You may have heard the term “conversion” being tossed around more and more in conversations about websites.  No, we’re not talking about a religious experience – we’re talking about the rate at which visitors to your website complete desired actions.  These actions can be anything from joining an email list to making a purchase – pretty much anything that goes beyond simply looking at the site.  In virtually all instances, these actions are important to your business.  Therefore, it would seem to be in each website owner or designer’s interest to make it as easy as possible for each visitor to “convert”!  Here are 5 simple tips for making your site conversion-friendly:

1.  Be Clear About What Your Visitor Should Do

No matter what page a visitor enters your site on, it should be crystal clear why they’re there.  If they clicked on a link to join your mailing list, they shouldn’t have to dig through the page – or the site! – to figure out where to do so.  Whatever the goal is, make sure the process is straightforward from the moment your visitor hits your site.

2.  Uncomplicate Your Landing Page

Limit extraneous links, excess copy, and other distractions from the desired action you want your visitor to take.  If you include graphics, make sure they convey the same message as the copy; don’t just throw them in for the sake of having pretty pictures.

3.  Build Trust

Many people are still leery of making online purchases or providing their contact information for email lists, etc.  Shocking, we know!  But there are some things you can do to assuage their fears:

- Provide  money-back guarantees (and follow through on them!)
- Don’t try to sneak in extra profit by inflating shipping costs; make the explanation of shipping charges clear and concise
- Make it clear you will not be sharing your visitors’ contact information with anyone

4.  Avoid Stall-Outs

Disrupting your visitor’s focus while they’re in the middle of trying to complete your desired action risks allowing them to leave that action incomplete.  A few things you can do to streamline processes are:  Avoid asking for your shoppers to create an account in your store until they are ready to check out.  If their cart is full, they are already committed and more likely to follow through with the purchase.  Make sure your online inventory is accurate, and display it right next to your products.  There are few things quite as annoying as trying to add something nifty to one’s cart and then being told it’s out of stock!  Also, make sure your store includes a 1-page checkout process to avoid confusion, boredom, and too much time in which to change one’s mind.

5.  Stay Connected!

Make sure your customers have a way to get in touch with a representative of  your company if they run into problems or (perish the thought!) get hopelessly confused.  Providing a method for immediate problem resolution such as a phone number or online chat (as opposed to simply providing your visitor with an email address, which says “Eh, I’ll deal with you when I feel like it”) will make a visitor much more likely to complete the conversion than if you force them to try to muddle through on their own.

IGV has 12 years’ experience in website design and e-commerce solutions (online stores).  If you are having trouble getting visitors to your website to convert, give us a call!  We are happy to help.