Okay, so you’ve got your eCommerce store setup (yippee!), but the sales just aren’t coming in…

First of all, I just want to be clear, there is a big difference between people visiting your website and actual leads.  Leads are the ones who are actually willing to give you some form of information…

…those are the ones further down the funnel who we need to focus on, as leads lead to conversions (sales!).

Just imagine, of all the people who visit your website, how many of them are going to offer you some kind of information and show their interest?  And of THOSE how many are actually going to buy?

So, our biggest job after getting them to your website is turning them into leads, and then into paying customers.

Here are 10 quick fixes you can make to your website/landing pages which are guaranteed to increase conversions for you.

1. CTA – Make it Personal

Your visitors are a 202% more likely to click on a CTA button if the message contained is personalised for the actual action to be taken.

For example, rather than just writing “Apply now”, you could tailor this to read “Get my free eBook now” (assuming you are offering something of value in return for your visitors’ data).

2. Headlines – Get to the Point

Your headline is the first thing that should really grab your readers attention, so it’s your job to make sure it hooks your target audience straight away.

– Use their terminology

– How is your offer going to benefit them?

– What are you going to achieve?

The trick is to keep it short so that they don’t lose interest, but include those 3 bullet points, and you’re onto a winner.

A great free tool that I even use is the CoSchedule Headline Analyser which keeps a log of all of your variations, each with a score and suggestions of which wording can be improved.

3. Distractions – Get Rid of Them

On product/service landing pages, you want your audience to be drawn to the main 3 elements – headline, copy, and (to get the job done), CTA button.

The fewer distractions your visitor has, the better.

I’m not saying you should remove all navigation (they still need to be able to get around!) but make the main elements more prominent to guide your visitors’ eye there and reduce the chance of them leaving without converting or taking in the information you are providing.

A good practise is A/B testing – use more than 1 variation of the page, only changing one thing at a time.

For example, keep the same headline, copy and CTA button, but perhaps keep the top navigation on one, the right navigation on another, both on another and so on. 

When you have discovered the winning combination, you can proceed to A/B test other elements.  Keep competing against yourself and watch the figures rise.  You vs you!

A/B testing is a whole other subject which we won’t go into now.

Tracking is key here and I’m going on the assumption that your website has been fully configured for tracking with the platform of your choice.

4. Subheadings – Don’t Underestimate Them

As much as the main heading is super important, and subheading is your chance to back that up with any benefits or outcomes that you perhaps could not fit in the main heading.

The main thing to keep in mind is that your customer does not want to know what you are trying to sell, they want to know how it is going to benefit them personally.

Tailor it directly to your target audience and keep it simple.

5. Pop-Ups – Not Always Annoying

We all know it can be very off-putting to land on a website and immediately you have something pop up in the middle of what you are trying to read, but it doesn’t have to be this way.

Ensure that the pop up is going to benefit your visitor in some way, not just trying to sell or enrol them in your newsletter.

If it’s a product/service you’re trying to promote, then include a bonus, discount or gift.  If it’s subscription you’re looking for, then offer a discount once they subscribe.

There are also ways to defer the pop-ups so that they only appear e.g. after your visitor has already been on the page for 30 seconds, or if they have scrolled down the page and so are already engaged.

6. Whitespace – Don’t Be Scared of It

Sometimes it can be tempting to try to squeeze as much information as possible onto the “above the fold” content area – this means the part that actually shows before any scrolling.

This can be overwhelming for your visitor and put them off or cause them to miss important information.

Keep it simple and declutter that page.

Up to a 20% increase in conversion rate was found in some of these case-studies after adding white space between certain elements.

7. Photos – Stock vs LifeStyle

As a start-up or smaller company, it’s sometimes hard to justify spending the precious budget on a professional photographer, so stock photos seem like the only option.

Depending on your product or service, this could be thought of instead as an investment, and an important one at that.

In this study, a whopping 161% increase in conversions was found after changing from a stock image, to a real-life image of their students in action.

I think that would justify a photographer, do you?

8. Readability – Not as Obvious as you Think

A common mistake is to make descriptions too small on the page – this goes hand in hand with the white-space theory – squeeze as much in as possible!

The actual language used needs to be tailored for your target audience so that they can, first of all, understand it (not too much jargon, but not too simple – who are you writing for?).

Spelling!  You would not believe it, but many businesses fail to fully spell check their copy before posting.  If that wouldn’t put you off, I don’t know what would.

There are many online tools you can use for each of these:

– check spelling and grammar with Grammarly – this is also a Google Chrome add-on which checks as you type, or you can download the desktop app

– check actual readability, keyword stuffing and more with Copywritely, also a free tool

9. Social Proof – Word of Mouth Always Wins

Okay great so by now we have a fantastic product, landing page, headline, copy, images, CTA and more!

But, how does your customer know that this is true, that your product/service is actually as amazing as you are portraying it?

Reviews.

Ask for them if you don’t have them!  61% of online consumers read reviews before making a purchase.

Where you want to have these reviews is up to you – if you are working on Social Media, then there are plugins to automatically bring these into your site for you from Facebook.

There are also many trusted sites such as Trustpilot which you can link to your WooCommerce store for free.

Other options include to automatically send out an email after purchase to your customer asking for a review.  Offer a % discount off their next order to increase your chances of getting that review!

10. Reassurance – ‘Cos We All Need It Sometimes!

The final one on this list is often overlooked, but this does not mean that it is any less important.

If you have any of the following think about including them near your product or service:

– Money back guarantee

– Security Measures you in place

– Returns Policy

– Award-winning badges

– Any others specific to your industry (e.g. eco-friendly materials)

While you can put these in your product descriptions, your visitor is a lot more likely to notice them if they are visually there in front of their eyes.

Conclusion

There you have it, with just those few changes you will be able to make a huge difference in your lead generation and conversion rates.

Who said you needed a new website, hey!

If you’re not sure how to carry out any of these changes or would perhaps like help with some of the other parts, like setting up your tracking or undertaking A/B testing, please get in touch!

I’d be more than pleased to arrange a free consultation with yourself, and work with you to find out what we can do for you!