Let’s face it, we all want to find ways to improve our conversion rates.
I think you’ll agree with us when we say:
A high conversion rate is essential if you want to improve your bottom line.
The good news is, there are plenty of ways to improve your conversion rate with most taking less than 5 minutes! In fact, one simple tweak actually increased conversions by an incredible 681%! Imagine how many more conversions and sales you could get from your website with just this simple tweak.
70 Useful Ways to Help You Increase Conversion Rates Online
Luckily for you, we’ve got 70 tried and tested ways to help improve your conversion rate in every aspect of your website. Whether you want more social media shares, email sign ups or sales we’ve got plenty of helpful tricks for you!
Conversion Rate Tips Useful for: Everything
1. A / B Testing
Before we start our list it’s important to mention A / B testing. If you haven’t heard of it already then it could explain why your conversion rate isn’t up to scratch. Without A / B testing you are basically left in the dark as you can’t measure the increase (or decrease) of conversions based on changes to your website.
Some changes to your website will instantly boost conversions and it will be obvious from day one. On the other hand, some changes will actually decrease your conversions and the worst part is you probably won’t even notice. It’s likely you’ll just pass off the bad results as a bad week or blame it on a certain holiday or event. By the time you realise something is not right you’ve already lost hundreds of conversions. This is where A / B testing comes in.
A / B testing allows you to run multiple versions of a website simultaneously to see which changes give you the best results. Once the results are in, whatever change gives the highest conversion rate should become the new default page. For the best results, we recommend doing an A / B test on all of the changes we suggest on our list. By doing so you’ll know which ones benefit your website and which ones are best to avoid. As every industry is different it’s hard to give a set of fixed rules that everyone can easily follow.
CASE STUDY: How A / B Testing Improved Conversions By 69%
To show the power of A / B testing, let’s explore a case study showing how they can greatly improve your website. Over at Optimizely there is a great case study showing how one company ComScore, an internet analytics company managed to increase the quantity and quality of their leads using A / B testing.
The company already had a product demo page where users could request demos of their software and services via filling out an email form. Based on the initial launch of the signup page, ComScore noticed the total demo requests were lower than expected. To try and gain more signups the company decided to try and put greater emphasis on client testimonials hoping it would improve trust and confidence.
For the A / B test 3 different signup page variations were created with client testimonials placed in different areas. Every time a new user visited the page they would view 1 of the 3 layouts. Over the course of the test 2,500 users visited with each page receiving a third of the traffic. The conversions and engagement rates were tracked for each page to see which page users responded to the best.
After the test was finished it was clear the vertical testimonial page that included a logo outperformed all the other page variations. From looking at the results the conversion rate had improved from 3.3% to 5.5% a 69% improvement. Now ComScore had found a great converting page they could safely set that as their default layout for the signup page.
2. Cut the Jargon
If you want more conversions you need to keep it plain and simple. Stop using confusing and complicated words when you can easily replace them with “normal” words instead that people understand. Not everyone will be on the same page as you and might have a hard time understanding if you start using complicated industry terms.
Buzz words might sound helpful but people can see right through what you’re trying to do. Keeping it simple and understandable is the best way to get the message across and help improve your conversion rate.
3. Clear and Concise Copy
Long and detailed copy can actually do more harm than good. If you want customers to understand your message and increase your conversion rate, then it needs to be clear and concise. There is no point writing text just for the sake of it to make your page look longer. Readers are much more likely to get bored and switch off. Every word should be grabbing your reader’s attention and making them want to read more instead of turning off! Your sales copy should also get the benefits of using your product across as well as answering any common questions or concerns they might be worried about.
4. Don’t Use Stock Photos
Stock photos might seem like a good idea as they save time, but they actually drag the quality of your website down and make it less trustworthy. Nobody believes your staff are all ethnically diverse supermodels with white teeth eager to take your call, at least make it realistic! By using real photos of your business you can dramatically increase your conversion rates.
CASE STUDY: How Ditching Your Stock Photos Can Improve Conversions By 161%
If you want even more proof on why you shouldn’t use stock photos then check out this awesome case study by the guys over at VWO.com.
Using a truck driving academy website 160 Driving Academy the company did an A / B test against stock photos and real photos. Visitors to the sight mainly use the contact form on the homepage or the displayed phone number to contact the academy. Looking to improve their conversion rate the company decided to change a stock photo on the website to a photograph of a real student instead.
The hypothesis of the test was that a real photo of a student would outperform the stock photo the academy had been using. The real photo featured the student standing in front of an actual truck used by the company with the company’s name and branding clearly visible. This helps add trust to the website as it shows they own the truck and actually have paying customers.
The primary objective of the change and test was to improve the number of visitors taken to the “Thank You” page. This form is only accessible after filling out one of the conversion forms on the website.
Once the test was over the results showed a massive increase in conversions on the website. In fact, the conversions on the website had increased by an amazing 161%. All because of 1 simple photo change.
So why did it work? How did one picture change increase conversions so much? It’s most likely that the picture change helped improve confidence and trust from the users which eventually lead to them converting. The problem with normal stock photos are they are not unique and thousands of websites could be using them at any one time. If a dodgy website somewhere else is using it and they visit your webpage with the same photo, visitors will instantly get the same impression from your website.
5. One Column Layout
The layout and style of a website can have a big effect on conversions that might not be so obvious. If given the choice between a 1 column layout and a 2 column layout which one would you choose? The chances are you’re already using a 2 or even 3 column layout on your website as it helps split your content up and makes it easier to read. But have you ever considered using just 1 column? You’d be surprised the effect it can have on your conversion rate.
CASE STUDY: How Using A One Column Layout Increased Conversion Rates By 681%
To help show you the power of using a one column layout take a look at this interesting case study from MarketingCloud.com. In this case study a large tech company decided to use an A / B test to see what the highest performing number of columns for a web page was.
For the A/ B test the content remained the same for both pages with the exception of a sidebar being completely removed from the one-column layout. After all the testing it was clear the one column layout won after it increased conversions by 681%!
So how exactly did a one page column layout win and increase conversions by so much? The most important factor was that there were way less distractions on the page. By having one layout it was like giving the user tunnel vision. This kept the user’s eyes and focus in the centre of the page on the content instead of any sidebars. Further study showed that multi-column layouts can be too confusing to some users as they don’t all have linear eye paths. This means some content can be awkwardly split amongst several columns, forcing the user jump back and forth to read it.
To make sure these results weren’t a one off another the researchers over at Marketing Experiments did similar tests which all helped confirm the results. Although the increase in conversions weren’t as big as before they were still significant to say the least with increases ranging from 21% to 266%. It’s safe to say if you want to keep users focused on your content then adopting a one column layout is worth a try.
6. Rank For Your Own Discount Page
Let’s face it, everybody wants a deal and the chances are your customers are looking for a deal as well. No matter if you sell a service or product your customers will always be searching for cheaper places or discount codes.
Here’s the important bit:
By ranking number 1 for your own discount code you can help improve conversion rates and track how many people are actively seeking for discount codes. Not only this but you can direct them to your very own landing page which is always a good idea if you want to increase conversions.
CASE STUDY: How PipeDrive Reward Their Smart Customers
If you want a great example of how to rank for your own discount code then check out PipeDrive’s discount page. If you do a Google search for “PipeDrive discount code” you’ll notice that PipeDrive actually ranks number 1 for this search term. This means that they will receive most of the users that search for that term and have a better chance of turning them into conversions.
Not only does it get more people to your website but it also gets back people that might have previously left to find a discount code. If those people who left trying to find a discount code return to your website and find you have a special offer then they are even more likely to convert.
In the PipeDrive example the coupon offers users a free trial for 45 days instead of the regular 30 days. The page is also a well thought out landing page that has call to action buttons beneath the code itself meaning visitors are a lot more likely to convert and sign up for the free trial.
Finally the discount code itself is the code “iamsmart” which really is a compliment to the visitor and everyone loves a compliment! If you want to improve your conversion rate then capturing people who have left your website previously in search of a discount code is a good way to get them back. After all if they are looking for a discount code then at least they are interested in purchasing your product or service.
7. Increase Trust
Trustworthy websites get more conversions. Would you rather buy an iPhone from a respected online retailer with a recognisable brand and history or a dodgy Chinese website. No matter how cheap the other phone is you’re probably going to buy from the trustworthy retailer.
So how can you make your website more trustworthy? You should look to include things like contact information, email addresses, phone numbers and physical locations. This shows you are a genuine company and are not planning to do a runner with somebody’s money.
You should also make sure your website looks professional and is well maintained. This means responding to emails and any comments left on your website. Many customers will send you an email or question before they buy a product or service. If you take a long time to reply the chances are they won’t trust you or will have bought from somewhere else instead. To improve your conversion rates you need to signal trust to visitors.
8. Remove Distractions
No matter if you’re trying to get a sale, email sign up or social media share people get easily distracted nowadays. If you have adverts or moving banners on the side of your website then the chances are your users might click them. Now you might want them to click these initially but if they’re getting distracted at the checkout then that’s not a good thing.
The best way to improve your conversion rate is to remove distractions so it makes the sign-up process more obvious. Get rid of sidebars and other things people can click on that will take them away from the page. For your checkout page, it’s best to make sure there are no distractions at all.
9. Make Forms Engaging
Sign up forms can be long and confusing, the last thing you want is to lose a potential conversion at the last stage because a user gives up. Guiding them through the form is essential if you want to improve your conversions. This could be done by having clear text next to each field on what they should type in or a whole guide that covers what information is required.
Some customers might not be so tech savvy or unsure what to enter in certain forms. Giving them the most guidance possible is the best way to help improve your conversion rates.
10. Have a Catchy Headline
The most important part of your landing page / homepage will be the headline, it needs to stand out and grab people’s attention with a great promise or solution to a problem. Having something like BUY NOW is very generic and doesn’t really achieve a lot. Instead, you want to give a reason or benefit as to why they should be buying your product or service. Lure them in with something catchy that grabs their attention and makes them say “tell me more!” is the best way to improve your conversion rates.
11. Get Your Visitors Excited
Instead of just telling your visitors about your products and services use emotionally charged storytelling and language to get visitors excited about your product and the possibilities. Creating a story rather than just a sales pitch listing all the benefits helps answer questions and overcome objections a potential customer might have.
It also helps to activate someone’s emotions which is definitely a good thing. It’s no secret that most purchases are based off emotions and products that evoke emotions always win. This makes potential customers much more likely to convert which is what you want if you want to improve your conversion rate!
12. Get a Fast Webhost
Users hate waiting for websites to load, if a website takes too long to load they are likely to leave straight away instead of waiting. By getting a fast web host and server you can increase your conversions as customers won’t be required to wait as long.
CASE STUDY: How Every Second Saved Can Improve Your Conversion Rate By 2%
If you’re struggling to understand how important website speed is then this case study of Walmart should help change your mind. Retail giants Walmart noticed that their web pages were slow at loading and for the slowest 5% of users this meant waiting over 24 seconds! Would you wait 24 seconds for a website to load? Probably not. After 4 or 5 seconds you’d be out of there.
The main reasons for Walmarts slow loading times was the fact that they had too many page elements, third party scripts, multiple affiliates and large images. All these small factors bundled together caused a massive problem. In order to solve the problem Walmart decided to completely optimise their website to try and reduce load times for their key conversion pages.
From their research they learned a few important metrics. The first was that there was a sharp decline in conversion rates as the average load time increased from 1 to 4 seconds. This means that if the page takes more than 4 seconds to load the chances of getting a conversion are minimal. Second shoppers who converted received pages 2 times faster than non-converting shoppers. This obviously proved the point that speed is key and the faster the website the more conversions.
To summarise their findings and points for every 1 second of load time improvement they experienced a 2% increase in conversions. For every 100 ms of improvement they saw revenue increase by 1%. In addition to this they also noted several SEO benefits such as a reduced bounce rate which lead to improved rankings for all their pages across their website. The important thing to take away is to make sure your website loads as fast as possible or customers will leave along with your chances of a conversion.
13. Don’t Over Ask for Information
If you have a form that you want your customer to fill out such as an email subscription, make sure you only ask for the essential required information. Asking someone for their physical address or phone number if they’re signing up for your mailing list is pushing your luck and will put a lot of people off. In fact, the less information you ask for the more likely a user is to convert. It can be a fine line between not getting enough information and asking for too much that they don’t convert. You should assess your forms and ask yourself, am I asking them for too much information? Would I sign up? The less information you ask from a user the more likely they are to convert which means not over asking information is a great way to increase your conversion rate.
14. Use Proper Error Codes
If a user enters information incorrectly in a form then make sure to tell them clearly what they have done wrong. Maybe their password is not long enough or they’ve accidentally not entered a valid email address. Instead of giving them an obscure error code like “x3330BA” just tell them their email or password is not valid and to try again. This will save the visitor a lot of frustration and anger whilst saving you a lot of conversions.
15. Use Heatmaps
Software such as CrazyEgg can give you a huge insight into your visitors and how they interact on your website. By tracking your visitors you can make a heat map of the most common places where people click on your website. Using this information can help you make improvements to your website and improve your conversion rate. By seeing where everyone is clicking you can make sure your calls to action are in the right place and there’s nothing distracting the user from clicking it. Using this software after every A / B test can also give you a good insight into how visitors are experiencing the new changes.
16. Include Contact Information in the Footer
Instead of forcing users to go on your contact us page, you can include important contact information such as telephone numbers, email addresses and your physical address in the footer. Not only does this free up a page on your website but it also makes your contact information more visible. Why hide it somewhere on your website when you can have it everywhere?
But it doesn’t always have to be the footer! Depending on your websites design and layout, some websites might perform better with the contact information in the header instead. But don’t take our word for it, make sure you run an A / B test!
17. Check Your Error Pages
404 (page not found) pages can be turned into helpful web pages that help redirect visitors to relevant content and stops them from leaving the website. If a user arrives at a broken link from Google and you have a generic 404 page then the chances are they will just instantly leave. Instead, if you have something funny, witty or relevant then they are more likely to stay and check your website out. If you need some inspiration for 404 pages then be sure to check out this awesome list.
18. Responsive on Mobile
Mobile traffic is a lot more common nowadays due to the increase in smartphones and tablets. Making sure your website is mobile responsive is vital if you’re looking to improve your conversions. A responsive website is a website that can be viewed on any device at any resolution and the website will “respond” to make sure it’s viewable. If your website isn’t responsive then the chances are it will look terrible on mobile devices and people will have a hard time viewing it. If you want to improve your conversion rate then you need to make sure your website is accessible from all devices.
19. Rewrite Your Content With a Less Passive Voice
The chances are you already have content on your website, but is it in the right voice? Passive content is like telling a story in 3rd person. But remember you’re here to get conversions not to tell a story! By re-writing your content in a less passive voice and a more active voice, you encourage visitors to take action and buy your product, share your post or sign up to your mailing list. If you’re too passive then a user is likely to just read your content and not do anything whereas if you’re active the user should get the message to take action.
20. Use the Right Language
Before your write your sales copy you need to understand your audience. If you’re targeting a younger audience then make sure the language suits them or else they’ll have a hard time understanding. On the other hand if you’re target audience are business professionals then you’ll want to write with a more serious and sophisticated tone or your readers won’t take your seriously. Knowing your audience and what they like plus what they don’t like is the first step to using the right language.
21. Use the Right Colours
If you’ve read our blog post on the Colours of Marketing then you should know how big of an effect colours can have on your website and conversion rate. Choosing the right colour scheme for your website and buttons can make all the difference.
If the colours make your website hard to read or not look trustworthy then visitors will be looking to click that back button straight away. The colours should complement each other and shouldn’t be too hard on the eyes. Having yellow text on a white background is a great example of what not to do.
22. Use an Agency
If you’re really struggling to improve your conversion rates on your own then it’s probably best to get some professional help. There are plenty of online digital marketing agencies nowadays that know exactly how to help improve your conversion rates. So if you don’t have the technical knowledge or expertise then don’t worry, the agency will be able to sort everything out for you. Now it’s not going to be free but the increase in conversions should definitely cover any costs involved, leaving you better off.
Conversion Rate Tips Useful for: Social Media
23. Offer Rewards
Offering rewards for socially sharing content is a good way to increase your number of social shares. There rewards can be things such as competitions, secret content or even discount codes. Obviously they will depend on your business and what type of industry you are in but there is always an incentive to offer users for sharing things socially. Competitions can be practically done for any industry as well as discount codes.
A good example of social media incentives is the online video game League of Legends. For every user that likes their Facebook and follows their Twitter page the user receives a special free in game incentive for following them. Currently, their Facebook page has over 14 million followers so it looks like its working!
24. Include Social Media Counts
People are more likely to share your content or follow your social media accounts if you already have a lot of followers. Make sure to include numbers on how many people have shared or liked your page to encourage more people to do so as well. There are many plugins for popular website management software like WordPress that can do this for your free of charge. A good plugin for WordPress is MashShare. It also allows you to keep track of how many shares you are receiving on your content.
25. Make it Easy
Today social media is an important marketing medium and the amount of active users on social media is really mind boggling. You’ve probably heard of certain videos and articles going “viral” but how did they get so many shares in the first place? The chances are users were encouraged to share it with their friends.
By having a “Tweet this” or “Share on Facebook” button on your web page makes it a lot easier for visitors to share your posts and pages online. Also by allowing them to personalise the message before they share it with their friends makes it even more likely to get more shares.
CASE STUDY: How A Social Toolbar Increased Social Shares by 3600%
If you don’t give visitors the option to share your content do you think they will go out of their way to do so? It’s actually incredible how much your social shares can increase if you give your users a simple share button. Take AMD for example and how a simple change helped increase their social media shares dramatically.
AMD already had a “Share This” button on their page which allowed users to share content via social media but they felt it wasn’t giving them the best results. They decided to try moving the button to different locations and did so using an A / B test. All in all, AMD ended up producing 6 different variations for the test with different icons and placement.
These variations included share buttons in various locations such as the left, right and bottom of the page. The appearances were also tested from large icons to links to small icons to see which was the best performer. The test ran for 5 days on the website and was tested during a release of new drivers which dramatically increased web visitors during that time period. Once a visitor saw a particular variation they continued to see the same variation to ensure a consistent user experience.
When test was over and they checked the results, they had seen an incredible 3600% increase in social sharing. The winning placement position was the left hand placement with dynamic adjustment based on browser window size. The results show that a simple social share button can have huge increases on your social media conversions.
26. Choose the Right Social Media
Different social media platforms attract different users. For example, LinkedIn is a social media network but it’s only really for business people who are looking to build business contacts and a professional business network. If your business is mainly business to business then LinkedIn would be the best social media for you to use as you’re likely to get the attention of other business owners. On the other hand if you’re looking at selling high-end fashion then you’ll probably want to be using Instagram as your main social media platform. Picking the right social media platform for your business is vital if you want to increase your conversions.
27. Promote Content in the Right Way for the Platform
If you’ve already picked a social media platform to promote your business on then you need to make sure you’re promoting your content in the right way for the platform. For example Twitter has a 140 character limit so you would have to promote your content on their different compared to Facebook. This would mean posting a lot more links and shorter Tweets to grab user’s attention. Compare this to Facebook where you can have thousands of characters (not like you should use them all!) it’s a completely different way of promoting content.
28. Update Your Bios
Keeping a well maintain social media account is vital if you want to come across as a trustworthy and honest business. Keeping your whole account up to date is a good way to show customers you’re active on social media. Every now and then you should check your whole social media profile such as your contact information, profile pictures and banners to make sure they are correct and any links you have posted work. There’s nothing worse than having a profile picture or banner promoting a sale that ended last week!
29. Create Original Content
Stealing other people’s social media posts can be useful if you don’t have the time to make your own content. In fact, it’s very common nowadays for a lot of companies and businesses to do so. If you really want to stand out from your competition then you need to focus on creating original social media content that can be shared and hopefully “go viral”. If someone has never seen something before and it’s unique and funny they are much more likely to share it and tag their friends.
30. Reply to Social Interactions
Replying to social media comments and messages is one of the most important things you need to do on your social media account. If you don’t then what’s the point in having one in the first place? A social media account is a way for the business and customers to interact. If other users see lots of unanswered questions and comments on your profile page then that will put them off doing business with you. Users want to see well maintains social media pages where the business is interacting and helping out their customers. So make sure there aren’t any unanswered posts on your social media page!
31. Post Content Relevant to Your Followers
If users follow you on social media then they most likely want to be kept up to date on your latest products or any relevant industry news. Spamming them with completely unrelated content is not a good idea and is actually a good way to lose followers. Make sure the content you post on your social media accounts is relevant and useful for your followers. This will also help increase the interaction from your followers and get you more likes and shares.
32. Use More Pictures on Social Media
When posting content on social media be sure to include as many pictures as possible. Which would grab your attention more, a big block of text or a big picture? It’s probably going to be the picture as they always say, a picture is worth a thousand words! In fact, every update you post on social media should include a picture or a link that is relevant to what you are posting. By visually stimulating users you are a lot more likely to get the message across and stand out from everyone else’s posts.
Conversion Rate Tips Useful for: E-Commerce
33. Set Up a Sales Funnel
The more expensive or complicated a product, the more time people will need before they are ready to buy. Sales funnels are the perfect way to get across all the important information to potential customers. Sales funnels can also provide free incentives to users to help increase your conversion rate by requiring them to enter their email address.
Once you have their email address you can provide customers with more information and follow them up with new updates in the future. If they don’t buy straight away at least you have their email so you haven’t completely lost a conversion.
34. Address Concerns
Let’s face it, before you go out and buy a product you probably have a few concerns such as:
Is this the right product for me? Is it good value? Will it solve my problems?
Well, by addressing these concerns in your sales copy can be a great way to increase your conversions as it helps to remove any objections a customer might have towards buying. It also allows you to talk to customers in an easy to understand manner and help convey important benefits and features of the product.
35. Make it Easy to Buy
If you really want to increase your conversions on your website then be sure to make it as easy as possible. This means using different payment processors such as PayPal and WorldPay as the more payment options available the more conversions you are likely to get. It’s also important to give visitors as little fields as possible to fill out. By reducing the number of fields required it makes conversions a lot easier for users. Also make sure you have an FAQ which answers a lot of common questions people might have before they place an order. Making the customers life as easy as possible is a sure way to increase your conversion rate.
36. Explain Value
Sometimes customer have trouble understanding how much something is worth, especially if it’s a digital product or service and there’s nothing to compare it to. By explaining to customers what value they are getting and how much money they are saving can dramatically boost conversions. After all people are always hunting for the best and cheapest deals. By providing customers with enough facts and information they will practically convince themselves that it is a good deal. If there are lots of competitors in your industry then be sure to compare these products and show why yours is better.
37. Show Testimonials
Whatever you claim a product or service does you need to back it up with customer testimonials. People are always sceptical when they read sales copy and need to be shown that everything is genuine and real. Although some testimonials can obviously be fake and biased it’s best to include trusted 3rd party testimonials from websites such as TrustPilot. This shows that the reviews are independent and genuine.
CASE STUDY: How Customer Testimonials Increased Conversions By 58.39%
A great case study on how something as simple as including customer testimonials can increase sales comes from the company Express Watches. An authorised watch dealer with over 21 years of experience, Express Watches had a major problem on their hands. In recent years there had been a huge increase of replica watches in the industry making people question the authenticity of products they were buying.
Even more so when they are placing their orders online and never get to see the item beforehand. After conducting a user survey on watches the company found out that the major concerns of potential customers where:
- Are they getting the best price?
- Will the watch be the real deal or cheap replica?
- Is the company legitimate?
- How was the service and delivery?
To summarise, Express Watches had to make sure they were perceived as a trustworthy and reliable shop. Although the company already proudly displayed their “Authorised Seiko Dealer” and TrustPilot badges Express Watches wanted to do even more to help improve their conversion rates.
The idea was to convince customers they are a legitimate company have plenty of happy customers. In order to do this the website introduced recent testimonials via the TrustPilot widget app which was placed just below the item. The change was made to every page on the website to keep it consistent.
The changes were tested for over 2 months on the website and the results showed an increase of 58.39% in conversions from the original web page. This shows that a security badge or trusted logo is nowhere near as effect as including real testimonials for your website. Customer confidence is further increased due to the fact that that TrustPilot is a trusted 3rd party website.
38. Compare Yourself to Competitors
Almost every product or service has some kind of competitor unless you’re really lucky to be the first in your industry. If you are the first then it’s only a matter of time before other companies start appearing. Making a nice table or chart comparing your product to your competitors is a very useful thing to do. If you don’t the customer will end up comparing them anyway so it’s best to do it before they do. By having your own comparison table on your website you can show users why they should pick your product compared to your competitors. By comparing every aspect of your product or service against your competitors you should be able to win over those undecided customers.
39. Offer Security and Reduce Risk
People can be very wary while shopping online. There are so many online scams and hacks happening every week that you can’t really blame people for being too cautious. If you want to improve your conversions then you’ll need to convince people your website is safe and has great security. The best ways to do this is to make sure you have an easy refund and warranty replacement policy. Many companies nowadays offer a 30 day guaranteed refund if you don’t enjoy their product. They also make sure they use safe and secure payment processes such as PayPal with HTTPS encryption. By showing customers your website is safe and secure you can easily improve your conversions.
40. Communicate Unique Selling Points
What makes your product better than the rest? What does it have or do that others don’t? Why should they buy your product compared to your competitors? Communicating your product’s unique selling point is an essential step of marketing and is guaranteed to help improve your conversion rate. Every product has a unique selling point which makes it stand out from the rest of the competition, it’s your job to find that unique selling point and promote it to your audience.
41. Include Offers
There are plenty of offers and deals you can offer customers in a bid to increase your conversions. Some of these deals can be simple things such as buy one get one free deals, free shipping and free trials of your service or product. Although you don’t have to have a special offer or deal on constantly it’s good to regularly think up new ideas until you find the best converting one. Like we’ve mentioned before customers LOVE a deal and if they can get free shipping on a certain website it might persuade them to shop there instead.
42. Reinforce Offers at the Checkout
Following on from the previous tip, many websites will include offers all over the product page but not reinforce them at the most important part, the checkout! In fact, there is no better place to reinforce offers then at the checkout. If someone has a product in their basket and you have a special deal on then they should be notified straight away, you could be throwing away an extra conversion. By giving customers subtle and gentle reminders at the checkout you’ll be amazing at how much your conversions will increase.
43. Use Thank You Pages to Upsell
Using thank you pages or order confirmation pages after a sale is a great way to upsell other products to customers. Now you might be thinking that it’s too late because they’ve just purchased something from you, but if they’re already logged in then it’s just a few extra clicks! If they’ve already converted then obviously something on your website took their fancy and you might have plenty more of where that came from. You just need to make them aware of your products and upselling on a thank you / order confirmation page is a great idea.
44. Show a Sense of Urgency
If a customer thinks you have plenty of items in stock then they might delay their purchase and wait for a better deal or offer. Giving a sense of urgency or showing scarcity with your product can improve conversions as users are forced to act straight away or it might be gone forever. A good way to do this is to include a “low stock” icon or warning when the item has nearly sold out. This will give customers a reason to act now instead of waiting around.
All offers and deals should also have a sense of urgency and should clearly state when the deal ends or how many days are left. Most clothes website use a big countdown timer on their homepage to show users how long they have left. If a huge clock counting down doesn’t show a sense of urgency then we don’t know what will!
45. Recommend Related Products
Recommending related products to customers is a great way to get more conversions. If someone visits your website because they are interested in a product then showing them related items is a good way to keep them on your website. In fact, Amazon have a whole algorithm dedicated to finding similar products that visitors might be interested in. As soon as you click on an item the program spits out a whole list of recommended items. If you want to be like Amazon then having a related items section on your page is a great way to boost conversions.
46. Use a Live Chat Service
If a customer has a question or needs help you need to make sure you are available to answer their every question. Most emails to a business can take a few working days to read and reply, by the time the customer gets a response back they are no longer interested in what they were planning on buying. Live chat on the other hand is a real time service where you communicate with an operator directly.
Not only is live chat faster than email but also shows you are responsive and that you care about your customer’s satisfaction. If you visit any major online retailer you’ll notice that most of them have live chat services. They’re easy to install and are very beneficial to customers and your businesses image.
47. Change Your Call to Action
Buy Now! Or Order Now! The million pound question: which call to action performs better? Some calls to action work better than others but there’s no way to know until you test them yourself. Try changing your call to action to different phrases such as “Order Now”, “Checkout Now” or “Buy Now”. It would be best to use an A / B test to see if the changes make any difference before deciding which one to keep. Different calls to action work better in different situations so unfortunately there is no one phrase which is the best for everyone.
48. Don’t Force Registration
If you require a customer to register an account before they make a purchase it can be really off putting for some people and is just another stumbling block. Many websites nowadays will let you purchase something without having to register an account, simply enter you email and payment details and the transaction is complete. Some customers will just want to make a one off purchase but you shouldn’t be put off by this, would you rather have the conversion or not? By not requiring customers to register an account you make it easier for them to convert.
49. Test Different Guarantees
Everyone loves a 30 day guarantee but what would happen to your sales if you offered a 60 or 90 day guarantee? The only way to find out is to test it! You can try testing different types of guarantees on your products, if your industry standard is a 30 day warranty then try changing the number to 60 or 90 instead. Another way to do this is instead of just offering a warranty or guarantee change the naming to a “full money back” guarantee or “no hassle refund”. Just by changing the name of the guarantee can have a big impact on conversions.
50. Checkout Process Indicator
If your checkout process has a lot of steps then be sure to show a progress indicator on the page so the user knows exactly what step they are up to and how many steps are left. This gives customers an idea of what they need to do instead of just wondering how many endless pages of forms are left. This also makes a customer less likely to abandon the checkout process if they know they are so close to completing their order.
51. Customers Don’t Like Bad Surprises
Customers don’t like to find extra charges such as delivery costs or any other hidden charges. Be sure to make it clear on your website how much shipping is and to which countries. Also be sure to include this on your FAQ and as many pages as possible. If somehow a customer doesn’t see the shipping costs before they get to the cart then at least you’re not to blame!
52. Include an FAQ Page
Potential customers will have a lot of questions and queries about your product or service before they buy. Most of these questions will be the same from customer to customer and you’ll notice the same questions keep appearing. By having an FAQ (frequently asked questions) page on your website you can answer all the most common questions which will help answer potential customers questions before they buy.
53. Give Customers the Option to Leave Reviews
Giving customers the option to leave reviews is a great well to help increase the reputation and trust of your website. After someone has placed an order and has received the product, be sure to send them an email asking for a review. Most people will choose to leave a review, especially if they’ve had a positive experience with your service and website. Don’t be put off my negative reviews, although you want to keep these as low as possible they are also points your business can improve on. By showing the reviews on your website people are more likely to buy from you if you have a wall of great reviews.
54. Allow Users to Categorise
If you have hundreds (or thousands) of products on your website then giving customers the ability to filter by size, colour, style and price is a great way to make their life easier. A user might be looking for a certain sized t-shirt, so instead of making have to go through all your products give them the option to filter by size. By helping a visitor find the product they want this will easily help improve your conversion rate. After all, you could have the exact item they are looking for but because it’s hidden in a thousand other products the user will never find it.
55. Offer Special Discounts
Everyone LOVES a discount. If they’re going to buy a product then a discount could be the difference between a conversion or not. Not every business can offer discounts or reductions on their prices but you can offer other incentives such as free shipping, discounts for recruiting friends or flash sales for a short period of time. It’s also a good idea to have themed sales around certain yearly events such as Christmas, summer, cyber Monday, black Friday. Most likely all your competitors will be doing the same and if they offer a discount and you don’t you can wave bye bye to your conversions.
56. Let Visitors Participate On Your Website
Letting visitors participate and interact on your pages can dramatically help boosts conversions. If you have a lot of products then questionnaires that recommend products to customers are a great way to help boost customer engagement. Visitors simply answer some questions about themselves and what they are looking for and the questionnaire suggests the best products to them. This is a great idea as it helps visitors discover products they would have never thought would suit them. At the same time it increases the chances of you getting a conversion now the user has found something they like.
57. Work on Your Social Media
It’s likely that a lot of customers will discover your business via your social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter. Remember to keep them professional and up to date, first impressions count and can have a big impact on a customer’s decision. The chances are they will be comparing your social media accounts to your competitors and comparing the amount of likes and followers. In addition to this they will also be comparing how fast comments are answered and what reviews customers are leaving. Be sure to reply to any new comments and reviews as quick as possible as it gives off a good impressions to potential customers.
58. Display Third Party Security Badges
Third party security badges are a great way to help increase conversions on your site as they add another trust factor to your website. These badges come from various different companies such as security firms and online payment processors that show your website is secure and has passed a certain test. If your website has these badges listed and a competitor doesn’t most customers will be likely to shop on your site instead. For a list of the most trusted security badges to add to your website be sure to check out this cool guide that lists the best-performing ones.
59. Product Videos
Pictures of your product can be great to show users what they’re buying but videos are even better. Videos can help get across messages and benefits that pictures simply can’t. If you want to give visitors the ultimate shopping experience then introducing product videos to your website can be very beneficial.
They can’t just be any random videos though, they need to be engaging and professional. If they’re just going to be a quick video filmed on a smartphone then it’s probably best not to bother. The best type of videos include product demonstrations, animated explanations, animated infographics and typography.
CASE STUDY: How A Popup Video Increased Conversions by 100%
To show you the power of videos and their effect on conversions the guys over at UnBounce.com have a really good case study. The study shows how they managed to increase their conversions by 100% by using just a simple video.
The case study involves increasing the conversion rate on a simple landing page made to collect customer’s emails. An A / B test was created to test the page with and without a video to see what effect it had on conversion rates. In total there were 3 different variations including without a video, with a video and a video that popped up on the page.
The results showed that the winner was the pop up video showing an incredible 100% increase in conversions from 6.5% to 13% over the test period. Just by adding a video to the page they managed to increase the conversion rate by 69%, the rest of the conversions came from the fact the video popped up. This is probably due to the fact that it gets rid of any distractions on the web page and gives the visitor tunnel vision meaning they focus on the video more.
60. Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions
People are very weary of their privacy nowadays, with so many spam emails and junk mail being sent out you can see why. Before a user gives you their precious email address the chances are they will want to read your privacy policy and any other terms and conditions you have on your website. It’s important to make sure both of these are up to date on your website and are updated regularly. It’s also important to make sure they are suited to your website and are not just some generic text copied off the internet from somewhere. It should also be easy to understand, if you can’t understand then how can you expect your customers to!
61. Encourage Referrals
If a customer loves your product or service then encourage them to share it with their friends as it could be the easier conversion you’ve ever had. You can encourage this by offering an affiliate or reward scheme that provides an incentive to customers. Every referral or conversion a customer forwards to you they will receive a reward such as a fixed payment, free subscription or some other kind of useful reward.
62. Give Visitors the Ability to Pre-order
If you’re planning on launching and selling some new products then make sure you give users the option to pre-order them. Although you might not have the item in stock yet customers will still be eager to buy. Not only does this help you plan stock levels but it also helps you sell them before you even have them in stock! If you don’t offer pre-orders but your competitors do then it’s obvious which business they will be buying from.
Conversion Rate Tips Useful for: Email Subscriptions
63. Add Incentives
If you really want someone’s email address then you need to give them a good reason for them to give it to you. How about an email address for a free eBook on how you can help improve your business? Sounds fair enough right? Customers love free incentives that give them value. This might be an eBook, online video, daily updates or newsletter about your website. Whatever it is as long as it offers some kind of value to a customer they won’t mind giving you their email address in return.
64. Keep Field Elements Above the Fold
If you want somebody to subscribe to your mailing list then making sure the signup form is above the fold is vital. The fold is the top part of the webpage you see when you visit it. If visitors have to scroll down to find the form then the chances are they’re going to miss it altogether. Like we’ve said before if you want people to sign up it needs to be obvious, show them what information they need to enter and guide them through the process.
65. Create Dedicated Landing Pages for Emails
When running your email marketing campaigns it’s best to make custom landing pages that are tailor made for your subscriber list. Instead of redirecting them to your blog or just a normal page on your website you should be sending them to specific landing page. By doing so you have more control over their actions and you are much more likely to get a conversion instead of just another visit.
66. Include an Unsubscribe Option
Remind users how much you value their privacy and include an unsubscribe option with every email sent as well as an option to manage their subscriptions. It’s also a good idea to purge your mailing list every now and then to make sure you are only sending emails to potential buyers. If someone hasn’t opened your emails for many months then they probably aren’t interested anymore but can’t be bothered unsubscribing from your list. By cleaning out all the old inactive users it helps gives you more reliable email stats.
67. Offer an Informative Newsletter
If you’re just going to spam users with hard sales copy and emails then you’re not using your email list correctly. Providing customers with useful information related to the product they are looking to buy can help show that you care about them. Not only does this help improve trust and confidence with your customers but also helps provide value from subscribing to your list. Sometimes a gentle reminder about the products or services you offer is all it takes. If you keep emailing someone constantly then they are more likely to unsubscribe from your list altogether.
68. Experiment With Fields Below the Fold
Ok so we know we mentioned to keep everything above the fold earlier but hear us out on this one. Some websites will actually benefit from having call to actions below the fold. You might have heard to never put calls to action below the fold. But the problem with that is suddenly everyone’s website become identical. If you look at any tech start-ups they practically all have the same landing pages with call to actions above the fold.
But there’s actually more to it. It’s not necessarily where the call to action is placed, it’s what it says.
CASE STUDY: How Placing A Call To Action Below the Fold Increased Conversions By 304%
To show you how placing calls to action below the fold can increase your conversions rates KissMetrics has an excellent post that exposes the myth of above the fold.
The post explores several examples of were placing calls to action below the fold have actually outperformed their original position which was above the fold. In one example a website saw a 20% increase in conversions by lowering the call to action to the bottom of the page. Another website saw a 304% increase by doing the same thing.
How is that possible? How can it be out performing the tried and tested strategy of putting calls to action above the fold? Well after further research it shows that the fold might not be as important as you thought.
Some research conducted back in the 60’s showed that only 20% of people read past the headline, and that was long before the internet came along. The same research also noted that readership fell off rapidly up to 50 words of copy, but drops very little between 50 and 500.
This is important as 500 words of copy would basically cover the entire fold of the page (depending what resolution you are on). This might sound like a bad thing but it’s actually not. A study all the way back in 1997 showed that users will scroll if what they see above the fold interests them enough.
This basically means that the fold has nothing to do with conversion rates. No matter if a call to action is placed above or below the fold the only thing that matters is the copy and how well it motivates someone to take action. Probably not what you were expecting.
So how can you take advantage of this? Simply write good copy that motivates the user to take action instead of just reading. Call to action buttons placed below good copy will naturally see a high conversion rate. This is true regardless if it’s above or below the fold.
69. Use an Opt-In
Treating customer’s privacy is an important factor. All users should have to confirm their subscription before you start sending emails. Many countries actually require you to comply with anti-spam laws. This means you’re only allowed to send marketing emails to individual customers if they’ve given you permission.
This also helps increase the quality of your email list. Everyone who has registered showed some interest and voluntarily registered, they weren’t forced or accidently signed up.
70. Use Catchy Subjects
When someone receives an email in their inbox the first thing they do is check who it is from. The second thing they do is check what the subject line says. If you want to get more conversions from your email marketing list then using a catchy subject line is essential. Be sure to make it relevant to the email and not misleading. A misleading subject line can make subscribers angry and the chances are they will unsubscribe from your mailing list.
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