Conversion Rates are Slipping - How Can Your Company Turn Visitors into Customers?

Conversions are bread and butter for companies - e-commerce and otherwise - that own a website. It's all very well and good getting thousands of unique visitors to your website every week, but if they're all clicking the 'close' button within seconds of landing on your site, what value is all that traffic bringing you?

Now, in case you don't know what a conversion is, here's a little definition: A conversion is an action, which, for example, could be a purchase, a request for more information or the submission of a form, taken by a casual visitor to a website.

That means that the conversion rate is the ratio of visitors who carry out these desired actions. This translates to return on investment (ROI), as conversions can be either sales or sales leads, which obviously bring the money in.

And that means that conversions are clearly extremely important!

However, according to statistics from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, online conversion rates in the UK have fallen by 55% over the past five years. In 2006, retailers in the index had a total conversion rate of 8.4%, but today it stands at 3.8%.

Obviously, one of the main reasons for this is because e-commerce has risen in popularity by epic proportions. With so many more people using the internet to shop, it is logical that the total conversion rate will drop.

But IMRG says it's not just the increase in traffic that has skewed the figures - it has noticed a change in consumer behaviour too, with more people using the internet to compare prices and products before purchasing.

So what can you do to improve the conversion rate of your website?

5 Simple Tips for Improving Your Conversion Rates

•    Calls to action - Direct your visitors by adding clear calls to action on the page and in the copy (one at the start and one at the end of the content is advisable). A call to action is a request for the visitor to do something, which could be to contact the firm, fill in a form or purchase a product.

•    Easy-to-find, easy-to-use contact forms - It might seem obvious, but you'd be amazed how difficult some websites make it to contact the business in question. Offer the visitor a number of different ways to get in touch, and keep the number of fields to complete to a minimum. People can get bored and decide to give up if they are asked to give a huge amount of information about themselves in the hope of having their enquiry answered.

•    High quality, simple copy - Don't alienate your visitors by waffling on with content full of technical jargon. Web users will jump ship to a competitor's site if you don't accommodate them. Keep the copy simple and hold their attention by clearly stating the services you offer and their benefits. And don't give them an excuse to distrust you - carefully check your copy for typos.

•    Headings - Make your copy easily scannable for visitors (and search engines) by including headings and sub-headings on your pages. Web users typically have short attention spans while browsing, so if they can't find the information they are looking for quickly, they will leave the site and go elsewhere.

•    Communicate your USP - Your unique selling point (USP) is extremely important. It is what sets you apart from your competition and gives visitors a reason to invest in your services, rather than someone else's. Make sure you communicate your USP clearly whenever you can. A retailer guaranteeing delivery before a certain timeframe could be a USP, as could a law firm guaranteeing home visits.

Contact I-COM for More Information on Improving Conversion Rates

If you want to take advantage of I-COM's online marketing expertise and improve the number of visitors that become customers, get in touch with the team today. Call 0844 704 6830 or send us an email.