6 Ways to Improve Online Conversion

By Sarah McInerney  
| September 7th 2012

Sarah McInerney

Head of Content

Sarah has almost three decades of experience in crafting compelling, engaging content specifically designed to boost sales and enhance brand loyalty. She’s also an expert in developing unique tone of voice that helps brands connect with their audiences. Her marketing and client service background has given Sarah a natural understanding of how to write content that makes readers take action. Whether it’s signing up to a mailing list, making an enquiry or donation or clicking the buy button, Sarah knows precisely how to convert with words. Pen down, Sarah is a proud member of the Essex Wildlife Trust and spends most of her free time enjoying inspiring walks through her local woodland and nature reserves, admiring everything that flaps, flutters and flowers.

All too often, companies spend much of their time focusing on improving the number of visitors to their websites.  Instead, it makes more sense and can be more profitable to try to increase the conversion ratio – the number of visitors who go on to buy or make an enquiry.  Here we examine a few of the best ways to boost conversion rate and actually transform visitors into customers or clients:

  1. Usability.  It sounds simple, but a well designed, easy to use website should increase the chance of a visitor buying from you.  How easy is your website to navigate?  Is the journey from arrival to purchase a pleasant and plain sailing one?
  2. Design.  A site needs to be well designed and professional looking to inspire trust, but can visitors easily find what they are looking for?  Can they see the buttons that allow them to ‘add to basket’ or continue to the next step? Are there strong calls to action to help guide visitors on their journey to getting in touch with you, or clear leaders to guide them to the information that’s relevant to them?
  3. Content.  Writing quality website content is an important step in converting visitors into customers. The content must highlight the benefits of the product or service rather than describing the features, and must focus on the specific needs of the target audience.  It must be free from jargon and easy to read.  Links or downloads to further information can help when visitors are researching and starting out in their purchasing journey. Compelling content that is written to close the sale will help greatly with conversion.
  4. Only Ask For What You Need.  It can be off-putting for visitors being asked for information that is irrelevant. Is it necessary to ask for their date of birth when they are making a purchase or subscribing to a newsletter? It doesn’t necessarily have to be compulsory for first time customers to set up an account, and the process should be as simple as possible so as to avoid abandoned sales by frustrated visitors.
  5. Create Trust.  Help the user to trust you by overcoming their fears to purchase or get in touch.  You should clearly show a telephone number on every page of your website – this must be a landline number – and clearly displaying a postal address and company registration number isn’t just for inspiring trust – it’s a legal requirement. If you are selling online, logos such as “VeriSign Secured” or the PayPal logo will instantly make the visitor feel at ease, as will clear terms and a privacy policy. Showcase reviews and testimonials too.
  6. Know And Promote Your USP.  Your unique selling points are what set you apart from your competitors and will be the very things that tip the conversion.  Showcase your USPs in a way that stands out on your website so that you catch the all-important attention early.

If you are getting lots of website visitors, but the figures aren’t reflected in your sales or enquiries, you need to work on your visitor conversion. Need help? One of our services is a website audit. Feel free to get in touch to find out more.

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