As a business owner with a beautiful website you’re proud of—especially in today’s digital world, which is increasingly filled with junk—there’s no doubt you think about the number of people seeing your awesome site. You’ve probably even asked yourself, “How can I get more people to my website?” This is an awesome question to ask, but in your quest to get more traffic, don’t forget about your website’s conversion rate.
A lot of business owners get caught up in SEO and how well their website ranks and how much traffic it generates when, in fact, their ultimate goal should be to get more conversions! Yes, we have a lot of blog posts on conversion rate optimization—including how ranking doesn’t mean anything if you can’t convert—but we haven’t really discussed the basics in more detail on how to improve website conversation rate.
Today, I’m going to change that, so grab a notebook and pen because we’re going back to school (relax, it won’t be nearly as bad as that dreaded eleventh grade chemistry class)! In this post, I’m going to walk you through 4 (really) easy ways to improve your website’s conversion rate.
Here we go…
Basic Ways to Improve Website Conversion Rate
When I say basic, I mean basic. I’m talking extremely easy ways to increase your website conversion rate. Depending on your industry, some of my recommendations may not apply or work, but they’re almost certainly worth testing—which is a keyword when it comes to conversion rate optimization. Even if my recommendations fail to improve your conversion rate, they may actually end up improving your website in other ways. After all, one of the biggest web mistakes you can make if you’re trying to expand your online presence is having a website that is missing the basics (which I’ll discuss in more details below).
So, what do “the basics” include?
Contact Form
A few years ago, no one had contact forms on sub-pages of their website. If you wanted to contact a company, you had to visit the ‘Contact Us’ page. What were we all thinking? If you don’t already have contact forms on nearly every page of your website, smack yourself and then call us (how hard you smack yourself is up to you!).
Most of you reading this probably already have a contact form on multiple pages of your website. Good, great, awesome, but when is the last time you actually read the heading on your contact form? Ah, yes…basic but important! A lot of contact forms just say “Contact Us.” ::Shudders:: Talk about generic and unenticing! Note: As I wrote this post, I didn’t fail to notice that we’re guilty of this mistake (hey BC Web Team – when you get a break from client work, we need a little love on our own website!!).
Be more specific and engaging and users will respond better. Delete that “contact us” and turn it into “get a quote,” “schedule an appointment,” or something more specific, whatever is relevant to your business.
Not only does the second contact form have a (generally) better call-to-action, but it also asks a question, which is more engaging and user-friendly!
Phone Number
Alright, I know this one seems like an eye roll, but I see a lot of websites with numbers that don’t STAND OUT. I hope your site doesn’t look like this:
No, you’re not missing anything. Where is the phone number on this website?!? BTW—If you own a local home service company (flooring, HVAC, plumbing, remodeling, roofing, etc.) and you’re not tracking phone calls as conversions, you’re missing more than half the picture of your website’s performance (to double your web leads, you have to know your numbers). If you’re trying to increase your website conversion rate without proper tracking, well, as my boss cleverly put it, you’re “bowling blindfolded.”
You won’t see which methods are helping you reach your goals and which ones aren’t working and are a waste of time! Website and phone call tracking are a must. Don’t think you just need website tracking if you’re trying to improve web leads—many people find your website and then go to call you rather than contact you online (nope, making phone calls isn’t quite obsolete yet, even with the insane amount of emailing, texting, etc.).
Local SEO
Many homeowners are more likely to choose contractors who are close by—particularly for services that require immediate action, like plumbing and HVAC. If your AC has broken down in the middle of a hot day, you’re not going to call the company who is 30 minutes away—you’ll go with the one who is 10 minutes away. This is where local SEO comes into play! If your business isn’t listed on the Google Maps, you need to look into that ASAP! And, yup, you guessed it—we have a blog post on how to improve local SEO that is worth checking out. This is a win win—it can improve your rankings and increases the chance that people will contact you (especially plumber, HVAC contractors, electricians, etc.).
Authority
Becoming an authority in your market is also essential if you want to improve your website conversion rate, and there are three great (and easy) ways to increase the authority of your company right on your website: adding photos, a blog, and customer testimonials!
Photos: Having pictures of your staff, trucks, and/or building makes your company seem more legitimate and increases trust. A good portfolio is especially important for photo-centric companies like home remodelers, kitchen designers, and landscaping contractors.
Blog: There’s not much to say about blogging other than if you’re not currently doing it, you’re missing out on a HUGE opportunity to not only rank better and generate more website traffic but to stand out as an authority in your industry and create trust, which ultimately, helps you convert better.
Testimonials: Kind of like photos, testimonials provide “proof” of your great services, which makes you seem more like an authority and creates trust, which increases the chances of prospective clients contacting you!
Take a look at the screenshot below:
This is a custom design-build company’s top ten pages with the most views, filtered in Google Analytics by “visits with conversions.” Out of the 449 views of the top 20 pages, the portfolio, blog, and testimonial pages make up 290. That’s 65%! Does this prove that people converted after looking at the gallery or reading a blog post? Not necessarily, but work with me here—you (hopefully) get the idea.
Start Optimizing!
Although that’s a lot you just read and it may seem daunting, these changes aren’t all that hard to make! Will making all these changes guarantee a higher conversion rate? Hopefully you already know the answer—when it comes to SEO and content marketing, there are no absolute guarantees (and if a company is making guarantees, be skeptical!). But these things are definitely worth trying out (we’ve had success with them for many of our clients, anyway). And one thing is guaranteed—they’ll make your website a lot better than it is now! At the very least, this got you thinking more seriously about what is truly important and should be your ultimate online marketing goal—converting. A website can get a s*** ton of traffic, but all that traffic means NOTHING if the visitors don’t convert.
You’ll get never-before-seen insights into your website’s performance and actionable recommendations to get more traffic and convert more visitors into leads and sales. We’ll illustrate the most cost-effective opportunities to get more qualified visitors to your site, show you where/why visitors are leaving, and articulate strategies designed to increase visit-to-lead conversion rates.
Just can’t wait to make your website better? We can’t either—so contact us today!
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About The Author: Alanna is the Quality Assurance Manager in Blue Corona's Maryland office. When she's not triple-checking websites and content for errors and consistency, you can find her at the gym with her twin sister or urban exploring with her husband.
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