5 Conversion Rate Optimization Principles to Consider

5 Conversion Rate Optimization Principles to Consider image traffic no text.280by280.png

December 18, 2014

 

 

Are you getting lots of traffic from SEO, PPC ads and content marketing, but not getting the conversions you hoped for? If so, it’s time to shift the focus from getting traffic to getting conversions from the same traffic. Here’s how:

1. Earn Visitors’ Trust

Your visitors want to trust you but you have to give them ample social proof and evidence of credibility.

For example, add the following to your site:

  • Testimonials (text and video): Reviews of your business as well as individual products and services left at your website, in email, Yelp, Facebook page, etc. Google Reviews should not be ignored either.
  • Logos of companies you have worked with
  • Mentions of any relevant certifications, awards etc you have received
  • If you are an e-commerce vendor, set up SSL certificate at your site and put up an SSL seal/badge at the website (especially check out page)

2. Strike Up a Conversation!

Virgin Atlantic reported 3 times more conversions from customers who used live chat than customers who didn’t. The average order value for customers using live chat was also 15% more.

Some tips about chat:

  • Video Chat: Many consider this as it is surely the next big thing in chat support.
  • Be Proactive: Utilize popups that proactively invite customers for live chat.
  • Read More, Type Less: An online chat interaction should not just help you get that sale; it can help you unearth the issues faced by the customer while being on your website. But you can’t do that if you type more than you read.

Here’s a helpful review of Top 7 Live Chat Software Solutions. Other avenues for conversations with prospective clients are your social media pages, relevant discussion forums, like LinkedIn, Facebook groups, Quora, etc.

3. Offer Free Relevant Takeaways in Customized Pop-Ups

Ian Cleary, founder of social media company RazorSocial.com, revealed that their site’s conversion rate jumped from 3% to 7-10% when they started creating pop-ups for individual blog posts, and customizing the popup so that it offered “a summary of the post in the form of a checklist for anyone who subscribed.”

But aren’t pop-ups bad? Relevant pop-ups, if implemented well, can increase conversions substantially apart from providing additional value. Here is a good explanation of this interesting phenomenon.

4. Make (Most) Things Quick-n-Easy

Visitors should be able to navigate, search, read and buy on your website as easily and quickly as possible.

Things you can do to optimize the process:

It should be noted that this principle may not apply to things like:

5. Believe Nothing; Test Everything

Why?

  • What you think is the best color or the CTA is just your opinion. You may turn out to be completely wrong
  • Any tips or principles (including the above ones) might work in one industry but fail in another

Hence, spend time on:

  • Rigorous testing (irrespective of your gut feeling or your grandma’s instinct)
  • Measuring and analyzing the results
  • Re-strategizing

If you’re using WordPress, I recommend OptinMonster (a WordPress plugin) to do loads of A/B testing. Other tests include Multivariate Testing and Usability Testing which are discussed in this article on how to improve conversion rates.


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