Increasing Your Conversion Rate

We have met many a company president that seems perplexed about why his online sales have yet to increase while traffic has increased. In many ways, it's hard to imagine why this isn't the case. After all, you surely don't go to a store without buying something do you?

If you are talking about getting in your car and driving a few miles to the grocery store, perhaps this is still true. However, today's social-savvy shopper, might even check that store out on his/her mobile phone before ever driving there. Such is the very nature of this new phenomenon. With financial times getting tougher, and with the every-increasing social network becoming a lifeline, these trends are sure to continue. So, assuming you get a user to your website, how can you increase the probability he will buy?. Many of the answers are actually quite common sensical and easy to implement.

First of all, every company should know its unique value to their customer. This could be as simple as having the lowest price, highest quality, or most available service. Frequently, however, it is more complex than this. Identification of that unique value needs to be heavily highlighted on your page, and re-stated often, especially when the option to buy is present. Statistics show that today's users research their products and services heavily and use sites for comparison shopping. Give them a reason to stay on your page! State your claim and state it often!

The user experience is probably the next most valuable entity for the end user. We like to employ a five-second test on target users, by having them sit in front of a screen, then show them a site for five seconds, and then have them tell us what they remember. This gives us a good idea of how the user perceives the site on first impression. The next test is to give the user a chore of buying something and then see how long (and how many clicks) it takes them to get to the checkout lane. This is critical for sites offering ten or ten thousand products. If you want people to buy, make it easy. This includes less clutter, visual queues and multiple methods of payment. And for heaven's sake don&39;t make your user join as a member or fill out useless information on the way to buying. There is a better than 50% chance that they will abandon the sale if the process takes too long or is too pervasive.

If you deal in a variety of similar products, it's always good to help the user out. For instance, if they are choosing from taking two similar online courses, be sure to have a quick, convenient link to inform the user of the differences, or why they should choose one over the other. In the long run, the user will appreciate the help, and value your site for providing the information.

Psychologically, your customers want a good bargain, especially in a competitive marketplace. If you sell your widget for the same price your competitor, and all you state is the price, expect that your customer will end up buying that widget from the last site they visit. How can you keep that customer from moving on and staying? Do something as simple as crossing out the price obviously, and replace it with a lower one. Offer a free coupon to your store the next time they shop. Give them an incentive of a discount if they purchase a certain amount. Any of these, or other tactics will dig into the user a little more to keep them concentrated on your site a while longer.

Lastly, let the user know that they can trust you and that you are providing the best goods in the best environment possible. Provide a safe SSL-based secure purchasing experience. Clearly state your customer support process and make those contact numbers obvious. Provide a section about your company, emphasizing how long you have been in business, your mission and your management. Openness to the buyer can do wonders for their overall buying attitude at the time.

There are dozens of other techniques that can be useful for increasing your conversion rate, but these are a good start. Remember that your consumer today is vastly different than the one even five years earlier. They are technically more adept, more mobile and have less time on their hands than ever before. Anything you can do to cater to those particulars will put you ahead in the conversion rate race!