16 June 2010
There is certainly a lot of buzz around at the minute regarding conversion rate optimisation and it's benefits. The outlining principle of this is basically to convert more of the traffic you are already receiving to your website. This is absolutely a must for any website owner as there is no point in increasing your web traffic if your conversion rate is poor. Yes you will get more orders or sales than before because of the increased traffic but you would have had to work a lot harder for these sales.

There are a few basic points you should consider when trying to improve your conversion rate and there are many articles that go into the subject in much greater detail but I will outline here some simple changes that anybody can make that will improve conversions. To really improve your conversion rate you need to be prepared to test everything you can.

Single Layout Websites

Have a clear conversion path for your visitors don’t present them with two much information. If they have lots to look at and lead them away from your goal you will lose some of your visitors.

Eye line is buy line

Such an old saying but still applies today. The fold as it’s sometimes described always falls under much debate but it makes sense to have your best features at the top of your page. Users generally look at the top left hand corner of a website then move over to the right then down and to the left so make sure all your important information is in these areas. Although the fold isn’t as important as it once was, it is a fact that you will lose some visitors because they refuse to scroll so you need to combat this by following the above.

Testimonials

People like to be reassured, so get as many testimonials on your landing page as possible. It’s always nice to hear how good a company is from somebody who isn’t directly involved with it. Dress them up as nicely as possible and ensure they are in plain view for all to see.

Recommendations

If you are a member of any authorities in your field or have won any awards for your products or services then get these badges on the site too. It makes people feel that you are a legitimate trusted website and they are more likely to convert with somebody that is trusted.

Prices

This isn’t always possible dependant on your product or service but people like to know prices. Where you can, try to display the price of your product and if you can make a point of also advertising any otherwise hidden extras such as delivery and VAT.

Call to action

Your buy now button is probably the most important button on the whole page so make sure it is visible and try and get it on the page as often as possible. Only when it makes sense though. Have one next to your price and within your content.

The art of conversion rate optimisation is fast becoming as big as SEO itself and we could continue to go on and on about how to best implement it, however to fully get into it, like I said at the beginning: you need to do a lot of testing of various elements of your WebPages using tools such as website optimizer, Crazy Egg etc all of which are available through quick Google searches. Happy optimising.