How To Maximise Your Website Conversions

Optimise your website for conversion

Often a website is created, but never updated or worked on further. Many factors can influence this decision, but the fact of the matter remains the same: the opportunity is there to optimise and maximise the potential of your site.

With all the advertising methods out there, you can tap into a consumer’s buying behaviour and offer them exactly what they want or something they didn’t even know they wanted. It’s all about being there all the time and subconsciously influencing their decision-making process.

I have put together 13 ideas you can consider trying out in your own purchase funnel to convert website visitors.

1. Upsell thank you page offers

Thank you pages are untouched gems when it comes to marketing. It’s such an effective marketing tool that we don’t use enough. Whenever a website visitor buys a product, signs up for a policy or even gets a quote, you should entice them with a new offer as they finish the process. This could include a discount on their next purchase, an exclusive promotion that only they have access to, a free gift etc.

The main point is to thank your customers/ clients for going through all the effort of completing your process whatever it may be.

2. Thank you page referral incentive promotions

Another effective thank you page offer is a referral incentive. Ask users on the thank you page to refer your product, service, offer, promotion, etc. with their friends and family, and in return, you offer them an incentive. The referral can be via social media, email or whatever works for your target audience.

3. Retarget visitors with better offers

Sometimes users go to your website and are not 100% convinced whether they want to buy, read or engage and that’s fine. Maybe they didn’t have the time, or they were just not entirely convinced that they wanted what you were offering. Yes, you may have missed out on a sale, but don’t give up there. Social media and Google have made it easy to recapture those missed sales, enquiries or leads. Retarget them with an even better offer via social media or GDN (Google Display Network). And it’s not just for websites; you can retarget on emails as well.
Add Facebook pixels on your website, build targeted Facebook audiences, track every click and behaviour on your website – the more data you gather, the easier it will be to retarget.

4. Blog article promotion

When you write a blog, don’t just post it on your website. Unless users visit your website and go directly to your blog, no one will see or read it. Your blog is a marketing tool, and you should use it as such. Whenever you post a new blog, there are a few basic steps to follow.Step 1: Ensure your content is 100%
Before you post it, ensure that your title includes the keywords you are targeting for, that there are no spelling mistakes and that it includes an enticing call to action. Most importantly, never change the content of the article once you’ve posted it. Every time you change content, Google comes in and ‘re-index’ your page, usually leaving you with a weaker index than before.Step 2: Publish on the following platforms within 7 minutes after you have posted your blog on your website

• First: Publish on Reddit – Reddit has the fastest index in the world.
• Second: Post on Google +
• Third: Post on Facebook (organic)
• Fourth: Post on Twitter

These four places are all the publishing you need to index. After this, you can start promoting you blog via social media, paid advertising and email marketing.

Let’s use our 10 digital trends every digital marketer should know about in 2016 article as an example.

In 2015 we launched the article on our website. Within our 7-minute window, we posted it on Google +, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit. We also shared it on a few Advertising and Digital Marketing LinkedIn groups.

In a year, we had over 77 000 page visits from a 169 countries, where the top countries were US, UK, SA, Canada and Australia.

Other platforms to consider are Instagram, Pinterest, bizcommunity and LinkedIn (where the latter two are more for corporate clients).

5. Lead magnet promotions (pop-up or banner on page)

It’s no secret that most of us want leads, whether in the form of a sale, enquiry, sign up or booking. But, it’s important that we all understand the purchase funnel before we brainstorm for ideas on how to get those leads. There are three levels of engagement, and each level has a different goal. For example, if you go on a first date, you won’t just jump to marrying the guy, or girl the next day. You’ll maybe schedule another date or go for coffee afterwards. The same goes for marketing to consumers.It’s a 3-step process, and it will help you warm up potential customers.

Step 1: Attract
Attract them and Introduce yourself
Example: Newsletter sign up, thought leadership sign up

Step 2: Trust
Gain their trust and build a relationship
Example: Sharing new insights, opportunities and ideas

Step 3: Commit
Commit to the relationship and go into a partnership
Example: Enquire, get a quote or sign upOnce you understand the funnel, you will immediately know when and where in the purchase funnel to put your lead magnet promotions.

Type of lead magnet promotions

There are a lot of great ideas out there, but start with a simple, focused idea. Lead magnets do not have to be lengthy; they only need to entice a customer long enough to engage.

• Thought leadership download
• Free guide/ report opt-in
• Free checklists or handouts
• Free tools and resources
• Video training/ webinars
• Free download
• Free trial or sample of a product
• Free shipping
• Survey or quizzes
• Tests and assessments
• Sales/ educational material
• Product catalogue download
• Free online video courses
• Case study download
• Free quote or consultation
• Free E-book/ Whitepapers
• Template downloads (customisable or free)
• Etc.

Oh, and before we move on to the next point, remember that you need to know who your ideal customer is before you can create a lead magnet.

6. Promotions, discounts and special offers pop-up offer

(also a type of lead magnet)If you’re selling online, it’s a good idea to have a look at the buying behaviour of your online customers. Are they finishing the buying process, or do they abandon mid-way? Do they immediately leave the page as they land on it or do they browse and then leave? With all these insights, you can diagnose what the problems are and then create solutions for it.
Pop-up offers are a great way to disrupt users in the purchase funnel (in a positive way). Anyone buying would appreciate a discount or promotion that would benefit them immediately, whether it be a 20% discount, a buy one get one free offer or a buy over x amount and save offer.

7. Newsletter Subscriptions

Do not underestimate the power of a simple newsletter subscription. It’s a great way to communicate with the public and increase brand awareness. If you want to make the best out of this idea, ensure that the subscription is visible at all times on your website. A very popular placement is in the footer or the header of a website. That way, whether a user clicks through to other pages or not, they will always see it.
Sometimes just adding the subscribe option is not enough for users to sign up. If that is the case, add an incentive. I see a lot of online shops offering a discount on their purchase if they sign up. For example, “Subscribe to our newsletter and get 10% off your next purchase”. It’s a simple idea, yet very effective because it taps into our need to get things for free or at a discounted price.

8. Get a Quote form

If your product or service contains any form of a quote process, add the form online. It will save you time and it will make it easier for the public to contact you. You can also then track exactly how many people have requested quotes, instead of having to count the emails. Just add tracking to the call to action button and track away. If you have no clicks, go back and change your form. Maybe it’s too long, or maybe it does not appeal to your target audience.

9. Contact Us form

Contact forms do more than just streamline the FAQ process. It’s a way to get people’s details without blatantly asking them to provide it. All contact forms have a standard format i.e. name, surname, email address, phone number (optional), subject, message. It’s what you do with the form that’s important. While you are getting their details, add a disclaimer for remarketing or for a newsletter subscription. You are getting their details and permission to send them more content or retarget them online.
The best thing about getting that permission is that you can use all the email addresses and phone numbers for Facebook marketing. Upload your CSV file of email addresses or phone numbers, and Facebook will target your ad specifically to those users.

10. Pop-up live chats

A live chat functionality will do wonders for your online website, especially if you have an online store or if you offer services such as banking, insurance, etc. As consumers, we know that if you struggle with something online and you can’t get the help you need immediately, it will most likely influence whether you buy or not.A live chat offers your consumers the real-time convenience of getting answers fast, and also the added benefit of an increased engagement. Not only will you help the buying/ enquiry process, but you will get their details as well which could be used for marketing purposes.

11. Related product suggestions

Most online stores offer this feature. Related products if used correctly could help your online sales.
But before you add this feature, you need to understand your target audience. Are they first-time shoppers or are they just browsing? Are they here to buy a solution? If you know the audience, you can recommend products to them that fits with their buying behaviour. Don’t overwhelm consumers with too many options, though. Do it strategically and in such a way that it does not interrupt the buying process.What are some great related products ideas? Homepage Featured Products:
Personally decide which products are important.

Daily Offers:
Show consumers the daily specials up for grabs (update it every day). You can even at a time stamp to it.

Today’s Discounted Deal:
Encourage consumers to visit your website every day to see that day’s deal. Make this offer irresistible.

Latest products or new arrivals:
Give consumers first access to the latest products that just hit the market.

Your bestsellers:
Add the bestsellers on your website.

Product Reviews:
Add products with the best customer reviews. This is quite a good tactic, as we tend to listen to our peers.

Dynamic product rotation:
If you don’t have a lot of time to manually select products to be featured, add it dynamically. For example, the product with the most sales or the last product bought.

Pop-up based on engagement and behaviour:
Follow the consumer’s path on your website. Track which products they look at or are interested in. Based on this behaviour, dynamically present those consumers with the same products they looked at or related products in the form of a pop-up.

Product page:
Most of the techniques used above can be used for the product page, but you should focus a bit more on personalisation here.

Similar products:
Products that are related to the one you are interested in.

Talk directly to consumers:
Make consumers feel special by talking directly to them. For example, recommendations just for you.

What other consumers liked:
Show consumers what their peers liked.

Related Accessories:
A great example here would be electronics such as cameras or laptops. For example, if they buy a camera, recommend a tripod. If they buy a laptop, recommend a laptop bag.

Related products:
This is great for online clothing shops i.e. This shirt will go with those pants.

Frequent collections bought:
Show consumers the products that have been bought with the product they are interested in. For example, People who bought this, also bought the following.

Package deals:
Add this product and get 20% off.

Checkout and Cart pages Recommended products:
Recommend similar products after users have added an item to their cart. For example, you may also like.

Continue shopping:
Some users may want to continue shopping once they have seen their cart. Give them the option to do so. For example, you may also like.

Related products or accessories:
Suggest additional accessories on the cart page.

Free products:
Once users get to their cart, surprise them with a freebie. For example, congrats you have qualified for the following free products, choose one.

Recently viewed products

12. Full page takeover

Full page takeovers are seen by many as a waste of a good digital budget, as there are so many other more productive advertising methods. But if you do have the budget to spare, this is great for brand awareness.

13. Abandon cart strategy

When consumers fail to buy and abandon their cart, it is not a lost cause. All you have to do is create and set up an abandon cart strategy that automatically reminds them to come back to their cart. A good and trusted method is creating an email campaign that is spanned over a week. Below is an example of an abandon cart email strategy: 4 hours: First Email (Scarcity and Limited Stock)
Ask users to return to the Shopping Cart, as you are almost out of stock. “Complete your order before we run out”

24 hours: Second Email (Reminder)
Just another reminder to place their order.

2 days: (Social Proof)
Send a social proof email to engage users and get them back to the website – video

4 days: (Discount Ladder)
Introduce a discount offer i.e. 10% off coupon.

5 days: (2nd social proof email)6 days: (Time constraint email)
Send users an email that their discount opportunity in email 4 will expire in 24 hours.

After a week:
Send a mix of content offers & promotions.With all these ideas, there is no limit to how far you can take your conversion strategy. Test ideas, find out what works and then use that to your benefit.