5 Simple Ways to Increase Conversion

Jackie Remus is a conversion & optimization expert. She has helped companies like Live Nation/ TicketMaster, House of Blues, Edmunds, Shopzilla, BizRate and others achieve increases in conversion of up to %1,600.

The goal of any website is to encourage your visitor to take action.  That action might be engaging with content,  filling out a form, purchasing something or clicking on an ad.  Obvious, right? But often when I work with new clients, I discover that they have forgotten this simple fact.  In their enthusiasm to educate their audience, explain the features of their product or show off their new beautiful marketing strategy, they forget to focus on encouraging visitors to take action.

Increasing conversion on your site isn’t difficult, but it does require a willingness to experiment and a consistent focus on the action you want your visitor to take.

Here are 5 simple ways your can increase conversion on your website.

1.Get clear on your goals

Every page on your website should have a singular goal. Go through each page on your site and ask yourself and your team: what is the most important thing  we want the user to do on this page? There should be only one answer!  

Think of this as a focusing exercise: if your user could only click on one thing on your page, what do you want it to be?

If there are links, buttons or text on the page that don’t support that goal, ask yourself whether they can be eliminated.  The fewer extraneous links you have on a page, the better that page will convert.

2. Match your primary Call to Action to your #1 goal

Review your page and ask yourself, “Is the most prominent Call to Action aligned with my #1 goal for the page? Am I asking customers to click where it matters?”

If not, take steps to get these in alignment.  The biggest button, image or link on your page should always move customers towards your goal.

3. Move your Call to Action Above the Fold

It’s so simple: if the customer can’t see your Call to Action, they won’t click on it.  Yes, some customers will scroll and may eventually find a Call to Action hidden below the fold.  But why make them work that hard?  My clients have seen 600%+ increases in conversion simply by moving their primary Call to Action to a more prominent spot on the page.  What would a 600+% increase in conversion mean to your company?  

4. Try Different Text

What is the best text for your Call to Action? It depends on you, your products, your customers and your goals.

Traditional Calls to Action such as Act Now or Click Here work across the board, but there are probably words that will perform better for your specific audience.  

How do you figure out what those words are?  Get to know your audience. Pick up the phone and talk to them.  Read the news that they read.  Listen to the language that they use. What are their “trigger words”, words that spark excitement or fear in their hearts? Incorporate those trigger words into your Call to Action.  

“Save Money Now” might perform much better than “Click Here”  when you’re speaking to cash-strapped college kids, but might not appeal to dotcom millionaires. It pays to test.

5. Eliminate Dead Ends

Always remember to give your customer a next step.  Even if they’ve just completed your checkout process and their order is on its way, find some way to reengage them in your site.  In fact, studies show that customers are more likely to buy a 2nd product from your store right after they purchased their first product! Take advantage of their interest by always giving customers an opportunity to engage with you again.  

There are dozens of ways to increase conversion on your website, but these are a few tried-and-true favorites. My clients have seen huge gains in implementing just one or two of these tactics.

Want to find out how I can help your company increase conversion?  Connect with me on LinkedIn to set up a quick call to discuss your conversion strategy.