It’s a simple fact that not everyone who stumbles across your website is going to turn into a paying customer. If you’ve ever looked through your Google Analytics, you’ve likely run across a metric known as “bounce rate.”
Simply put, your bounce rate is the number of visitors who exited your website from the same page they entered. While there is no set number for what a “good” bounce rate should be, you should expect roughly 30% of your website visitors to bounce. Anything higher may be cause for alarm.
That leaves about 70% of visitors who are going to stick around and browse. However, on average only about 2%-5% will convert into customers. Those numbers may seem low, and they are. Therefore, it is important to get that percentage up and turn visitors who are merely browsing into paying customers.
Here’s how.
Nail Your Landing Page
A good landing page can lead to an exponential increase in conversions. Some of the best landing pages are converting at a rate of 10% or even better. Landing pages come in all shapes and sizes, however here are a few keys to standing out:
- Clear call to action. What is the next step you want your customers to take? Click here, call, sign up, etc? Don’t leave them guessing, show them plainly what the next move is.
- Effective copy, including headline. Landing pages are neither the time, nor place to get wordy.
- Clean design. Landing pages may be simple, or they can be a little more involved. Some even include video. All can be effective, however it is important to convey your message cleanly. If your page is too busy it can distract from the point as well as lead to longer loading times which is a conversion killer.
Incentivize Your Browsers
There is a reason why free samples, free trials, and limited time offers have been employed for decades. They work. Whether it’s a free flat white from the coffee shop that just opened, or a free month of your cloud-based accounting software; samples, trials, and incentives to try it out work.
Offering something for free, or at a deeply discounted rate removes many of the barriers and gives people little excuse not to try you out. This gets your foot in the door, places your product in front of the customer, and hopefully triggers their interest.
Know Your Customer
By understanding who your ideal customer is, you can tailor your marketing towards them more effectively. When customers interact with any brand, they have a desired outcome. Their intention when ordering that flat white often stretches beyond a simple enjoyment of coffee or just wanting something to drink.
While both factor in, what is the deeper reason? If your ideal customer is someone who commutes to work in the morning you may emphasize speed, efficiency, and a desire to “start the day off right.” Approaching from that angle is likely to be more effective than “try our coffee because it is good.”
Knowing your customer and what motivates them is a key towards knowing how to entice them to convert.
Remove Doubt With Social Proof
Customer testimonials and experiences are more trusted than brand copy by a factor of 10. If you have positive reviews, share them. It’s fine for you to say why your product is the best, but people expect you to say that.
What people really want to know is how your customers feel, what their experiences are, and why they would recommend you. Customer testimonials are marketing gold, and video testimonials are the stuff of dreams. Displayed prominently on your landing page, or home page; testimonials are a conversion booster.
Now Go Forth and Convert
In general, customers want to know: why should they give you a try? Demonstrate your value and answer that “why” question. If you can show what sets you apart, and what the benefit will be to them, you will be well on your way to converting browsers into paying customers.
Now go forth and convert!
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