Practical Tips for Converting Visitors into Customers Marketing Articles | August 29 Clayton Thorson Eagles Jersey , 2006 Persuasive Online Copy Writing Many websites today write their web site copy as if they are trying to address a stadium full of customers. The problem with this approach is that the message becomes ...
Persuasive Online Copy Writing
Many websites today write their web site copy as if they are trying to address a stadium full of customers. The problem with this approach is that the message becomes diluted and confusing. Instead, pick one customer, perhaps someone you know and write the copy as if you are targeting just him or her. American Novelist, John Steinbeck, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 states ?your audience is one single reader; and I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person - a real person you know Shareef Miller Eagles Jersey , or an imagined person - and write to that one?. Literature is no different than writing website copy. In fact, with practice, this becomes really easy to do.
Know Your Metrics
It is highly recommended that you set measurable benchmarks and identify conversion goals based on current web site traffic. A conversion can be a sale, or a form submission; basically, whatever action you want the customer to take when they arrive at your website. This can be easily done with web analytics software (like Omniture JJ Arcega-Whiteside Eagles Jersey , Website Story or Google Analytics) with features that track the following:
User behavior - where visitors click, how long do they stay on any given page etc. What pages are customers abandoning the site ROIROAS Revenue tracking per conversion for all our campaigns Real time reporting.
Improve Your Navigation
There is nothing that irritates me more than not being able to find the navigation when I get to a web page. Ease of navigation on a website is a very important part of converting visitors into customers. If visitors to your site don't know where to click to find what they are looking for, they will abandon your site in the blink of an eye. I do it all the time.
The most common place for your navigation is on the left side andor the top of the page. There have been several studies that show an increase in conversions when the navigation is one of these two places. Take a moment to look at online retailers like eBay, Dell, QVC Miles Sanders Eagles Jersey , HP and Amazon and see if you can find any similarities.
In addition, navigation should be consistent on each page. Most retailers are already facing huge abandon rates and inconsistent navigation will increase the chances of visitors dropping off. Studying drop-off data indicates that would be customers visiting your site lose the relevant message of what put them there in the first place.
Further evidence was provided on March 8, 2004 - Onestat reported that 9.52% of visitors abandon a website after viewing one page; 54.60% of visitors abandon a website after viewing two pages and 15.56% of visitors abandon after viewing three pages or more (based on a sample size of 2 million visitors). This data illustrates the importance of having consistent navigation on every page of your website.
Call to Action
The idea here is to reinforce (or validate) the purchase decision while the visitor is going through the check-out process. You can communicate anything that is unique about your product or service, whether it is a customer testimonial, a new promotional offer; or perhaps the services that you offer that differentiate you from your competitors like 247 customer service Andre Dillard Eagles Jersey , 30 Day Money Back Guarantee, etc. This helps build credibility, reassures customers that they are making the right decision; and most importantly, decreases shopping cart abandonment and buyers remorse.
It?s also good practice to strategically place your phone number on every page. Believe it or not, there are still millions of people out there that are not comfortable with submitting their credit card over the phone. Additionally DeSean Jackson Eagles Jersey , some people also prefer to talk to a live sales person.
Reduce Download Speed
Lose the flash. Not everyone has a fast Internet connection. There is data our there that shows that the majority of visitors will only wait 3 - 5 seconds for a home page to load up before clicking elsewhere. Again, take a look at the top online retailers and you will notice that they don?t have flash at all. E-marketer reported that 84% of website visitors abandon a site if the page load time reaches 10 seconds. I, personally won?t wait longer than 1 or 2 seconds, but that?s just me.
Substance over Style
Although a nice web site design is attractive to look at, it?s not what drives sales. Take a look 1800 Flowers Dallas Goedert Eagles Jersey , Dell, QVC, HP and Amazon and you will notice that their sites aren?t the most attractive, yet they are the online retail leaders. What makes these sites unique is they provide tons of relevant content, easy navigation Carson Wentz Eagles Jersey , and a quickeasy check out process.
Recapture Lost Sales
If possible, track users who abandon the check out process, and target them with a different offer, or at least get their feedback as to why they abandoned the site. You will never know unless you ask.
Content
Content is king; we?ve all heard that before, right?. A web page can do only one of two things: either it contains the content the visitors want or it contains the links to get them to where they want to go. If a page doesn't follow this basic rule Brian Dawkins Eagles Jersey , the visitors stop clicking. And that?s not a good thing.