The basics of improving conversion rates
It is on the tip of every Internet Marketer and SEO’s tips. “We need better conversion rates.” And its not surprising why, if a website that has a 2% conversion rate that increases to 3%, that’s approximately the same as a 50% increase in web traffic. Of course this assumes that the type of web traffic remains the same.
Confused already? Well its time to understand what goes into a conversion rate.
The key components that affect your conversion rates are:
- The type of audience you are attracting and how varied their needs are.
- The percentage of the audience you attract that is your target audience.
- How well your content matches the various needs your target audience is expecting.
Increasing your conversion rate often boils down to how well you know your audience and tailor your content to suit them. You just need a little common sense.
Let’s pretend you run a small 2 man accounting practice and your website exists to help you pick up clients.
Types of audience (and what to look for):
Existing Customers / Returning users
These users tend to come to your website directly. Using Google Analytics, you can click on “direct traffic” to see what they are doing. You would expect to see the lowest bounce rates for direct traffic on your website as these customers / users have a very specific reason that they KNOW you are able to service. Fundamentally, all internet marketing is to build this base up. This core group are the advocates of your website, your avid supporters and the ones who would help you with word of mouth.
Often the 2 groups here are existing customers, (someone who has purchased) or returning users (someone who liked what they saw and came back for more.)
With this particular accounting firm, it can be expected that existing customers are likely to be simply looking up contact details. If the accounting practice was to offer downloadable tax forms or perhaps even a resource centre where all the up-to-date small business forms, returns and bits and bobs were collected, existing customers may also return to the site simply to get this information.
New Customers / Users
Some may be visiting your website purely for research / interest sake, while some may be genuinely ready to purchase today. If you wrote down all the things that might represent the new customers who might visit your website, it might look like this:
- “I urgently need an accountant right now”
- “I was told to look you up because I currently have a crap accountant”.
- “I am looking to start a business and I need help”
- “Is there a better way to structure my holdings to reduce tax?”
Now IF you knew that 80% of new visitors to your website fit basket no.1 then your job is to make sure that 80% of the content that is above the fold on the page that the visitor enters on (normally the home page) addresses the need “Need an accountant right now?”
Above the fold: The top part of a web page that you don’t need to scroll your browser window to see. In other words, with no further action apart from entering the site, the user will see the information that is above the fold.
For example, this could say “Urgent Tax Returns or simply need to speak with a reputable accountant urgently? We are available 24hrs 7days a week.”
You could then follow up with a few paragraphs that match that statement. Perhaps you could make service level promises, discuss hours of operation and provide priority phone numbers for easy contact etc.
Step by Step action plan to increase conversion rates
- Know your audience. Who is coming to your site, from where and most importantly the purpose of the visit. Without some clever analysis tools, you will have to guess this.
- Manage the content that is above the fold. Match it to the varying types of visitors you may have, placing more emphasis on the larger / better groups.
- Support all blanket statements / marketing tag lines with content that explains why or how you are able to make those statements.
- Make a call to action that matches the visitor’s needs:
- If they need an accountant now, the call to action is a phone number and a damn good reason to call right now
- If they’re simply looking for an alternative accountant, tell them you offer a free business review service to assess what benefits you can give them. E.g. Reduce taxes, increase margins etc.
- If they are looking to start a business, offer some standard pricing and free business start-up tool kits. Then ask for their contact details to be added on your email list.
- If they are looking to do some self research, ask them to join your mailing list so that you can send them updates.
- If you had made assumptions in step 1 (without using analysis tools to understand your audience) then look at your web stats and refine steps 1 to 4.
- Analyse your traffic sources. Are they coming from Google, paid or unpaid? Long Tailed or Short Tailed? Country / Location? Referring sites? Make sure you are attracting the right types of visitors to your website. And as you adjust to attract more of a certain type of visitor, you also need to reassess your content. Don’t forget to look at your click baits too.
How to know if it is working?
Google Analytics, Google Analytics and Google Analytics.
- When you get Steps 1 and 2 right, you will notice a drop in your bounce rate. (The Google Analytics bounce rate measures the number of people who visit your site and leave immediately. You want this to be as low as possible)
- If you get step 3 right, you will see an increase of time spent on your explanation pages. This means that visitors are actually absorbing what you are writing.
- If you get step 4 right, you’ll get either more email newsletter signups or enquiries.
- If you get steps 5 and 6 right, you’ll constantly improve your conversion rates
Please contact us if you want to increase your conversion rates or perform some in-depth visitor analysis on your website.
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