Your website is your shop window, display cabinet AND your checkout desk. It needs to entice potential customers through the door, present your goods or services in a way that elicits them to head to the checkout counter and then make the actual process of buying easy and seamless. That’s a lot of functions, the ultimate multi-tasker some might say!
A website conversion might seem like a quick transaction, but in reality, a lot can happen in the space of a few minutes that can turn a motivated customer into an abandoned cart. This doesn’t just apply to consumer goods either, it’s equally applicable to B2B companies that need a lead to enquire, so they can capture their data and follow up pronto (the quicker they do this, the more likely a lead will convert).
Let’s go over five steps you can take to ensure your website is primed to increase conversions.
Step 1
Calls-to-action (CTA) are prompts that facilitate the user to act in some way (did the name give it away?), whether it’s entering their email address or heading to the checkout cart. An effective CTA should be relevant to the target audience and support the business’s customer journey. For example, if you’re a wholesale hydraulics manufacturer with an online store, the last thing you want to do is divert a potential customer away from the checkout cart by asking them to leave a review.
CTAs also need to be clear, concise and communicate a sense of urgency. Examples of popular CTAs include ‘Get 20% off your first order now’, ‘Enquire now’, ‘Add to your cart’ and ‘Try a 14-day trial now!’. You also want them to be eye-catching, by using contrasting colours and bold fonts that draw the user’s eye. From a location perspective, make sure the CTA button isn’t impacting user experience, by being in the middle of text or diverting the user to a broken or incorrect link.
Step 2
Optimise the actual content that is on your website, so that users enjoy browsing it and spend time there. Not only will this result in higher repeat purchases, but it will inform search engines like Google that your website is trustworthy and improve your search engine ranking, which in turn increases website traffic. Content marketing is a discipline we’ve already discussed here in detail, but in general you should be producing content that is relevant, insightful and enjoyable to consume. Examples of good website content include infographics, how-to blogs and videos.
Step 3
Testimonials and reviews are still one of the most highly regarded and trusted marketing tools at a company’s disposal. As a business you should be encouraging customers to leave reviews after they’ve purchased or subscribed to a service, so that you can repurpose that content for your website (and other marketing channels!). You can even go a step further and commission video testimonials of happy customers talking about your business, to then host on your website. What’s important here is that you address what your target audience’s main pain-point is, or in other words, what does your product/service solve for them? Don’t forget the testimonials purpose is to persuade a website user to buy what you’re selling, so ensure they address the pain-point quickly (first 30 seconds) and are representative of your target audience – if we relate, we take the bait!
Step 4
If we go back to the shop analogy, we should be able to agree that there’s nothing more annoying than entering a store and not having a clue where to find the item you want because the area is disorganised and confusing.
There’s a reason supermarkets are designed in grids with large signposts! The same is true for your website. If a user is struggling to navigate it because there’s fifty tabs to choose from and the signage isn’t clear and links are diverting them all over the place, you can guarantee they will browse that site for all of 45 seconds before going back to the search engine. Make sure your website is clearly laid out, with a logical roadmap that ultimately directs the user to the conversion target e.g. a contact page or the checkout.
As well as considering the layout, consider the functionality of your website. Avoid annoying pop-ups that stop the user from consuming the content they’ve selected. Make sure it’s optimised for mobile in case they’re not viewing it on a PC or laptop screen. Make sure you’ve used text that is readable, both in terms of font and colour. These might seem like obvious instructions, but it’s usually the simple elements that let a website down.
Step 5
Finally, it’s time to discuss the conversion target. Say you’ve done steps 1-4 perfectly, and your potential customer has landed on the ‘enquire now’ page of your website, but when they’ve gone to enter their details and request a callback, the button doesn’t work. They hit ‘refresh’ and enter all 15 entries of their personal details in again, only for the same thing to happen. This coupled with the lack of contact support on the page, leaves the would-be customer reeling, and off they pop to your competitor’s website.
It is essential that your conversion page (I’m purposefully not calling it a checkout page because not all businesses have one) is functioning and easy to fulfil. You can add features like ‘autofill’ to help the user save time or simply ask them to leave their name and phone number to request a callback, instead of extensive details like their address, because at this stage do you really need to know where they’re based? The conversion page is all about the customer and how you can make life as easy as possible for them, so that there’s no reason for them to back out.
These 5 steps are simplified, and there are a host of other tools you can implement to increase conversions such as heatmap analysis, email marketing and personalisation, if you have the time and resources of course. In general, you should see conversion improvements if you ensure your website is a) functioning b) enjoyable/insightful to your audience and c) easy to navigate and buy from. If you’re still looking for additional B2B marketing support, please don’t hesitate to get in touch here.
