14 Simple Steps to Increase Conversions

For most web sites and marketing in general increasing conversions is the final objective. When a visitor comes to your web sites are they doing what you intend, purchase your products, fill-out a form, becoming a member, signing up for your newsletter? Understanding conversions is fairly simple, if you need to brush up on terminology you can read another spark 'What are sales conversions and conversion rates' which is linked at the end of this article.

So now its time to think about what factors and steps can be taken to increase conversion. Overall there are hundreds if not thousands of factors that can work together to increase sales conversions. Taking steps to increase them can be an intimidating task that requires planning, some expertise, and tracking metrics for successes and failures. But with persistence many sites conversions can be increased by two to three times the current levels, if not more. With industry standards hovering in the 2% range that can relate to substantial increases for your online business.

The following are a list of some of the most effective ways to increase conversions in no particular order.

1. Effective Sales Copy
It all starts here, most of the message on any web site is written with other elements such as pictures, video and graphics supporting the written message. Does your copy do an effective job of conveying your message and getting a visitor excited or engaged. This is all about following established sales processes proven to turn visitors into customers.

2. Calls to Action
Time to look at your site as a whole and ask does everything come together to encourage that final action? We often look at web sites that have great branding and content but find they lacks calls to action. Every page should have a call to action that tell the visitor what to do next. The other elements of your web site should explain why potential customers need your products or services then the call to action turns them into customers. Most calls to action imply a sense of urgency and tell the customer what they should be doing.

3. Clear the Clutter
Is your web site a mess, is it hard to navigate, is there unneeded copy or pictures? Make it easy to 'get' the point of your web site and the page they are on. Site owners and managers are often to close to see the web site from a prospective customers point of view. Each page should serve a function and make it easy to follow the call to action and become a customer.

4. Remove Unsuccessful Advertising
Do you sell ads on your site but your main objective is to sell your own products or services? This one is pure economics; follow the revenue stream. If a prospective customer clicks on an ad they are gone from your site and unlikely to return. So make sure those ads are making you as much or more than selling your products or services would. We have seen far to many clients make $.10 on a click but lose a possible $40 sale. Remember standard online conversion rates are around 2%, so make the most out of the traffic that comes to your site.

Also ads can detract from the value of your site, so if you are selling products or services try to keep the ads off of your site or relevant to your visitors needs.

5. Promotions Work
The most popular word on the internet is Free, but overall everyone loves something for free, on-sale or chances to win. This is where you get to have a little fun, experiment and try things that would resinate with your target audience. Try different products, promotions, sale items and types, everyone is offering to 'win a free iPod' so mix it up! Simple verbiage can make all the difference as well so things like free vs. promotions can make all the difference.

This is the perfect time to get rid of old inventory that may get you a loyal customer in the future. So lots of little promotions can do more than one big 'vacation package' for gaining and keeping customers.

6. Close the Deal
You've got them to the purchase page, now its time to close the deal. There are a few things to keep in mind here that can make all the difference. Give prospective customers multiple payment options, some people hate PayPal others don't have or like to use credit cards. Next is looking at the checkout process is it easy to complete? Research has shown that difficult or unclear checkout processes have lost huge amounts of sales. Some people refuse to give up their email address or agree to get your newsletter, don't give them reasons to leave your site during checkout.

7. Shipping Cost or Hidden Charges
This is a special consideration related to closing the deal, be up-front with shipping cost and how they are calculated, don't hide charges either. Many a checkout has been cancelled when shipping or hidden charges come into the mix. Do you drop-ship from multiple vendors, a dual shipping charge can be a huge deterrent. Try to cover some or all of the added charges then use it to your advantage. A banner that states “Free Shipping” or “Fees Waived” can make or brake a sale.

When it comes to the battle between convenience vs. added cost often cost will win causing you to lose a sale.

8. Yeah for Social Networking Features!
Social networking features can dramatically increase conversions. This once again can bring many conversion increasing considerations under one point. Peep-to-peer reviews, word-of-mouth marketing, ability to comment and get feedback, interactions between companies and their customers, building rapport and trust, and increased influence on buying decisions are all things social networks can bring. Let customers who already love you tell everyone else who comes to your site. An interactive testimonial is hard to beat when it comes to selling.

9. Multiple Navigation Paths & Breadcrumbs
If they can't figure out how to move forward or back through you site your conversions may suffer. This can be a double edge sword though, so don't have confusing navigation that cause your visitors and customers to get lost in a loop. How many times have you been on a web site and been unsure of where you have gotten to and not sure how to get back to a page you want?

Breadcrumbs are a navigation element that allow users to orient themselves within a website. A second purpose for breadcrumbs is to offer shortcut links for users to “jump” to previous categories in a sequence.

10. Contact Us
Can you believe how hard it is to get a hold of some companies on the web? Maybe you only offering a contact form where you have to give up your email or they can reach your customer service directly, good bye perspective customer. A phone number is still one of the most effective customer support tools available but not the only way. With phone numbers, emails, instant messaging, live chat support, FAQ pages and more there is no reason to loose a customer with a questions that they want answered right then to make a purchasing decision.

11. Proofread and Functional
Get that site proofread and make sure everything is working. Don't lower the confidence level of a prospective customer by having a bunch of spelling or grammatical errors or pages links that are dead. Also make sure all your links are working, images are loading, and everything works. Once of the worst things I have experienced is when during checkout I couldn't move forward due to a non-functioning link.

12. Be the Customer
Once you have made a change or improved on your site look at it from the customers point-of-view and use common sense. Does it meet the objectives, would you believe what it says, follow the call to action and make the purchase? Don't forget that you are often too close and personal to your web site; get feedback from multiple people who are not. Something that seems so cool and straightforward to you may confuse your prospective customer.

13. Research, Expertise and Metrics
Don't forget that there are so many ways to help increase conversions that no person can do them all. Do some research to go as far as you can take it and know when you have done all you can, then ask is it time to call in the experts? Think about this, many experts can more than cover their costs by increasing your conversions. What if you could spend a thousand and make ten thousand, how about a hundred thousand and make a million? It happens all the time, think about Amazon their 2007 cash flow grew 143% to $1.18 billion, think about what a sales conversion increase of 1% would mean!

Finally don't forget to track everything with metrics, make a change and see what happens. There are some great statistical tracking packages available for any sized site and budget. Remember if you don't know your current conversions and how traffic works on your site how will you know if your efforts are truly working? Did the sale increase come from something you did or was it a seasonal effect, you can't know without metrics.

Oh yeah, 14. Now get to work and start implementing. One of my favorite saying is 'When everything is said and done, be sure more is done than said.'.

So start working to increase your conversions, sales and success, don't be afraid to ask for help! And click here to read 'What are sales conversions and conversion rates'.