When it comes to a popular website, all the traffic in the world means nothing if you cannot get your potential customers to convert. Conversions are what drive your business, bring in revenue and build loyal customers. A typical conversion rate for websites is about 2.35 percent on average. However, the top 10 percent of companies see three to five times higher rates than that. It explains why they are so successful, and gives you something to strive for.
Sometimes, for whatever reason, your website ends up reeling in fewer conversions than you were hoping or planning for. It happens even to the best of us, and when it does, it kick starts a long, tedious process of discovery into why that is, and how you can change it.
Unfortunately, many factors and influences lead to a conversion that it ends up seeming hopeless when you try to nail down a choke point. We’re going to narrow down the scope a bit and take a look at some of the direct reasons why this might happen. This guide will help you start the improvement process.
This Is Why Your Current Setup Is Not Working
To start, let’s take a look at some problems that may ruin your conversion ratings. It helps to know why they suffer before you try to come up with some solutions.
-
Your Customers Lack Trust
The issue with this is it’s somewhat ambiguous. When your brand isn’t considered trustworthy, you’re not going to bring in new or repeat business. But this is obvious when you’ve been around for some time. If you’re a newer business, or smaller in scale, this is tough to identify.
How do you discern brand trust from first-time customers who recently discovered your site? More importantly, how do you build trust without a prior track record or past experiences to build upon? It’s past experiences your customers have which help build up trust in your brand.
Here’s How You Can Fix It:
You can do this simply by displaying customer reviews and feedback, critic mentions, affiliations and more. You could even create marketing or product demonstrations where real people are shown using your product.
Growth consultant Sujan Patel demonstrate this on his website. At the top you can see brands or “clients” he’s helped in the past. You can see press and media outlets that have covered him or his projects in some capacity. Below that, you can also see customer and partner testimonials that do a good job of conveying the value he can offer a business.
-
Your Product Isn’t Valuable
We’re going to assume the problem isn’t inherently that your product has no value. You created it, and you want it to solve a problem or offer something making it valuable to you and to others.
Instead, look past that idea for a minute and instead consider you might have trouble communicating its value to others. Does your website, marketing campaign and web copy, reveal why your product or services are necessary? Do customers know what they are getting and how it can help them?
Here’s How You Can Fix It:
To convert, you need to ensure your audience knows what the trade-off is. They are giving you money in return for a product or service that can help them. Maybe compare what you have to offer to the competition? Matchup features or specs, and detail why your solution is better. Explain what your audience can expect from your product and brand, and how that will change their lives.
Run through the Unbounce landing page conversion course breakdown. Notice how detailed it is and how well it conveys what you will learn and what you will take away from the course. Does that not entice you to sign up immediately?
-
Your CTA Is Weak
By now, there’s no need to state the importance of a call-to-action — it’s what will drive your customers to the final stages of your funnel. It also presents a sense of urgency or timing meant to shove them onward. “Act now while supplies last” or “the deal will only last so long,” invoke feelings of urgency into an otherwise timeless situation.
By definition, your CTA needs strength, impact and engagement. If it’s weak and understated, your conversion numbers will wilt.
Here’s How You Can Fix It:
Use a combination of A/B testing and real-world testing to find the proper placement for your CTA and fine-tune its message. Launching a live site with little research to back up your design is not smart or recommended. Yet, 61 percent of companies conduct fewer than five tests per month.
Want to see it in action? FDM4 has a strong CTA on their landing page that is specific and tells the users exactly what they’ll learn if they follow the button. Their text is precise and users are grateful that there’s no ambiguity. Plus, the landing page’s slider has various CTAs based on the users’ needs.
-
You Offer No Reassurance
No matter who you are — rich or poor — money is valuable and defines many things about our lives. We use it for everything from entertainment to sustenance. It’s even tough to hand it over for something we really, really want. For this reason, it always feels good to have a guarantee or reassurance of some kind when we give it away. Consider it an adult-friendly safety net, if you will.
You may not convert visitors because you offer no reassurance or guarantee that you will take care of them.
Here’s How You Can Fix It:
If your customer takes a chance on your product or brand, give them a reason to trust in you. What limited warranty or replacement options do you offer? Do you stand by your product and services in full? Are you willing to provide money back to anyone who is not satisfied?
This is a little touch, but it can go a long way. It can also help push anyone over the fence, essentially spending money on your product or brand because they know there’s a safety net there to catch them if they fall.
Shopify does a great job with this. Right below their initial form you’re told about a 14 day, risk and credit card free trial. You get to try the service with no strings attached. You don’t like it, you can walk away.
-
You Don’t Present a Good Deal
Another reason your users may not convert is that they’re getting a much better value elsewhere. Sometimes, it’s not totally about quality, but instead the actual value or deal offered.
For instance, if your brand is offering an HDTV in 1080p at $800, but I can get a comparable 4K Ultra-HD TV for $200 cheaper, why would I buy your set? Brand name does play a role in this as the more trust your company has, the more likely people are willing to pay higher prices. That said, they’re still not going to pass up a great deal elsewhere.
Here’s How You Can Fix It:
Canvas the market and make sure what you offer is of good value, and deal-worthy for your customers. This doesn’t mean you have to offer your product at a lower price than everyone else, just keep things competitive. Furthermore, offer a price match guarantee should your customers encounter a better deal somewhere else. This ensures they come to you for the purchase, instead of the other party.
Landbot solved this by simply showing front and center what their product can do for you and your business landing page. You don’t even have to question whether or not it’s a good deal. You can see their offering is unique, unlike anything else, and worth the price tag.
-
Information Security
Somewhere along your conversion funnel, you will ask your customers or potential clients for information. Be it an email address, physical address, name or number. This may be public information, but it doesn’t mean your audience is careless with it. Nor does it mean they are prepared to give it out to just anyone.
Here’s How You Can Fix It:
How do I know when I give you my email address, that you’re not going to hand it over to a partner or affiliated brand and spam my inbox? This is tough to prove, but most people will listen if you reassure them. Don’t end it with telling them “your data is in good hands” — show them.
Start by adding SSL encryption or a secure connection. Work out a partnership with a trusted payment gateway and present the necessary credentials on your site. Show the public they can trust you with their personal and private information.
Below Wistia’s sign-up page, for instance, they have a simple FAQ explaining the use of your information and why they need it. More importantly, it reassures anyone potentially worried about nefarious data use. “We don’t even ask for your credit card,” is a great line they use.
You Have Something to Prove, So Prove It!
You’ll notice most of these tips have to do with conveying value and trust in your brand. That’s exactly what you should focus on if you want to boost conversions. Find a way to establish your trust and credit your achievements. Always offer your customers a guarantee of that value, your services or a reassurance that your product will meet their needs. And finally, above all else protect the information they trust in you by deploying modern security measures like encryption.
Show your customers that not only can they depend on you, but they have a friend in you online and off.
