Today, many people are optimizing their websites to ensure that they reach their maximum ranking on the leading search engines. In general, this is a great idea and your website should be updated regularly. However, keep in mind that you are trying to attract consumers online, so your website should also be optimized for people and lead conversions. Optimizing your website is easy and can increase your conversion rate.
Guide Your Visitors
Before you start making any changes to your website, think about your visitors. How do your visitors view your website? You want to make sure that they are given the right information that they need to navigate through your website. Make sure that important information like contact information is visible and in front of your visitor’s face. Start making the right changes that will guide your visitors through your desired path.
Providing graphics, hyperlinks, and short forms on each of your pages can bring your visitors one step closer to where you want them to be. Make sure that any questionnaire that you place on your website is short and to the point. The less time your visitor spends providing you information, the better. Your visitors will be more likely to provide you with their name and email, than to fill out long forms that could take more than a minute.
As always, make sure that your content and imagery are interesting and compelling to your visitors. This is vital to your selling point, and it is your window of opportunity to gain your visitor’s interest long enough that they will stay longer on your website.
Compelling Landing Pages
Provide eye catching and amazing imagery that will attract your visitor. It is a proven fact that having great images and videos on websites can influence the way people feel about the website that they have just landed on.
Keep your visitors happy and entertained by providing:
- Entertaining content that is short and to the point
- Offering minimum choices to navigate through the website
- Proper imagery that gives an idea of what you sell or provide
Most importantly, do not let your visitor get lost on your website. Think about the way you naturally navigate through a website when you are searching for a product or service. Keep in mind how you might feel if you landed on a website that provided you 30 different ways to get to the next page. Keep it simple and to the point on every page. There should be no more than 8 links to other pages, and your content should not be overwhelming. Remember, people in general do not want to spend more than 5 minutes reading and trying to figure out how to get to the next page.
Offer Trust
Most people are generally scared to purchase or provide their information online. They feel that the information that they will provide could lead to identity theft, etc. Make your visitors feel at ease when they land on your website.
Provide your visitors with visual assurances like:
- Security buttons; these have been proven to increase conversion rates
- Testimonials of current and past visitors
- A company image or profile picture
The more your visitor feels at home, the better. Provide them with the proper security that they need and you are home free. About 1/3 of consumers will not shop online, and that is still a significant number of people. Then, you have those who only shop online at websites that they trust. Building trust for your website is a key factor to gaining more business from the people you seek.
Test Your Website
Once you make a change on your site, make sure that it works, and that it is being perceived properly. Make an A/B test and find out which changes better appeal to your targeted audience. Knowing your visitors can help you create the ideal landing page. Testing your website and its changes can be boring, but it is important, and will prove to be a worthwhile time investment.
Consciously changing and optimizing your website is very smart and an important step to make when considering maximizing your conversion rates. Having a well-optimized website for search and conversions can transform the way you do business. Get your website noticed, and create the ideal landing page with your targeted audience in mind.