Increase Conversions - 8 Ways to Skyrocket Your Online Sales
Increase Conversions - 8 Ways to Skyrocket Your Online Sales
Now, if you are getting several clicks a day and your conversion rate is too low (less than 2-5%, depending on the industry) then this post is really going to help you.
Make it easy for your visitors to contact you
Is your phone number visible at the top of every single page? Is the Contact Us page easy to find? Once people reach your contact us page, are you providing them with a contact form, email address, a phone number, and mailing address? If you have a fax number, include that, too.
Even if you have a contact form, include an email address. People might not want to email you at that moment but they might want to have your contact information for future reference. Make it easy for them.
Have a toll-free number. It’s only $10 a month. And display a physical address, not a PO Box. Most people don’t want to deal with online companies that do not have a phone number and a physical address displayed on their website.
Make information easy to find
First, use your analytics tool to find out what information people are looking for on your website. Maybe there is one product that gets a lot more attention than all the others. Once you’ve found out what information people are looking for, make it more prominent and easier to find. Don’t bury it “three clicks away”.
Have intuitive navigation
If you expect people to figure out how to get to where they want to go on your website, a majority of them will leave. The navigation is not where you want to get “creative”.
Your website is a marketing tool
A nice design is really important, but good copy is equally important. Don’t depend on cool graphics to make the sale. Use your words to convince them to buy from you. In my opinion, each website has to answer two questions using bullet-points:
• Why your visitors should buy what you sell
• Why they should buy it FROM YOU. (What sets you apart from the competition? Make sure that what makes you different from your competitors is of value to your customers.)
Make the text easy to read
Some tips:
Keep your sentences and paragraphs short. Most long sentences can be broken down into two or even three sentences. Don’t go over 6-7 lines per paragraph.
Use bold text to highlight the most important part of each paragraph.
Use bullets as they are a great way to summarize your main points.
Show your accreditations
If you are a member of the BBB or your local chamber of commerce, show the badges on your website. If you process credit cards online get VeriSign verified and get PayPal verified if you accept PayPal. If you’ve earned awards or are linked to an industry association, your website is a great opportunity to show your credentials.
Reduce sign-up and checkout times
Have you ever gone to a website, clicked on the Sign Up link and the form was so long that you decided not to fill it out? It happens all the time. If a piece of information is not vital to your business, don’t ask for it. If you really need to ask for a lot of information, get the names and email address in the first step. That way, if they don’t complete the registration/checkout process at least you know who they are and can remind them to finish the process later.
Avoid mistakes with your contact form
If your contact form has a CAPTCHA (that weird strings of characters that you need to type to prove you are human), get rid of it. CAPTCHA codes are annoying, and depending on your audience 10-50% will leave if you ask them to prove they are human.
Avoid having a “clear” button next to the “send” button. Many people browse the Internet intuitively. They don’t read everything they click on. If they spend 5 minutes filling in a form and then erase all the information by clicking on the wrong button, chances are they are not going to go over the whole process again. What is the purpose of a Clear button anyway?
For one of our clients we increased their inquiries by 27% by getting rid of their CAPTCHA code and the clear button. Do you realize how big that is? A tiny change increased their revenue by 27%!
Increase Conversions 8 Ways to Skyrocket Your Online Sales - To learn more about this author, visit Zeke Camusio's Website.
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So the first thing we did was to install Google Analytics and the reason why she wasn’t getting any sales became evident: in seven days she got 13 visitors. If traffic is your problem, focus on that before you start working on tweaking your website to increase conversions.
Now, if you are getting several clicks a day and your conversion rate is too low (less than 2-5%, depending on the industry) then this post is really going to help you.
Make it easy for your visitors to contact you
Is your phone number visible at the top of every single page? Is the Contact Us page easy to find? Once people reach your contact us page, are you providing them with a contact form, email address, a phone number, and mailing address? If you have a fax number, include that, too.
Even if you have a contact form, include an email address. People might not want to email you at that moment but they might want to have your contact information for future reference. Make it easy for them.
Have a toll-free number. It’s only $10 a month. And display a physical address, not a PO Box. Most people don’t want to deal with online companies that do not have a phone number and a physical address displayed on their website.
Make information easy to find
First, use your analytics tool to find out what information people are looking for on your website. Maybe there is one product that gets a lot more attention than all the others. Once you’ve found out what information people are looking for, make it more prominent and easier to find. Don’t bury it “three clicks away”.
Have intuitive navigation
If you expect people to figure out how to get to where they want to go on your website, a majority of them will leave. The navigation is not where you want to get “creative”.
Your website is a marketing tool
A nice design is really important, but good copy is equally important. Don’t depend on cool graphics to make the sale. Use your words to convince them to buy from you. In my opinion, each website has to answer two questions using bullet-points:
• Why your visitors should buy what you sell
• Why they should buy it FROM YOU. (What sets you apart from the competition? Make sure that what makes you different from your competitors is of value to your customers.)
Make the text easy to read
Some tips:
Keep your sentences and paragraphs short. Most long sentences can be broken down into two or even three sentences. Don’t go over 6-7 lines per paragraph.
Use bold text to highlight the most important part of each paragraph.
Use bullets as they are a great way to summarize your main points.
Show your accreditations
If you are a member of the BBB or your local chamber of commerce, show the badges on your website. If you process credit cards online get VeriSign verified and get PayPal verified if you accept PayPal. If you’ve earned awards or are linked to an industry association, your website is a great opportunity to show your credentials.
Reduce sign-up and checkout times
Have you ever gone to a website, clicked on the Sign Up link and the form was so long that you decided not to fill it out? It happens all the time. If a piece of information is not vital to your business, don’t ask for it. If you really need to ask for a lot of information, get the names and email address in the first step. That way, if they don’t complete the registration/checkout process at least you know who they are and can remind them to finish the process later.
Avoid mistakes with your contact form
If your contact form has a CAPTCHA (that weird strings of characters that you need to type to prove you are human), get rid of it. CAPTCHA codes are annoying, and depending on your audience 10-50% will leave if you ask them to prove they are human.
Avoid having a “clear” button next to the “send” button. Many people browse the Internet intuitively. They don’t read everything they click on. If they spend 5 minutes filling in a form and then erase all the information by clicking on the wrong button, chances are they are not going to go over the whole process again. What is the purpose of a Clear button anyway?
For one of our clients we increased their inquiries by 27% by getting rid of their CAPTCHA code and the clear button. Do you realize how big that is? A tiny change increased their revenue by 27%!
Increase Conversions 8 Ways to Skyrocket Your Online Sales - To learn more about this author, visit Zeke Camusio's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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