The 1950’s marked the beginning of what we now identify as the foundation of modern marketing. In those days, calls to action were relatively simple. A “Buy Now!” or “Order Today!” placed somewhere in ad copy was all that was required to motivate users to try your product.
These days, calls to action are a bit more confusing. The commercialization of the Internet in the 1990’s led to an abundance of businesses creating websites with the goal of converting site visitors into customers. Throughout the 2000’s, businesses have expanded calls to action to not only target sales, but many other online behaviors that they feel are an indicator of visitor engagement.
Optimizing these calls to action to maximize conversions is a full-time job in and of itself, and requires many hours of trial and error to be truly successful. Luckily for you, we at DBS want to spare you some of the laborious trial and error and would like to recommend a few handy tips that you can try on your site today to improve conversions.
Highlight Most Desired Conversion
From the moment an individual logs on to a website, they are bombarded with calls to action. Online marketers often make the mistake of assuming visitors are willing and able to complete every goal they have defined. If marketers had their way, each visitor would follow them on Twitter, Like them on Facebook, sign up for their RSS, subscribe to their newsletter, click to learn more about their services, contact them through a form, and buy their product. The fact of the matter is visitors can only perform one of the above, so your site’s conversion rates would be best served by highlighting the goal that is most important on that page. The easiest way to bring attention to your call to action is to make it as prominent as possible on the web page.
- Make It Big and Make It Bright – This isn’t rocket science; the more apparent the button is, the greater the chance a visitor will be motivated to click it.
- Move Goal Objectives Above The Fold – Visitors should never have to scroll down the page to complete a conversion. By simply moving links and buttons that result in a conversion above the fold, you greatly increase the chance that visitors will convert.
Substantiate Claims of Security
Trust is a crucial element in the seller-buyer relationship. Any action a seller can do to increase trust is bound to increase conversion rates. One of the most basic ways to earn a customers’ trust is to substantiate that your website is secure.
- Protect Your E-Store with SSL – Online shoppers are relatively savvy to the existence of Secure Socket Layers (SSL), a form of encryption that protects information sent over communication networks such as the Internet. Although many couldn’t tell you what it stands for or how it works, most know to avoid websites whose shops are not protected with it.
- Industry and Security Certifications – While SSL protects your customers from outside threats, industry and security certifications help to establish your company as a legitimate business. Use these certifications to demonstrate your company’s commitment to protecting your customers.
Validate Products and Services
Once site visitors are aware that your site is secure, the next best way to increase trust is through validation of your business or products.
- Testimonials and Customer Reviews – A 2008 Study conducted by Razorfish found that 61% of people rely on user reviews for product information or research before a buying decision is made. (Razorfish, 2008) Another study conducted by Econsulatancy found that 90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know and 70% trust opinions of unknown users. (Econsultancy, July 2009) Both studies come to the same conclusion. Consumers trust other consumers. Websites with reviews, regardless of being negative or positive, will always convert better than a site without them.
- Include a Privacy Policy – Privacy policies declare the intent of a business in collecting your personal information. Visitors are unlikely to do business with you if you either don’t display a privacy policy on your site, or are involved in any misuse of their information.
Optimize Page Speed
Not too long ago, Google announced that page speed was a factor they use in their ranking algorithm. Since then, most SEO professionals have been doing a few simple steps to improve page speed. Google places importance on page speed for the very same reasons that increasing the page speed could benefit your conversion rates. From a usability standpoint, any page that takes more than a few seconds to load is susceptible to experiencing extremely high bounce rates.
- Decrease Image File Size – Images are a very important component of web design. The problem with images is that they often account for a substantial portion of a page’s load time. Online marketers should make certain that images file sizes are optimized to be as small as possible, without sacrificing any quality.
- Clean Up Javascript and Code – Another large element to slow page speed is improper or poorly written code. A code audit to eliminate any unnecessary strings will do wonders in improving the total load time.
Utilize On-Site Promotions
It’s no mystery that promotions are an effective way to increase sales. The Internet actually provides promotional tactics used to optimize conversions that are specific to online shopping.
- Free Shipping – Shipping fees are one of the few disadvantages of shopping online. When you remove it from the equation, visitors will be enticed to use your service or product to fulfill their needs. If free shipping is something you offer, display it prominently on your website as well as in any PPC ads you may be running.
- Free Trials – Another disadvantage of online shopping is the physical distance between you and the product. This distance is one of the major barriers in the online buying process. When shopping online, shoppers lose the ability to physically interact with the product. To mediate this, some companies utilize free trials; allowing customers to try before they buy.
Integrate Web 2.0 Functionality
The great thing about the modern Internet is the amazing functionality integrated into websites. Programmers have developed a number of features that help to alleviate some of the uncertainties of buying a product online.
- Collaborative Filtering – Collaborative filtering is the process of compiling historical sales data and integrating it into a system that automatically recommends products based on the composition of similar customers’ check out carts. These systems are often labeled as “Customers Who Bought This Also Bought” or “You Might Also Like”. While it is clearly no small project to integrate this type of technology into your website, the benefits in the long-run greatly offset any initial investment.
Choose Images Carefully
As the old adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.
- Product Photography – Having no images, small images, or low-quality photography can seriously hinder your conversion rates. In the case of bad photography, visitors assume that the quality of the photography is a reflection of the quality of your product or business. If the images are abnormally small, visitors have difficulty understanding what they are buying. Simply by increasing the size of images, A/B tests have shown that larger images can result in increased conversion rates.
So what are you waiting for? Quit reading and start optimizing for more conversions!
