can experiment with your copy and see which version returns higher conversion rates as well as see through Google Analytics which page shows longer average time per visit.

3.     Landing Page Calls to Action (CTA). Of course, no landing page will be effective without a compelling CTA.  After all, this is the section that will actually entice your visitor to buy.  Not only is the position of your CTA relevant, but also the copy, the type of button you use, the color of the button, etc. All of these factors will influence how many people actually “click” to buy your product.  Subtle copy changes like a button reading “Sign Up Now” or “Sign Me Up”  or “Buy Now” versus “Buy Yours Now” may make a difference.  Again, test, adjust, repeat, should be your favorite exercise.

4.     Responsive Design.  At this point, if you’re not using Responsive Design for all of your websites or landing pages, you’re definitely missing out.  More than 50% of online interactions initiate on a mobile device but perhaps more importantly, the majority of website visitors will not return to a website or respond to a particular offer if their first experience visiting your website from their smartphone is not satisfactory.  So there it goes, all your effort out the window just because you didn’t create your landing page using a Responsive Design.  Responsive Design is a MUST.

5.     Visitor Checkout Process.  So now that you’ve convinced your visitor to click on your CTA button to *buy* what you’re offering, how is your checkout process?  If you want to see a model of an absolutely frictionless checkout process, simply go to Amazon.com.  Unfortunately, for many other websites, “cart abandonment” is a common situation.  People get to your cart, they get frustrated, and ultimately, they leave without actually buying!  To avoid this situation, be sure to develop a very smooth, easy to follow and fast checkout process. Checkout pages should be very clean and simple. At that point, the customer is already SOLD, so just capture their billing and payment information as easily as possible without any other complications.

6.     One-Click-Upsell.  I’m not a huge fan of “upselling” features but the bottom line is that they do work.  Again, if you have a very smooth checkout process (see above) your customer is now happy and more “open” to be offered additional options and eventually buying more products from you.  At this point, upselling is quite easy.  Creating an easy “one-click-upsell” page will effectively double your revenues even if your conversion rate stays the same.

BONUS POINTS

If you follow the above steps, you will definitely see an increase in your conversion rates.  But remember, marketing is always a moving target.  You need to keep experimenting even after your conversion rates increase, don’t stand still!  And now, here are a couple of Bonus Points that you may also want to consider.

7.     Live Chat Button.  Live chat is relatively easy to implement and a great way to “convert” a hesitating customer. Rather than losing a visitor that can’t find all the answers on your page, a quick “live chat” option to answer some of his or her questions will help you close the sale and increase your conversion rate.  Visitors are also becoming more used to Live Chat now and it’s almost like having your own version of “Skype” on your website.

8.     Retargeting Campaigns. If your budget allows, you may want to consider a Retargeting campaign or “Remarketing” in Google terms.  I already wrote a separate article about retargeting campaigns, but suffice it to say that they are very effective when implemented properly.

As you can see, launching a campaign is not just about launching a new website or landing page.  As I said at the beginning, the real fun starts after that page is live.  Yes, it is quite a bit of work and it takes time, but the rewards are really exponential.

If you need assistance marketing your products or simply making sure that your website or landing pages are properly optimized to maximize your conversion rate, our team at MGR Consulting Group will be glad to work with you.

Until next time, this is Manuel Gil del Real (MGR)