Increase Your Website Conversions

8 TIPS TO MAKE THE SALE

So you branded your business, built a beautiful website, and rank number one in search engines…why won’t the phone ring? Simply put, it’s not enough. Since your business thrives on sales, here are 8 tips to help your website increase conversions:

Create a Mood

Imagery is very powerful in evoking emotions. Are you sending the right message with your images? Be sure to select photos that properly represent your business and are meaningful to your message.

Direct Sales Traffic

Many consumers become overwhelmed with the choices bombarding them online. Make the decision easy by highlighting the most popular or best buy. Your customers will ultimately choose what is right for them, but visually accenting a default option will help anyone who has difficulty making decisions.

Your Product

People are visual creatures so it’s not enough to talk at them with features and benefits. You have to SHOW how your product works, what results they produce and how doing business with you is beneficial. Make your clients envision using your products or services and you’re sure to win them over.

Get Them Hooked

Let people try your product for free. Once they see how much they need it they’ll keep coming back for more. You can do this by offering a free sample or have a demo area for web-based products or services.

Benefits, Not Features

AIDA describes the process that you need to take people through in order to make the sale: Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. Get their attention, build interest in your product, create a desire (make them need it). Finally, get them to act on your offer. Remember, everyone's favorite radio station is WIIFM -- What's In It For Me?

Guide Attention

What is the most important item on your web page? The rest of the page should be arranged to draw the user's attention to this item. You can accomplish this by placing items in a way that will carefully guide the user's eyes, through alignment, color, and subtle shapes like lines and arrows. And always remember, keep it above the fold -- don't make users scroll down to find the most important content.

Always Provide Next Actions

Always be thinking of what you want your visitors to do next. Don't make them have to look around for your check-out link or how to get to the next page. Create obvious next-action links that say things like "Ready to Order? Click here," "Shop now," or "Take the tour."

The Gutenberg Rule

The Gutenberg rule reinforces how we read in the western world: Left to right, top to bottom. Our gaze starts at the top left and ends at the bottom right. The main principle here is that the bottom left gets the least attention, and that our attention will end up in the bottom right. Buttons and calls to action should be in this bottom right quadrant, and the least important information should be in the bottom left.