Website not converting? Try these 3 easy tips

Want to know how successful your website is as a marketing tool? You need to know its conversion success rate.

Conversions need to be the no. 1 focus for any online strategy, rather than just trying to get more traffic. Traffic doesn’t necessarily deliver results, conversions do.

Website conversions. Break em on down...

Simply put, a conversion is when a site visitor takes a specific action on your site.

The action can be anything from submitting a form, signing up for a newsletter, to buying a product, it all depends on who you're trying to convert.

If your website isn't taking full advantage of every conversion opportunity available, then your bottom line is bound to suffer. But fear not! We're here to help...

3 easy-peasy website conversion tips you can implement, PRONTO!

Create Enticing Headlines (not as boring as it sounds, please read on)

Visitors will almost always look at the headline before anything else, and since you only have a few seconds to catch their curiosity, you should definitely spend some time crafting an eye-catching headline that resonates with your audience.

Headlines are often overlooked, but they're an integral piece of an effective conversion funnel.

Whether your traffic is coming through search engines, paid ads or social media, you need to approach headline writing with questions like What am I trying to tell my visitors? What's the best way to say this in a headline that gets site visitors interested enough to read on?

A good headline should also include targeted keywords, but remember, you're trying to entice people, not machines, so make sure it reads correctly. Here’s some stellar ideas to help you come up with your own...

1. Be useful to readers - Please don’t send out your mumma’s recipe just for the sake of sending something out. Your readers are reading what you’ve written because they realise you know about stuff that they don’t know about. So share about that instead.
2. Create a sense of urgency - eg. ‘Top 3 tips to improve … right away’. A tried-&-tested way to get them reading on.
3. Make it interesting - eg. I could have written ‘Website conversions are essential for success’, but how boring is that? & would you have read any further?
4. Questions are great starters - eg. ‘Got this issue? Here’s how to fix it…’

Strategic Calls-to-Action

Calls-to-action are strategic ways to get a site visitor to take an action. Calls-to-action (CTA) can be anything from links in text to sign-up forms.

Here’s 2 easy steps to come up with some very clickable CTA’s

1. Take the time to think about what action you want site visitors to take on your site.
2. Then think about how to best word the CTA to get them to respond. Give it a sence of urgency, or offer an incentive to entice.

Here are a few CTA examples to give you some ideas.

• Change a restaurant order request button Place my order to Tastebud’s watering? Order now.
• Instead of Sign up now, get them to part with their details by enticing them with something of worth. Sign up and get your FREE how-to ... ebook. Or FREE … when you order this product now

CTA’s are a proven way to get more conversions on your website, so its worthwhile testing your CTA's to discover what works. This doesn’t need to be a huge time drain, these days there are complete marketing systems like HubSpot, that make this process simple, fast and measurable.

Create Simple Forms

The two conversion tips above help prepare your website's visitors to take action. Whatever action that may be, all of them need to submit a form so you can capture their details.

Here are a few tips for optimising your forms to improve conversions.

1. The more requirements a form has, the less opt-in's you’ll get. People like to get in, find what they're looking for and get out fast. Asking for information that is more than what you really need will hurt your conversions. Your forms should ask for the absolute bare minimum. If the form is for signing up to a newsletter, then just ask for their first name and email address. If the form requires more information, make sure each field is an absolute necessity.
2. It's always better to have your opt-in form above the fold, or in other words, where it can immediately be seen without requiring any scrolling down the page. Your opt-in forms are a key part of your entire online marketing strategy, and they should be located in a position of importance to ensure maximum conversions.
3. Every opt-in form comes with a button. Most include the generic "Submit" button. Step outside the box and try something different. Use compelling action words and terms like "Let’s Go!", "Start Now" or "Get Started." If you're in an industry where puns are everywhere, now's a good time to try one out.

Hopefully these three conversion tips shed some light on why you might be experiencing an abnormally low online conversion rate. If you're still stumped, feel free to get in touch.