This is the 2nd article in our 4-part series covering the 4 Pillars of Effective Digital Marketing.  As a refresher, the 4 Pillars are:

  1. Website Traffic
  2. Website Conversion
  3. Customer Value
  4. Tracking

That means today we’re covering Pillar #2, Website Conversion.

If you’re already generating leads and sales from your website, then one of your biggest leverage points in your marketing is to increase your website conversion rates.  When you increase your conversion rates, then all of your marketing instantly becomes more profitable.  You’ll start to generate more leads and sales with absolutely no more investment in driving traffic to your site.

Think about that for a minute.  Most of us tend to think we need more website traffic to drive sales, so we focus all of our time and resources into traffic tactics like SEO, search engine advertising, display advertising, and social media.

But what if instead you focused on increasing your conversion rates?  Well, if you were able to double your conversion rates (not unheard of), then you would immediately double your sales with no more investment in traffic!  Again, this is likely a huge leverage point in your marketing if you’re already generating leads and sales from your website.

Website Conversions

 

Can You Really Double Your Website Conversion Rates?

I know what you’re thinking at this point, “Can I really double my website conversion rates?”  I’ll admit it’s a lofty goal, but even small improvements here can have a big impact on your bottom line.  So let’s set the goal to double your conversion rate and even if you fall short, I guarantee you’ll see improvements when you follow these 5 steps.

 

Step 1: Improve Your Copy & Offer

The first step is to take a look at your website from the perspective of a first-time visitor (extra credit if you can actually get in-person feedback from someone who hasn’t visited your site before).  Then ask yourself or your first-time visitor two important questions:

  1. Can you identify what it is that you’re offering?
  2. Why should you choose your business over all the other options?

In my experience, this exercise alone is all you need to do to get plenty of ideas for how to improve on your website copy and offer.  Studies show that you have about 3 seconds to capture the attention of a first-time visitor or she’s going to click the back button and go to another website.  That means your website copy at the top of the page (before you scroll down) must be compelling enough to encourage visitors to keep reading or clicking through to learn more.

Once you complete this exercise using a computer, then move on to Tablets and mobile devices because it’s possible your website copy is displayed differently across devices. As you probably know, more and more people are surfing the internet using Tablets and mobile devices so it’s not enough to only optimize for computers.

 

Step 2: Improve Your Website Layout

The next step is to improve your website layout, which is nearly as important as your copy.  I’ve reviewed websites that have compelling copy and offers, but conversions were suppressed simply because the website was difficult to navigate.

Again, it helps to get fresh eyes on your website to uncover possible layout issues.  For example, you may think it’s obvious to click on the product image to make a purchase, but the average user might expect to see an “Add to Cart” button.

Just like we did before to improve you copy, it’s important to review your webpage layout in different devices.  Your website may be easy to navigate on a computer, but it could be nearly impossible to use on a mobile device.  This is often the case and it will become even more of a problem in the months and years ahead.

 

Step 3: Use Lead Magnets

Here’s a startling fact about digital marketing that you may not be aware of – The vast majority of your website traffic is not ready to make a purchase.  By vast majority, I’m talking about around 96% of your visitors on any given day.

Of course, this depends on the source of the traffic, but generally speaking most of your website traffic is not going to take action to place an online order, call, or go visit your store/office.  It’s really important to understand that fact, but don’t let it discourage you.  Just because most visitors aren’t ready to buy, doesn’t mean you can’t eventually convert them into customers.

The trick is to capture your prospects’ contact information so that you can follow up, nurture, educate, and ultimately close the sale.  And the way to capture contact information is to use lead magnets.

A lead magnet is something valuable like a report, white paper, demo, coupon, video presentation, or anything else your prospect would find valuable, that you can give away for free in exchange for contact information like an email address.  Go to our homepage to see one of our lead magnets, the Internet Marketing Survival Guide.

The beauty of lead magnets is that the visitor doesn’t have to be ready to buy right at that exact moment she’s on your website.  As long as you can offer something valuable and get their contact information, then you’ll be able to follow up via email to close the sale.

What do you think is the next step? :)

 

Step 4: Follow Up Via Email

The 4th step is obviously to follow up via email marketing.

To be clear, this applies to prospects who request one of your lead magnets, as well as prospects who enter your sales funnel from other source like a standard Contact Us form.  No matter where the prospect came from, it’s critically important to consistently follow up to increase your sales conversion rates.  This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone with sales experience.

For more information and tips to improve your email marketing, read 3 email marketing best practices, 4 best email subject lines, and the 5 best email promotions for small businesses.

 

Step 5: Follow Up Via Retargeting Ads

The final step is to use retargeting advertising to follow up in addition to email marketing.  With retargeting ads, you can display text ads, banner ads, Facebook ads, Twitter ads, and even YouTube video ads to prospects who have already visited key pages on your website.

If you’re not already advertising, then this is one of the least risky tactics to get started.  Retargeting ads are laser focused on prospects who have already expressed interest because they’ve been to your website.  For example, if you have an eCommerce business, then you can use retargeting ads that display only to prospects who added a particular product to their shopping cart.  Or, for services businesses, you can display ads only to prospects who requested a demo or consultation, but did not convert into a customer.

 

Want More Website Conversion Advice?

This month we’re celebrating the 3rd Anniversary of Main Street Inner Circle, our subscription service where we share our best marketing advice every month.

When you sign up this month, you’ll get these 21 marketing guides for $1 – including a step-by-step video course on How to Double Your Conversions, our Email Marketing Guide, Lead Magnet training and Retargeting Guide… Plus, you’ll lock in a special low rate on your membership.

Click here to learn more and sign up.

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