Too many website hits and too few sales! If this is the scenario, your most recent search query is probably ‘how to get more leads from your website’ or, if you are an online store ‘how to get more sales on my online store.’

We might not have all the answers for you, but we can certainly lead you in the right direction. Let’s jump into it right away.

The first aim for any newly created website is to get traffic. It’s a clear indication that your website is technically sound and the content you provide is useful. But that’s never enough to make enough dollars.

Your website audience has to click on those CTAs, buy a product, fill out a form or sign-up for your newsletter. The industry term for such actions is a ‘conversion.’

So, what is a good conversion rate? It depends on your industry, reach, location, and other factors. That said, whatever your current rate is, there is always room for optimization.

This article will show how to get your basics right and understand the ten effective ways to improve site conversion rates.

3 Things to Know Before Getting to Conversion Rates

In the digital world, many websites have great designs but simply fail to convert. That’s because the people behind the website haven’t done enough groundwork. Here are a few essential steps to follow before starting to calculate conversion rates.

1. Have Clear Objectives

Define your website’s ultimate goal clearly. Users landing on your website and adding to the traffic cannot be an objective. They have to engage with content or the product you’re pitching.

For some, a user signing up for a free trial or clicking the CTA button could be enough. Others might have something more specific, like a user subscribing for a year-long plan.

Whatever it is, your objective should stick to the SMART framework – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely goals. They help you create objectives that aren’t general and helps you track progress.

Following this framework will help you design a plan of action easily.

2. Know Your Target Audience

Who’s your ideal visitor? Where do they live? What age group do they belong to?

By answering such questions, you can create an ideal customer profile.

Your website should reflect the sensibilities of its audience. Let’s say you sell sneakers. It means that your website should be designed for teenagers and twenty-somethings. Similarly, if you’re selling products for elderly or disabled people, your website should be intuitive enough for them to access.

3. Define Your Metrics Clearly

Choose the right metrics for your business. And then, define your core metrics.

Who is a lead? What is bounce rate? What’s a conversion?

The internet might give you different answers to these questions. It’s important to clarify what they mean in the context of your business.

When you’re working in a team, having such clearly defined metrics will reduce ambiguities. Besides, it will ensure that members are working on the right conversion rate optimization strategies. The stage is set, and we’re ready to find out the ways to increase website conversion rates.

10 Ways to Increase Your Website’s Conversion Rates

Now that we know all the prerequisites let’s see how we can increase your website’s conversion rates.

1. Run A/B Tests

It’s a simple yet essential tool for improving your website’s RoI.

In elementary terms, an A/B test or a split test is the process by which you choose between two versions of the website. This is done by splitting users of the demography into two groups and showing each of them a different version of the website. The version that results in more conversions is the winner.

Many A/B tests can help you double your conversion rates.

While it seems an intuitive step, only 44% of all businesses actually perform A/B tests. Many of those who rely on this method tends to run a few tests and rely on the same results for an entire year. Ideally, they should be run continuously to get the best results.

You can also try multivariate testing if you have a high-traffic website or multiple web elements to test. But the results might not be accurate since there are many variables in the mix.

2. Mention a Clear Value Proposition

Are you telling the user how your product will change their life? If the answer is no, you don’t have a clear value proposition.

Let’s see two propositions written for an HR tech company:

Proposition 1: “Our AI engine that sifts through thousands of resumes and chooses the best ones based on objective and subjective indicators.”

Proposition 2: “We’ll hire employees who can take your business to new heights in just two days.”

At the outset, both seem like useful pointers. But there’s one important difference. The first one explains how the company works, while the second focuses on how it can help the clients.

Instead of talking about the tech, the second one talks about solving problems. Hence, it’s a clear value proposition. The ideal value proposition always sets itself apart when compared to competitors and has at least one USP.

3. Sales Funnel

It starts with the awareness phase, then comes interest, and finally purchase.

You’ll throw users off if you alter this order and give them a ‘buy’ button straightaway. Your website’s visitors often don’t know that they need a product, and it’s your job to explain why they need it. This is why you need a sales funnel.

It’s an industry belief that you need at least seven contacts before a user is ready to buy from you. While there is no conclusive evidence, it’s always ideal if you try to build trust before actually pitching a product.

Offer a free tutorial, give them a trial subscription, or simply get their email ID. These are a few tried and tested ways to get more leads from your website.

4. Write Clear Copy

Consumers are getting savvier by the day. So, avoid hype-based copywriting and stick to writing a clear and concise copy.

Having a consistent brand voice always helps. Your tone should reflect what the brand actually stands for. Use your brand voice to come up with catchy headlines and other texts for your web pages.

Address all possible objections a user might have. This is important because a website is not a salesperson who can answer queries.

Finally, it’s essential to communicate the value of your offerings clearly. An IDC study suggests that websites lose over 50% of their prospective buyers due to inadequate information. Instead of simply listing prices or features, explain how the product will make life easy for the client. 

5. Add Social Proof

Any collateral that instills confidence in people by showing that others use the same product is social proof. The best examples are testimonials, reviews, case studies, big clients, and media coverage.

Having testimonials on your homepage could increase your conversion by 34%. Instead of manually collecting testimonials, you can simply embed Google, Yelp, or Trustpilot reviews on your website.

Adding big brands or celebrities to clientele can affect the buying decisions of 14% of your user base.

Trust and certification badges are other less popular social proofs, but studies suggest that they could increase the conversion rate by 30%. Find out what badges are relevant for your industry and apply for such certifications.

The simplest conversion rate optimization tactic is adding a sales or traffic counter on your website!

6. Improve UI/UX Aspects

Wondering how to increase the conversion rate on Shopify or any other e-commerce website? The answer is a great UI.

To improve your user interface, you need to see how your users behave on the website. Is there a particular form they’re skipping? Are they unable to spot the CTA button? Do they leave your website midway in the user journey?

Once you’re able to pinpoint the problem, you can work on improving the UI. Many a time, the solution is as simple as adding a guest checkout option.

7. Remove Distractions

This is the most popular advice marketing experts give whenever they’re asked ‘how to generate leads from website visitors.’

Your product or lead magnet should be the center of attraction on your website. By giving air time to intrusive ads, unrelated offerings, or other distracting elements, you’re shooing visitors away from the website.

Follow the Rule of One that says that you should have one purpose, one CTA, and one point of focus. There can only be one focal point with two banners, three testimonials, and a gazillion footers.

Modern art might be exquisite, but the fact remains that only a handful of people can appreciate it. Visually complex websites don’t do well because users tend to judge design in 1/20th of a second.

Other must-avoid distractions are video and audio clips on autoplay. Let your user choose if they want to listen to an advertising jingle or a tutorial video.

8. Optimize for Mobile Devices

This one’s a no-brainer! Ever since Google introduced mobile-first indexing, many websites’ SERP rankings have taken a hit. This has a domino effect on their final conversion rate.

While mobile traffic is way more than that of desktops, the conversion rates of handheld devices are much lesser. So, you need to double up your efforts to increase buying intent of mobile users.

When you’re optimizing for mobile devices, you have to take care of many aspects. There’s page loading speed, layout, easy checkout options, and the likes.

After making the required changes, you can use Google’s mobile testing tool to check if the website is mobile-ready.

9. Launch Targeted Campaigns

This is the best way to get more leads from your website.

Christmas offers for kids products, an Independence Day sale for veterans, or Black Friday discounts for everyone — seasonal campaigns almost always do the trick.

Targeted campaigns always need not be based on location, age, or holidays. You could simply put all the visitors who did not convert into one bucket and offer them additional discounts.

You can make this a regular feature by sending out reminder campaigns. Or your website could offer a good deal whenever there’s a returning user who has never purchased. This is a conversion rate optimization strategy that constantly improves your figures.

10. Localize Your Content

46% of Google Search users are looking for localized content. More importantly, local pages lead to purchases 28% of the time.

It means that you might lose out on half of your search traffic unless you go local.

There are many ways to get your local marketing campaign started. Adding location-specific pages, indexing your online directory, and creating region-specific blogs or news posts.

If you have a storefront in multiple regions, consider adding sub-domains or dedicated pages for each one of them. Use tools like Moz Local and Ahrefs to ensure that you’re on top of the local SEO trends.

Final Thoughts

We’re all consumers first. Instead of asking how to improve your website conversion rate right away, go back in time and observe the websites that converted you. What drew you towards their product? How can you emulate their practices? This will give you all the answers you need. If you have too many things on your plate, allow us to manage your content marketing woes. We provide SEO, Google Ads, and Content Writing services that can take your business to another level.