How to Convert Website Visitors - Dos and Don'ts

Those who have had a web site already know that it’s not enough to have a web site out there. If your web site isn’t causing the phone to ring or orders to come in than it’s just taking up space on a server and it begs the question – what’s the point?

It is time to rise above mediocrity. It’s time to make your website work for you – not against you. Here are five Dos and Don’ts for converting web site visitors:

THE FIVE DON'TS 

Don’t Follow Fads

I’ve met a lot of business owners, mindlessly following Internet fads. It’s interesting to watch - reminds me of high school. Here’s the rule: If it fits your marketing plan and you’ve formulated a real way to bring in customers - do it. If not, don’t. It might be fun for a while, but I guaranteed that you will eventually realize that you’re wasting precious time and resources which will start to show itself in what matters most - revenue generation.  Establish and maintain a firm foundation - complaint code, strong SEO elements, smart designs, good usability, marketing integration, brand centered messaging, etc - these things are proven strategic elements in converting visitors and creating return customers.  Fads? Not so much.

Don’t Look Cheap

Here’s where underestimating the power of perception comes into play. It’s quite simple. If you look cheap, then you are. If you look professional, then you are. If you look like you only have one customer, than it will be difficult to convince someone that you’re experienced. The question becomes: what type of customer do you want to attract?

Don’t Assume Anything

Converting and creating loyal customers is not a game of chance. It’s a process of purpose and intent. People are complex creatures. There is much to learn by tracking how people behave on web sites and in the purchasing process. Trends and patterns can be analyzed from web site traffic data. Surveys and user studies can reveal these patterns as well. It is on these data points we should base our decisions. Guessing and assuming when making business decisions is a very risky policy. Don’t assume the way people will react and how they will make decisions. Don’t expect to convert visitors to customers unless and until there is purpose and intent behind the effort. Study the data and only make moves based on a good analysis and verified information.

Don’t Hire an Amateur to do a Professional Job

I can hear it coming already. It’s a long series of yeah-buts. Yeah but we don’t have the money. Yeah but we can do this; it’s not that hard. Yeah but I don’t have the time to find someone good. Yeah but my friend was ripped off by a so-called professional. Get it all out. Release the bad energy.

Bring your yeah-buts to another party; they are not allowed in business. After seeing countless examples of disastrous results from substandard web design work done by amateur web designers, I can tell you this approach doesn’t pay the bills.

You have 10 seconds or less to gain the interest and trust of first time visitors to your web site. It’s just not worth the loss of revenue and reputation to skimp on putting your best foot forward when getting your web site built.

If you would hire a plumber to do your next colonoscopy, then by all means, have your secretary to do your web site. But if you want real results that come only through experience, hire a professional. Ask about their experience, look through their portfolio and talk to their clients. Have them work up a solution for you and ask many questions. Take just a little time to do it right.

Don’t Do Nothing

The reality for most business web sites is that the first year marketing budget for the web site should match or be greater than the cost of building the web site. By not putting any planned effort into the marketing effort, you should not expect to gain a whole lot from the web site. Doing nothing is not an option if success is part of the plan.

THE FIVE DOS

Be Motivational

Many web site home pages are filled with fluff that does nothing to motivate visitors to move deeper into the site. Other pages can also have motivational language and imagery, but the home page is by far the most important. Entice me to click into the site. Be irresistible. Capture my interest. Answer my question of “what’s in it for me.” This requires positive, constructive language. Avoid negative words.

Present a Clear Value Proposition

State the innovation of your service or product and don’t be shy about what value you bring to the customer. There are tangible values such as saving money or owning a more durable product. There are intangible values such as experience level, customer service or saving them time.

What values are most important to your customers? You can answer this by surveying your customer base. If reliable service is more important than lower cost, then lowering your price point won’t help much. It pays to know.

Create Incentive to Take Action

Every page on the web site should have a call to action. But if you want someone to act, give them something up in return. Reward your active visitors. For instance, if you want their email address, give them something they value more than the intrusion of an occasional marketing email from you.

Reduce Friction

Every process on the web site should be clearly understood, quick and easy. Here are a few ways to do that:

• Minimize the information collected from customers.
• There must be no programming errors on the web site.
• Reduce wait times by using code that executes quickly and reducing the volume of images.
• Make navigation very simple to understand.
• Illustrate steps in the process.
• Make clear and concise instructions and directions.

The processes on your web site are a reflection of how you conduct your business – don’t make things difficult. As no one wants to deal with a difficult person, no one wants to deal with a difficult web site.

Reduce Anxiety

Trust is a huge issue on line. The level of trust directly affects the volume of conversions. Nearly every day identity theft is in the news. Anxiety about giving out any personal information on line is growing. Therefore, it is becoming more and more important to build in layers of elements that together help gain the trust of site visitors.

Develop a well-written privacy policy that gives your customers the maximum amount of protection against unnecessary distribution of their personal information. Create links to this policy throughout the site and make it obvious whenever you are asking them for information.

Third-party verification services that offer ‘trust seals’ are also an effective way of gaining trust. Invest in these.

Another important step in reducing anxiety is to make your phone number and other contact information available. This lets them know you are a real business and it allows them to connect with a person - a big step in gaining trust.

CONCLUSION

Well, we haven’t covered everything here – but these Dos and Don’ts should get you on the right path toward improving your web site conversion rates. People and technology change quickly - it’s important to understand that maintaining strong conversion rates is a continual improvement process.