Before you make a sale or get a visitor to sign up for your email newsletter, you have to peak their interest. The easiest way to do this is by attracting visitors already interested in what you have to offer. There’s an old saying in marketing: “If you sell to everyone, you sell to no one.” Instead of creating a general web site that attracts many types of visitors, focus on creating a web site that consistently generates sales from one group of people or one that helps you build a solid, profitable mailing list – that’s the only way you will make money regularly.
Basic Principles of Conversion Rate Optimisation
CRO encompasses many elements of a web site. Basic principles include:
• Easy site navigation
• Defined Calls to Action (what you expect visitors to do when browsing your site – buy a product, sign up to receive additional info, call customer service, etc.)
• Clearly defined products and services – explain how yours are better than the competitions
If you’re not sure how to start implementing these conversion rate optimisation principles, begin by reviewing your web site.
• How many clicks does it take for visitors to reach your first call to action?
• Can you eliminate any pages that are unnecessary without confusing visitors?
• Do you need to add pages to make what you’re selling clear?
Once you’ve solved any web site navigation issues, move on to defining calls to action.
• What do you want visitors to do when they browse your site?
• Do you need to add buttons, instructions, banners, or other items to make calls to action clear?
• Is it easy for visitors to complete calls to action? For example, is your order form simple to complete or does it require lots of extra information not needed to process the order?
What does your homepage say about your products/services? Does the homepage clearly outline what you’re offering to visitors? If not, visitors will leave quickly.
How to Find the Right Customers
The right customers are those looking specifically for what you have to offer. Along with creating a homepage that clearly states what your business sells, use keywords and phrases throughout your site to get noticed in search engines.
Another way to get noticed by the right customers is by linking your site to other sites that cater to the same customer base. You can do this by engaging in social media, blogging, swapping links with other businesses, writing and publishing articles, leaving comments on forums, and through search engine ads.
Once you start attracting the right customers, you can really start using CRO to fine tune and refine your site. Using web site analytics, you can track how traffic moves through the site and make changes to it accordingly to ensure more visitors complete your calls to action.