The Inbound Growth Blog

The Inbound Growth Blog covers all topics relating to an integrated marketing strategy. We write about inbound marketing, social media, integrated marketing strategies and the sales process.

Small Business Growth Strategies: Optimize Conversion Rates

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Posted by John Beveridge on Sep 11, 2012 3:07:00 PM

landing-page-optimizationMany businesses that implement inbound marketing programs focus on driving traffic to their websites.  While it's important to increase website traffic to maximize sales opportunities, maximizing your lead conversion rate is what generates revenue for your business.  A lead conversion occurs when a website visitor provides you with contact information (usually an e-mail address) in return for access to a content offer like an eBook or whitepaper.  The inbound marketing process continues by providing information via e-mail that helps the lead as she progresses through her buying process.  If done correctly, a high percentage of leads will eventually convert to sales.

Businesses that use inbound marketing successfully optimize their conversion rates to grow their bottom lines.  For an established brand, focusing on improving conversion rates with existing web traffic is the quickest path to revenue generation.  The message to businesses starting an inbound marketing program is to work on increasing web traffic, but to concentrate your efforts on maximizing conversion rates. This focus will result in revenue generation and increased market share.  Tim Ash, author of the book Landing Page Optimization, identifies several areas to review in order to increase your conversion rates.  I highly recommend this book for those wishing to take a deep dive into this topic.

Make Sure Your Calls-to-Action are Clear

A call-to-action is the element of your website that tells your website visitor what you want them to do.  For an example, see the call-to-action directly below this section.  Hopefully, you know what I'd like you to when you see the call to action.  Hint:  I want you to download my social media eBook.  Please!  Your visitor may not download your content offer, but you don't want them not to because they're not sure what you want them to do.  Here are a few call-to-action best practices:

  1. Start with a verb - you want your web visitor to take action and verbs denote action.  Use terms like Download the eBook, Register Here, and Sign Up for the Webinar.
  2. Don't give your web visitor too many choices - confusion is not your friend.  To maximize conversion rates, make sure your site provides a few clear calls-to-action per page.
  3. Use warm colors in your call-to-action buttons.  Research shows that yellow, orange and green buttons have higher conversion rates than cold colors like blue, black and purple in western countries.  Red can be effective, but you need to be wary of the connection between red and stop.

Download Search Engine Optimization 101

 

Don't Ask for Too Much Information

Most of the visitors who come to your website aren't ready to buy; they are primarily looking to educate themselves on potential solutions to a problem they are facing.  The Marketing Experts Blog found that asking for a phone number in a marketing form decreased completions by 34%.  An oft-cited analogy is asking someone on a first date to marry you.  It turns most people off.

I recommend that you ask for the following information elements for a top-of-the-funnel educational offer like an eBook or webinar:

  1. Name
  2. E-Mail
  3. Company

On my top-of-the funnel forms, I ask if the person completing the form would like to be contacted by a representative, with "not at this time" being an option.  I ask for a phone number as a non-required field and make it clear that I'm only asking for it in case the person would like to be contacted.  You can ask for more information as leads continue to interact with your inbound marketing process.  For example, a popular bottom-of-the-funnel offer is a free consultation or a product demonstration.  This is the time to ask for a phone number - someone who is requesting a demonstration is typically moving closer to making a purchasing decision.

White Space is Your Friend - Don't Use Too Much Text

Have you ever seen a website that looks like a newspaper with massive amounts of text?  It's hard on the eyes and influences your visitors to bounce off your page to another website.  Make your website easy to understand.  The five-second test is a good way to analyze your user experience.  Have a friend or colleague close their eyes, then open them and look at your website.  Can they tell you what you want them to do within five seconds?  If not, your site is too confusing.  Use blocks of information and white space to create a site that is easy to understand and is aesthetically pleasing to your visitor.  Remember, in the western world, we read from left to right and top to bottom.  Organize your web content with that in mind.

Present a Trustworthy Image

This is particularly important if you're a small business.  National brands like CNN have established trust and don't need to take extra steps to communicate that trust to their visitors.  Here are a few tips for small businesses:

  1. If you're an e-commerce company, display badges from trusted verification services.  Here's a sample: Google Trusted Store
  2. Publish case studies from customers that you've helped.
  3. Display links to your partners with established brand.  For example, if you're a reseller, you can promote the established brand that you're reselling.

To summarize, you can create revenue generation synergies by improving your lead and customer conversion rates.  Take some time and review your website with these tips in mind.  Make sure your as efficient as possible with your valuable website traffic.  Do you have any tips for increasing conversion rates that you'd like to share?

Get a free inbound marketing assessment with Rapidan Strategies

 

Topics: Inbound Marketing, Technology Companies

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