As a successful entrepreneur, you’ve done everything right. You erected a thriving business from nothing, and created a beautiful website complete with merchandise and you’re seeing hundreds of visitors every day. There’s just one little problem, hardly anyone’s buying anything. What’s the deal?
This is a very common issue and you may not be aware of just how simple it could be to remedy the situation by revamping just a few aspects of your ecommerce site. You already have people’s attention, that’s the easy part, now it’s time to explore how to convert traffic into leads.
Enrich your content
As compelling as your content may be, something about it is lacking or may not be aligned with where your visitors are on their buyer’s journey. If your content is attracting people who aren’t quite ready to buy something, create a lead conversion opportunity in the form of a product demo or offer them the option of contacting the company directly if they have questions.
When they do contact you, ask them what their pain points are and what is preventing them from wanting to buy at this point in time. Gather as much research as you can to put together a buyer’s persona. How are your customers aligning with your brand? How are you showcasing your business’ values? Are they reflected in your marketing?
Some of these reasons may be within your control, and some may not. For example, there could be a recession going on or it’s right after the holidays and things are slow. Nevertheless, it’s important to always be thinking of new offers and deals that cater to your customers and help your business overcome whatever those circumstances may be.
Provide more incentives
One problem could be that you’re not providing enough conversion opportunities on your site. If you include items such as blog subscriptions or newsletter sign-ups, you can leverage these as lead conversion tools to the maximum benefit by placing forms on landing pages behind these particular calls-to-action (CTA).
Including CTAs on your website are powerful conversion tools if done correctly. You want to ensure CTAs visually stand out from the rest of the text. Offset them in the form of a button with a contrasting color or use eye-catching imagery with compelling copy that will provide a robust incentive to attract more clicks.
You want your CTA to convey a strong argument for why someone should click on something on your website. Use action verbs to specify how to get that offer–formatting them in the first person puts a personal touch on the command. You can also create a sense of urgency on the deal, as customers tend to be more compelled to buy something when they know it won’t be available again for a while. Some examples include:
Depending on the industry in which you’ve established your business, it’s also smart to optimize your pages with some effective keywords. Applying search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to your website copy is a surefire way to ensure your website attracts steady traffic and increases the probabilities that more conversions will be made with effective rhetoric in place.
Another problem your website may be running into is the length of your submission forms. After your leads convert from a CTA, you want to avoid asking for too much information upfront by redirecting them to a form that’s too long or asks for too much information.
The number of fields you include should be directly proportional to the value of your offer behind it. It’s another one of those situations where you have to consider where your visitors are in their buyer’s journey. For example, avoid going “straight for the sell” by asking for their phone numbers when offering a free trial or consultation. The optimal amount of fields for an initial submission form shouldn’t exceed three–it’s imperative not to overwhelm or scare off your leads when they’re so close to making a conversion.
Just ensure the forms collect the most essential pieces of information depending on where they are in the sales funnel. Determine what essential information your company can benefit from during this stage of the sales process. If they’re signing up for a newsletter, simply ask them for their email address. If they’re signing up for a webinar, the form should be more substantial by asking them information about their job, where they work and how this educational tool applies to them. Creating that balance, and knowing how to interact with your customers and engage them with the right amount of encouragement will give you the upper hand in the process of increasing conversions.
Your reputation hasn’t preceded you
One thing established companies have going for them is trust. Customers trust in the products and they trust in the brand. Sure, your business and website exists, but that’s not enough. Anyone could open a business, what sets you apart? Think about why your customers should instill their trust in you and build a marketing strategy from there. Are you promoting your company too much or too little? If you’re sending daily email messages to your clients, that’s likely to repel them. If you’re constantly asking for their information when they visit your site, that may scare them away as well.
Timing is everything–if you’re new to the market, you don’t want to put the cart before the horse by asking for your leads’ info right off the bat. Give them a chance to get to know you, establish a rapport and trust in them that they’ll become more loyal once they see you have their best interest at heart.
Once customer reviews start rolling in, display them on your homepage and on your social media accounts. Providing customer testimonials, case studies and statistics all contribute to building confidence in your site and brand. This will also help get the word out about your business.
Directing traffic
Once some of these initiatives are in place, keep an eye on your metrics and watch for improvements in conversions. It’s not enough to lead the horse to water, you have to make sure he drinks. It’s the same thing with your web traffic, you can lead your customers to your merchandise, but make sure they’re not there to just window shop, give them the motivation they need to click that “Buy Now” button and wow them to the point where they’ll come back and do it again.
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