Improve The conversion Rate Of Your Website
Posted by Marketing Man in Marketing for Accountants,Website Design | September 20, 2012
No matter what you do, everything always comes down to one critical factor at the end of the day. How does it effect your bottom line?
A Few Ways You Can Increase Your Conversion Rate
Help Visitors Trust Your Website
A lot of people are still extremely cautious when buying online, either buying directly through a site or contacting somebody for a quote, and rightly so you have to say. A few months back a good friend of mine, who was moving abroad, decided he had found the right service on the internet. This company took his money and disappeared off the face of the Earth. It is easy for an unscrupulous individual to hide behind a website collecting peoples credit card information.
Increase the level of trust in your business by having your physical address on every page of the site, ideally not a PO Box, and a phone number that doesn’t forward straight to a voice mail. Other things like a clear privacy policy, terms and conditions of using the website etc. all help to garner more trust from the user.
Something else that plays a big part in the overall trust level given off by a site is how well designed it is. A poor, out-dated design gives off a very un-professional vibe and may just encourage the visit to hit his or her back button and seek what they are looking for elsewhere. After all if the company is not willing to spend the money to get a professionally designed website how can they be sure that the product or service they are after will get the attention it deserves? If the content of your site is poorly written and littered with spelling mistakes this will also put people off.
You should also take the time to make sure your website is kept up to date, especially if you have sections on the site that are date specific. For example having a news section that was last updated in 2008 is going to have a negative impact on your conversion rate, people are going to wonder whether the section has not been updated because the company no longer exists or if they just could not be bothered to update it.
One of the most important things you can do to increase the level of trust in your business is show off testimonials from previous customers, particularly if you have a lot of reviews on third party sites where you have less control.
Have A Clear Call To Action
The purpose of your website needs to be clear to the visitor as soon as they land on the page, tell them what you want them to do next, why they should do it and how they go about doing it.
If your business does not sell directly through the website then decide on what you want them to do and direct them towards doing it. If you want them to pick up the phone tell them “CALL NOW on 00000 000000″, if you want them to fill in a contact form direct them towards the form and make it easy to fill in.
Don’t Make People Jump Through Hoops
One of the biggest mistakes websites make is asking the user for too much information. Do not waste the user’s time by asking for information that you don’t need, the prospect of filling out a long form as opposed to simply putting in their name and email address may be enough to cause them to back away. You can always get additional information later but for the initial contact make it as easy as possible for them to make contact.
Related Posts
About the Author – Marketing Man
Marketing Man is a superhero marketer hell bent on a personal crusade to improve the websites and marketing of UK accountancy firms. Check him out on Google+
