Optimizing for website conversions is arguably one of the most important things you can do to ensure that your website is working for you. 

Check out last week’s article on the 3 Essential Components to a Successful Lead Generating Website.

If you haven’t read our last article on conversion optimization, let’s recap on what a “website conversion” actually is…

A website conversion occurs when a visitor on your website completes a desired action that you want them to take such as filling out a form or making a purchase. The percentage of the total visitors on your website that converts is commonly referred to as your conversion rate. 

Essentially, as business owners, conversions are the number one thing we want to take place on our websites. They are what bring us in potential clients and customers. 

Quality website conversion is something that doesn’t really happen by happy accident. It takes a lot of trial and error with consistent modification over time. In the marketing world, we call this Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO). When optimizing the conversion rate, this could mean a series of A/B landing page tests to copy, placement, color schemes and creative. 

We all know that like everything else, trends, audience behavior, changes, and updates online continuously change over time, making online strategy a bit of a moving target! So like anything else in the business world, you have to make sure you are adapting and optimizing for these changes. 

So, how’s your website performing for you? Do you get a lot of leads from it online? If you’re not quite where you want to be, the first things you need to do is ask yourself…

1) Is the action I desire my website visitors to take clear? 

2) Does my website have obvious headlines that clearly present my value proposition?

3) Have I tested this landing page against other versions to see what performs better? 

Make Sure The Action You Want Your Visitors to Take is Crystal Clear

What do you want your visitor to do when they arrive at your homepage or landing page? 

Sign up for an email list, download a free giveaway, request a quote, give you a call? 

The first step to understanding why your website is not converting visitors is first to ask yourself… “is my call to action clear?”

When it comes to homepages or landing pages, the simpler the better. Neil Patel suggests a quick and easy call to action clarity test, “Run through your site right now just like a new, organic visitor would do if they were landing on your site for the first time.” 

When looking from this new perspective, are you encouraged to take action? If so, does it align with your objective?

Can you clearly pinpoint your call to action? If not, it may be time to reevaluate what you have going on and address it from a visitor’s point of view. Too many options can confuse visitors, causing them to leave your site prematurely. 

Again, Neil Patel puts it this way, “If you want more conversions on your homepage, you need to simplify the user journey on your site by reducing the number of CTAs.”

By doing this, you are also guiding visitors to the page and outcome you ultimately want. 

Once you get clear on your desired outcome, simplify your call to action. Visitors will be more likely to convert into leads once they know what it is you’d like them to do!

Create High-Powered Headlines That Present Your Value Proposition

So, if you take anything away from what we’ve talked about already, it should be that calls to action are imperative to successful conversions. Once you are able to narrow your focus and determine the desired outcome and single call to action, your next step will be to articulate that to your visitors in a simplified fashion. A good way to do this is through great headlines. 

A good rule of thumb is to have a clear headline that presents the value that you are providing to your visitor. 

Here are a few examples:

• “Sign up for our email list and save –% off your purchase!”
• “Try us, you love us – 30 Day Free Trial”
• “Get a Free Quote Now”

If you’ve spent any amount of time online, you’ve likely encountered many calls to action like the ones above and not even realized it. However, with a closer look you will notice that they all clearly articulate a value proposition. 

So, do your headlines stand out and clearly state your value proposition? Why should the visitors on your website choose you over your competitor? What’s in it for them? 

Keep in mind that even soon after you update your headline to something you think more clearly presents your value proposition, don’t turn your head yet. Just because something works for one website visitor, doesn’t mean it will work across the board. A/B testing is still highly recommended amongst marketing professionals to truly tailor your CTA to your audience and optimize your results. 

Optimize Through A/B Testing

So, now you know what you want your visitors to do once they arrive at your site. You’ve clearly stated it in your headlines and you’ve made your call to action clear and simplified to only one action. But how do you get more people to actually follow through with the actions you want them to take on your website?!

As Entrepreneur notes, A/B testing is a preferred solution to this issue. “You no longer have to make your best guess at what will resonate with and convert customers; you can test your way to real-time, actionable results.”

A/B testing is when you test different versions of the same or very similar information in different ways to see which one performs better and resonates better with your audience. For example, you may test round versus square buttons or grey versus blue buttons on a landing page and see which option gets better results. This method can be especially helpful in drafting your new headlines. 

You would be surprised. The tiniest tweaks can make a major impact on your conversion rate!

These tips can get you on the right track toward converting more customers today, but there are many other techniques you can implement as well. If you have specific questions concerning conversion, please reach out! We would love to work with you!