- The Karcher Group
- Web Marketing
- Website Analytics
- Convert Website Visitors
Convert Website Visitors
"No thanks, I'm just browsing."
Got visitors who just look and leave? At the end of the day, your site can have all sorts of great rankings and traffic, but if it's not getting you leads or sales then it's not doing its job. Especially in a tough economy when you have to justify every marketing dollar, your website needs to be adding to your bottom line.
Think of it this way: say you've got a salesperson who gets lots and lots of appointments. That's great, right? Not if they never close a deal. Eventually you have to assume there's something wrong with their sales technique. Same with a website; if your visitors bolt without ordering products or services, chances are there's an issue with your site.
The good news is that these issues are almost always fixable. To hike up your site's conversion rate (the rate at which visitors "take action" on a site), here are a few tips:
Don't give your visitors an excuse to leave. Are there broken links, slow download speeds, lackluster product descriptions, or is your site's navigation a veritable Where's Waldo? Offer every visitor smooth, uninterrupted surfing of your site. They'll appreciate it, and you'll appreciate them staying for awhile.
Make sure your site looks like a place people want to do business. If you haven't recently emerged from under a rock (and if you have, welcome), then you've probably made an online purchase at least once. Tell us if we're wrong, but would you do business with a company that has a poorly developed site, choppy navigation and shoddy content? That's okay; we wouldn't either, and nor will your site's users. Give your users confidence by having a strong, well-oiled website machine, complete with that ever-important Secure Server posting.
Ask for the sale. Just like in the offline world, if you're not being persuasive and asking for the sale (or the next step in some cases), you're not likely to get it. Make it clear what it is you want your users to do in each area of your site (fill out a form, make a purchase, etc.) and tell them how this action will benefit them. Then make it super-easy for them to take the next step.
Speaking of which, we'd love to hear from you. See that short form on the right? Just fill it out and we'll get right back to you. Maybe we can offer some great ideas to improve your site's conversion rate.
