Amateur digital marketing “experts” will suggest that when you aren’t getting enough sales from your website, you definitely need more “traffic” (visitors). In reality, the TRUTH IS … you do NOT need more traffic. More traffic traditionally equals window shoppers. What you need is to do is improve your websites “conversation rates.”
Suffice it to say—your web metrics may show that your site may be experiencing traffic—but THE FACT IS … those visitors are definitely NOT converting to “paying” customers like you hope.

Here is an insanely amazing fact.
For every hundred dollars spent to bring customers to their website, businesses / companies will spend an anemic one dollar to convert them. And with already low conversion rates of one to three percent, the amount being spent to try to convert the vast majority of the traffic remains ridiculously low.

Let’s examine five ways that you can employ immediately that will have an incredible impact on your site’s “conversion rates.”

1. Speed up your website

It may be common sense to you that a faster site would provide a better user-experience, and yet, the vast majority of websites have yet to fully understand why faster loading times translate into more dollars.

A recent study showed that a goldfish has an attention span of nine (9) seconds. Conversely, the attention span of the average human being has plummeted from 12 seconds a decade ago … to just eight (8) seconds today. Translation: every second counts while trying to attract people on to your site. You now know why every second counts once a prospective customer is on your site. According to recent data from Kissmetrics, a delay of only a single second can decrease your conversions by seven percent.
The reality: get over unnecessary functions by realizing that you MUST cater to your attention-deficit visitor by accelerating your site’s load times. And we suggest you make your site load quicker by disabling all gratuitous plug-ins, functionalities and features. At first, it will be difficult for you to sacrifice a little bit of your “cool” aesthetics … but take it from this 40-year marketing pro—in the end your business will be rewarded instantly.

2. Educating your customers provides “top of mind branding” and makes your brand “invaluable” & “irresistible”

Delivering “value” puts your brand in a whole new class. Not even the biggest “shopaholic” customer likes to be bombarded with constant sales messages and gratuitously sold to 24/7. Successful brands that educate their customers with meaningful content do NOT lose them to their competition. In fact, they gain their customers’ loyalty and TRUST. Genuine customer education is not self-serving promotion that ONLY provides information on your products and services. Instead, it’s relevant content that provides a prospect or customer with multiple options to choose from. One option is truthful comparisons with a competitor’s product or service. The fact is, customers will choose the brand that goes above and beyond to educate and inform them on a consistent basis.

Need an example? On one organic food website, the company asks its patrons/visitors if they want to “learn … or do … or both.” They also maintain a state-of-the-art “community” blog where recipes and tips for healthier eating solutions are routinely shared. Beyond text, they also provide visually stunning recipe imagery with entertaining & engaging videos.

3. Display your “trust” signals

People do business with those that they “know, like & trust.” Of the three, TRUST is the single largest reason that people will buy from you. In the case where people have to make online transactions, patrons want to be assured that their privileged data is safe and secure. They need to be 100 percent sure that their computers won’t be susceptible to getting hacked, or infected from malware or ransomware. If your site doesn’t boast security seals, it is likely that 50 percent of buyers visiting your site won’t buy from you.

Today the majority of the customers aren’t the trusting kind. According to Forrester research, nearly 85 percent of customers who were surveyed did not feel that websites protected their privileged data. And nearly 80 percent of respondents told one market research company that they abandon online shopping sites when they suspect security concerns.

Using a legitimate, trusted security seal from prominent brands and featuring them prominently goes a long way in building trust for your site. In addition, enable the SSL security protocol. Allow your customers be able to click on the “security seal” and verify for themselves so that they can see this is a genuine seal … and not just an image that has been copied and pasted onto your site.

4. Leverage “testimonials”

Testimony is when your earlier customers verify to future customers just how much they love/loved your products and services and exactly why your company is insanely great. Customers gravitate toward brands that have earlier blown away people. Some experts call this “social proof.”

There are different types of testimonials. From the larger brands, these often come from celebrities and prominent experts. Moreover, users and wisdom of the crowd and that of family and friends is a much more affordable option. Specific product endorsement is included in testimonials, rating and reviews, endorsements, social shares, and the like. From a behavioral psychological point of view, when prospects or customers see proof of your product through the use of testimonials, their decision making ability is clearly influenced and they are more likely to become “brand advocates,” thus, following YOUR product regularly.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, you should prominently display your clients, which is a testament of your great services. If you are that good, you will have built a “fence around your customers” and you will not worry that they will stray from you. Also, make your site interactive to encourage your customers to display their ratings and reviews.

5. Use “white noise” to an advantage

Psychologists and behavioral scientists site the phrase “sensory adaptation.” This means that over time, the responsiveness of our sensory system to a particular stimulus decreases. “Sensory adaptation” refers to an irritating noise that over time seems less irritating. Essentially it becomes “white noise” and is ignored after continuously hearing it.

This can be leveraged and used to create a site design that provides constant stimulus to our senses (eyes & ears). Consider making your “call to action” buttons with uniquely distinctive colors—as compared to other design elements—so they stand apart from one another. Resist the temptation to be “matchy matchy” in your design by introducing something disruptive that attracts attention. After all, you’re not decorating a room or choosing an outfit. A radical element will provide an unique sensory stimulus, in addition to breaking an overtly monotonous design.

Blessings to you always!