From Clicks to Conversions – Maximising Site Conversion Rates

There’s really nothing better that taking a look at your site’s analytics and noting a wonderful week-long spike of traffic. That is of course, until you realise that not a single visitor made a purchase or stuck around for long enough to know what you’re all about and have to offer.The difference between site visitors and conversions is as big as that between hard sale and no customers at all. There’s no point in building huge traffic volumes if your conversion rates are too low. And that’s precisely why it’s important to understand that raking in the traffic in the first place really has no bearing on your conversion rates – this is something you have to look at and address entirely separately from your SEO efforts.    The good news however is that it can often take little more than a few simple tweaks to make a big difference to your conversion rates – here’s a look at a select few of the best:1 – Try Forms with Multiple StepsIf you need your visitors to submit a variety of personal details, try asking them to do so one step at a time. A prime example of how this works can be found with Groupon – their signup process first asks for just an email address, then a few more details, then the deals of interest to the subscriber and so on. It’s all a case of simple psychology – multiple forms that are easy to complete are always interpreted better than a single form with dozens of boxes.2 – Make it Easy for Site VisitorsHave you ever considered how low conversion rates could be the result of visitors finding the whole buying process too difficult? Savvy use of call to action buttons and general order/checkout systems is of huge importance as the moment a customer thinks the buying process will be a pain in the rear end, they’ll go and find somewhere it’s less difficult.3 – Site SecurityLittle matters more these days that the security and safety of personal details when buying online. So unless your site is covered by the latest technology and encryption methods, chances are those with any common sense won’t go anywhere near you.4 – Multiple Payment MethodsThere’s nothing worse than getting right to the end of the purchase process only to find that the one credit card you own isn’t accepted by the vendor – chances are you’ll never bother coming back. By contrast, more accepted methods of payment means more buyers are in fact able to make purchases.5 – Use AnalyticsAnd finally, the use of analytics cannot be overstated in its importance. And not just once every week or so either, but every single day like clockwork. Your analytics will show you exactly when and how your traffic arrived, what it does and at what point it decides to leave without making a purchase. By taking into account the information available, you can pinpoint where you’re losing them and make efforts to reverse the trend.