Eight Tips for Conversion Rate Optimization
Eight Tips for Conversion Rate Optimization
When it comes to filling your sales funnel with qualified, engaged prospects, your website is the first line of offense. Your company’s website is the billboard for your brand, and often the first impression you make on a potential new customer. With that in mind, it’s important to carefully evaluate your site and optimize it for maximum conversions, especially when it comes to landing pages and forms.
Read on for eight conversion rate optimization tips to help your website’s lead generation engine run smoothly, and let us know in the comments which you plan to use!
1. Reduce Form Fields
Today’s consumer is always-on, and always on the move. Chances are your site is one of dozens they visit in a day, and every second they spend on it needs to make the most of their time. This is why it is important to make sure that your forms collect only the information you absolutely need. If you go too deep into detail with your form fields, your prospect may get impatient and bounce off the page mid-completion. Name, email, phone number, title and company name are more than enough – anything else your SDRs or sales team can add into your CRM later once they connect with the prospect.
Another way to make form less painful is to have dropdowns for things like job title, “how did you hear about us” and various interests (“request or demo” or “request a quote,” for example).
2. Make Your CTA Stand Out
Your call-to-action (CTA) is a very important page component when it comes to increasing conversions. If it’s buried in the text as a link or hidden out of sight at the bottom of the page, the chances that someone will see it (let alone click it) are very low.
The first thing you’ll want to do is have a CTA that pops off the page, like a button or graphic, as opposed to a link in the text of the page. Make this button catchy with a contrasting color (think red, green or orange) and relevant copy related to whatever offer the person will receive upon submitting the form.
3. Use Better Imagery
It may be tempting to use stock images on your site, but this could be causing users to bounce off of your page or not take you brand seriously. This case study by Market Experiments showed improved conversions for a website that replaced a cheesy stock photo on their homepage with a picture of their Founder, increasing signups by 35%.Try using high-quality, original graphics or photos your team has created to add a layer of authenticity to your site. Additionally, be sure that these images are related to your offer and indicative of the message you’re trying to convey.
4. While You’re at It – Create Some Videos
Videos are a great way to give short product demos, go more in depth about an offer and provide customer testimonials. They give you the ability to drastically decrease the text on the page and add another level of humanness to your website and brand. Make sure that your videos (just like your images) are high-quality and well-planned. Start small – maybe an “About Us” video featuring your CEO on the homepage or a video testimonial from your top client.
5. Make Sure You Have a Clear Headline
The headline is often the first thing a visitor notices on your page, so it is important to make it clear, concise and catchy. Besides, roughly 20 percent of readers will not make it past the headline – so you better make sure it pertains to your offer/message!
6. Add Real Testimonials
A prospect is more likely to trust your brand if they hear about other users’/consumers’ experiences. Honest experiences – don’t make the mistake of fabricating positives testimonials or leaving out identifying details about the client.
Testimonials, whether done in the form of a video or as a feature quote on a page, are a great way to substantiate your business’ claims and shed light on the end-user experience. Run an internal campaign to figure out which clients would:
Be a good representation of your overall customer base/target audience
Be willing to take the time to write or record a testimonial about your product/service
Once you have this material to add to your website, there will be a level of validation and rapport that will only positively influence your conversion rate
7. Go Ahead and Humble Brag
While we don’t suggest a marquee banner at the top of each page boldly displaying “WE’RE GREAT,” you shouldn’t be afraid to point out your brand’s accomplishments and accolades. If your product or company has won awards, feel free to display them in a sidebar or footer block.
Additionally, if it’s relevant to your business, you can boast about Yelp and Google reviews by placing their trust badges on your site. Finally, if applicable, always display any security badges to make your potential customers feel confident that their transactions will be secure and safe.
8. Add Live Chat
Chances are that while browsing your site, a visitor will have questions about your product or service. What better way to guarantee they’ll stay on your site rather than leave to research competitors than a live chat feature? Live chat gives users the ability to contact a member of your team directly with any questions, and gives you the chance to push them further down the sales funnel towards a conversion. Additionally, it adds a layer of personalization to your website’s user experience.
Want to learn more about conversion rate optimization and what it means for your business? Check out our eBook "Customer Experience and Conversion Rate Optimization" and let us know how we can help!
