4 Tried-and-Tested Ways to Turn Web Visitors into Customers
By Tom Warthen – President, ProSite Web Design LLC - www.prositewebdesign.com
Clicks don't matter. Conversion does.
All the visitors to your website won't do your business any good if they don't generate any revenue.
Some products and services – for example, those provided by the financial, consulting, software, and legal fields – are simply too complex to add to a shopping cart; they may require a detailed conversation in order to identify what solution is needed.
Companies in these situations often feel at a loss when trying to optimize their web pages for conversions… but they don't have to. There are a number of tried-and-tested ways to persuade the visitors to your website to pick up the phone and call you to schedule a meeting or get more information.
Here are four of the most effective methods which you can use to make your business website a more efficient sales and marketing tool right away:
#1 - Provide information first
When a searcher finds your business website, what problem or issue are they looking to solve? Identify their key concerns and offer your insights. This not only makes your landing pages more helpful, but also gives you more credibility as a vendor or adviser. The more you know, the more people will trust you, and trust is often the most important aspect of any business relationship. If you can relieve their concerns, you may just have a customer for life.
Read more: 5 Quick Tips for Generating Great Content for Your Website
#2 - Offer an incentive
Studies show that visitors to a website are three times more likely to sign up for a newsletter when offered a free gift or report than they are when no incentive is offered. You can use the same principle to convince potential buyers to pick up the phone or send an email to get in touch with you. Does your company have a book, demo DVD, free trial, sample, or other product that can be used as a "reward" for calling in and requesting information? If so, make sure that offer is displayed prominently on your landing pages.
#3 - Create urgency
There are two important ways to get interested prospects to take a certain action immediately: to give them a strong reason to move forward (like the free gift we mentioned), and to take away the option of doing it later.
Have you ever wondered why so many advertisements and specials are for a limited time only? It's because experienced marketers know that for every hour that you don't respond to their message the odds that you will eventually do so fall drastically towards zero. Put a timestamp on every offer found on your landing pages, and you can be sure that it will generate more phone calls than if your invitation seems open-ended.
#4 - Use the right call to action
Very few people are interested in things like "receiving sales literature," which can already be done far more easily by viewing online. On the other hand, offering something like a "free consultation" or "immediate answers" carries more value. Being careful about the way you set up and word your calls to action can dramatically increase the percentage of visitors who will ultimately call your company.
Convincing web visitors to take the next step and contact your organization is a unique challenge, but one that you can meet. Put these tips into action to make your site more profitable, or better yet, call us today to see how we can help you get more out of every aspect of your online marketing plan.
Tom Warthen is the President of ProSite Web Design LLC and has been helping businesses looking for a high return on their online marketing investment since the early days of the Internet in the 1990s. To learn more about how to optimize your website, and to contact ProSite Web Design for a consultation, visit http://www.prositewebdesign.com.
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