A few years ago, US retail sales on the Internet topped $300 billion for the first time, according to Internet Retailer. Today worldwide, we have reached over $4.2 trillion. So if you're having trouble converting website visitors into sales, you're missing out. But before your visitors can convert, you have to get them to stay on your site. Business 2 Community notes that you generally have less than 10 seconds to convince a visitor to stay on your website. So building your site to optimize conversions can mean the difference between staying in business or closing shop. The good news is that in most cases the fixes are easy. Here are three suggestions for getting the most from your customers.
1. Make Your CTAs Specific
To convert a visitor to a customer, your site must have clear paths that channel users to your goal. Whether this means filling out a contact form, downloading content or a buying from a shopping cart, your landing page should be 100 percent focused on guiding your visitors on this path using a specific call-to-action (CTA). An effective CTA catches the customer's eye and makes it clear what the next step should be. Top converting landing pages offer a clear value proposition that puts the company's purpose and product or service up front. Business 2 Community notes that it's important to include an overt request for action, like signing up for a trial, learning more or purchasing. Websites that make it easy for visitors to take action have the most success converting to sales. As a general rule, if your CTA doesn't stand out clearly on the page, there's room for improvement.
2. Test Your Designs
Just because you think your site is gorgeous and your benefits obvious does not necessarily mean you are sending the right message to customers. The only way to know what works for your company is through testing. Business 2 Community recommends regular A/B testing of two versions of your design to help you define what is effective in a quantitative way. Test various colors, wording and size, as well as placement of CTAs. Then measure important factors like which version has the lowest bounce rate and the highest click-through rate. Determine which version sees more users clicking on the links you want clicked. Also find out how far visitors are scrolling down the page in each version. Use this information to refine your marketing message and create the best possible design of your website to you reach your goals.
3. Increase Your Mobile Click-Through Rate
Responsive design helps you keep mobile traffic that may otherwise bounce if your site isn't optimized for mobile. When you design for different devices, you're taking your customer service to the next level and ensuring your customers have a great experience regardless of which device they use to visit your site. But you can do more than be responsive to various screen sizes when maximizing your mobile success. Consider including a click-to-call button directly in your business's search results. According to Google's Inside AdWords, 70 percent of mobile searchers have called a business directly from search ads. And iPad-friendly swipe buttons can also improve your users' mobile experience.
Think through where and how your customers are already finding you, so you can provide the best CTA for converting website visitors into sales. You have 10 seconds to win them over—use these tips to make sure it's a success.
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