Have you had this happen to you? People visit your website, only to leave minutes later. In 2019, users spend an average of 5.59 seconds reviewing at a website’s’ written content. Your latest blog post get very little interaction or shares. Is this familiar? If it is, what have you done to correct the problem.
Yes, traffic is important, but it seems an inordinate amount of focus is on that tactic alone. What happens when visitors arrive on your website? Where most fall short is getting traffic to convert.
What is a conversion? A conversion is an action you expect a website visitor to take, e.g., make a purchase in store or online, fill out and submit a contact form, make a phone call, watch a video, even click on a link. Social media actions such as retweets, likes, and shares are conversions as well. As you can see, you have a multitude of potential actions visitors can take. And those actions can be viewed in your analytics. Consider your website the ultimate psychiatrist's couch.
With a psychological approach, a buyer persona can be created. Some platforms, like Hubspot, can help you create these personas. Even so, your analytics will help you track campaign performance and metrics, detect conversion issues and make the necessary improvements to increase the opportunities to convert website visitors to customers.
Why do conversion rates remain at an all time low?
First, let’s start with determining your conversion rate. Conversion rate is simply, number of conversions divided by number of potential converters. For example, 78 form submissions divided by 204 visitors to that form would give you a conversion rate of 38.2%. That’s pretty good when you consider most conversion rates hover around 1% to 3%, so why, this low conversion rate? Consider the following:
Functionality
We’ve all experienced those websites that seem to take forever to load, or you click a button and nothing happens. According to 2019 report, nearly half of the users (47%) expect a maximum of 2 seconds loading time for a website. Testing is crucial when building and maintaining a website. From desktop to laptops to smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. reliable hosting, updated platforms and plugins, and even optimized multimedia; these are technical issues within your control.
According to 2019 report, nearly half of the users (47%) expect a maximum of 2 seconds loading time for a website.
Granted, some things are out of your control but that can also be minimized by researching and developing key relationships to build a solid infrastructure upon which to build your online presence. For example, by using A/B testing and multivariate testing approaches with strategic and well-informed hypotheses, the conversions can be improved significantly.
Security
Do you fear the Internet? Some people do and given the recent malware attacks in the news, it’s understandable. Given that, what are you doing to alleviate (or inadvertently cause) your website visitor’s anxiety? We mentioned reliable hosting, but visually, how can you potentially ease those fears?
One way is to humanize your brand with an in depth background on you, your company, what you’ve accomplished, etc. Secondly, share stories from previous customers through testimonials and review. Lastly, place security badges visibly in the checkout area to promote the secure transaction technology you have in place. In fact, 94% of shoppers are likely to complete a purchase when a Norton™ Secured Seal is displayed in checkout.
Obstructions
Adspace is great for adding another revenue stream, not great for conversions. Why? With mobile traffic increasingly overtaking desktop, space is at a minimum. Yet, advertisers are getting even more aggressive in their positioning. Banner ads, skyscraper ads, floating ads and popups. Your message is drowned out before they even reach the page. Clarity is key. Limit the distractions or doom your website to obscurity.
Confusion
Here’s a scenario; I clicked this red button that said ‘Submit’ on the form. It said ‘Thank You’ but I received no follow up directions. Yet, I clicked another red button on the site and it took me off site to another website. Where am I? In creating a website, don’t make visitors guess what they’re supposed to do, or wonder what a button, link or form will provide them in their quest to become your valued customer.
Be consistent. In creating consistency, you’ll better guide visitors from entry to exit, create a much more enjoyable buying experience and see less drop-offs during the whole process.
Value Ad
Don’t sell people in this day and age. Educate them. More likely, the customer will come in more knowledgeable than ever before. That’s the power of the Internet. Knowing that, your website needs to be the ‘Wikipedia’ of your industry. Rather than rehash what’s been said about blogging, content marketing and social media, simply be a valuable resource whether you sell a product or not. Eventually, people will take notice.
Analytics
Are you tracking your site’s performance? If so, you’ll know whether the previous five issues are occurring on a regular basis. Analytics, though technical in nature, provide insight on who’s visiting, from where, what pages are they visiting, what links/buttons they’re clicking and ultimately, how many conversions you’re getting.
Analytics and associated KPIs' can help you navigate Conversion rate, Cost per visitor, Average order value, Increase bookings, Decrease marketing expenses, Increase readership and level of interest, Increase time visitors spend on Web site. You can even set up eCommerce tracking to see what products they’re buying and where they’re dropping off during checkout.
This is just an initial list of potential roadblocks to conversions. Changes in web technology make data observation a key component in successfully navigating the ever changing landscape of business online.
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