In Glengarry Glen Ross, Alex Baldwin’s character told his flock of salesmen to “Always Be Closing.” If he were giving that same speech today, he would probably change his motto to “Always Be Converting.”
Conversions are the driving force of e-commerce. They are the golden figure – the line between possibility and reality. And if you want your online business to succeed, you need to be able to convince visitors to your site to convert themselves into full-blown, profitable customers.
This sounds a great deal harder than it really is. While increasing your site’s conversions does indeed take some work, the concepts and strategies behind this work are pretty straightforward once you sit down and really try to understand them. For instance, here are four surprisingly easy ways you can increase conversions on your e-commerce site today.
1) Combine strong content with visual appeal. Today’s consumers are highly visual, especially when purchasing on the Internet. They don’t want to read a wall of text – they want to see a product for themselves. This means two things, as far as you’re concerned.
First, you must make your website highly visual. Use pictures to direct users around your site provide a series of product images for everything you sell. Second, you must limit the copy you use and you must concentrate it rather than dilute it. Make every single word on your site count, and use no more than 500 words per landing page. Taking both of these steps will help ensure a user-friendly experience that will encourage more conversions.
2) Update your online store. Do you accept multiple forms of payment? Is your return policy clear and highly visible? Do you provide tracking numbers so that your customers can follow their order? If not, you should call your developer and start making these changes today. You want your store to be simple and easy to use. If it isn’t, then you’re losing business.
3) Use media to direct attention. This article mentions a study done on Internet consumers using eye tracking software. As it turns out, making the people in your pictures face a headline or an image of your product can really help concentrate visitors’ attention. This translates to a stronger impression and, eventually, more sales. The next time you place a banner ad; make the model in your photo look at your product. The same goes for images of people you use on your website as well.
4) Track everything. Google analytics is a wonderful tool in that it allows you to break down exactly how people use your website. You can find out which pages people are visiting the most, where the highest concentration of buyers is located geographically and much more. Use this data to develop targeted marketing campaigns for your most profitable demographics.
Understanding the Internet isn’t rocket science, though sometimes it may feel that way. Use these surprisingly easy tips to help reboot your online business and increase your conversions today. The work might not be enjoyable, but the results you’ll get certainly will be.