One of the most crucial skills to have as an online business owner is knowing how to remove as many barriers to conversions on your website as possible.
While you may think that so long as your website has a sleek design or easy navigation, it can automatically guarantee high conversion rates, that’s not always the case.
In fact, you can have an aesthetically pleasing website that even gets a lot of traffic, but if that traffic isn’t converting into sales, it doesn’t do much for you.
If you’re having this problem with your company site, there might be several reasons why your website isn’t converting.
Let’s look at some common mistakes businesses often make in this department and see what you can do to avoid them.
Why do websites experience low conversion rates?
There are a few common issues with e-commerce sites that may be preventing your company from generating the traffic and sales it deserves, including:
1 – Poor graphic design
In the age of visual media, customers are more attracted to websites, brands, and businesses with a striking, professional image.
The best way to reflect your brand’s visual identity is through your website. This is why it is extremely important to hire a professional graphic designer.
Many online business owners think that they can get away with designing a website themselves. This may seem easier than ever with templates and web building platforms available.
Still, the skills and knowledge of using the right colors, themes, and contrasts is something that only graphic designers intimately understand.
Details like where to use images, where to maximize white space, and where to put a particular message are at the heart of a graphic designer’s job.
The average freelance graphic designer will charge around $25 an hour in the United States, which is very reasonable considering the number of conversions a professional-looking website can generate.
Whether you have a small or a large business, hiring a graphic designer will boost your brand’s identity above your competitors.
2 – Slow site load time
Consumers don’t have much time to wait for websites to load, and with almost all businesses having an online presence, they have a ton of alternatives to choose from if your site is slow.
To stand out from the competition, you should have a site that is not just visually pleasing but also loads fully within a matter of seconds.
Website load speed is one of Google’s main ranking factors, which means a slow site loses the chance of ranking on the top of search engine results pages (SERPs).
And that means losing out on potential visitors and customer conversions. Pay attention to your site’s load speed to make sure you aren’t turning off your visitors with a sluggish experience.
3 – Lack of a clear CTA
Your visitors are on your website to look for a solution to a particular problem. And if they want to contact you and can’t figure out how, they will most likely exit your page even if they love your website.
Whether it is a simple text, a visual button, or an invitation to sign up for the newsletter, a clear call-to-action (CTA) bridges the gap between free website content and high-value subscribed content.
A clear CTA reiterates what action your visitors should take to get involved with your brand. This may be looking for more information, contacting a representative, or simply opting in for future notifications.
A clear, visible call-to-action promotes your business’s core message. Placing a hyperlink in the middle of the text that directs visitors to another blog post for more information is useful.
Using compelling copy instead of simply saying “Call Us” can also excite visitors to explore your business and reach out.
Improve your website’s conversion rates with a better UX
A website is an online space for your prospects to interact with your business and learn more about it.
That interaction should be reflective of the quality of service that you provide. A positive experience will show that your business values its customers and hopefully motivate them to engage.
In contrast, a negative experience like a hard-to-navigate site or slow-loading pages will likely turn them away.
And the key to a good user interface goes beyond just an attractive design. A good interface involves the whole user experience, from the moment a visitor arrives on your page until the time they (hopefully) check out.
There are a few UI-boosting website tips that you can use to make a masterful company website.
1 – Keep it simple
When a prospect first visits your website, a crowded interface with lots of visuals, texts, and messages is likely to confuse them.
In comparison, a basic, minimalistic interface will get your visitors scrolling down to the end. The adage “less is more” could not be more true when it comes to designing simple user-facing functionality for your site.
For example, if your website shows a pop-up for signing up for a newsletter, make sure you only ask for an email.
Having a complete form asking for names, preferences, and location information in the hopes of getting some extra user data may scare your customers away.
The more basic you make your initial steps, the higher your chance of converting your prospects into customers.
2 – Increase your site’s loading speed
We have already discussed the importance of a fast-loading website in the previous section. Here are a few tips that can improve your website’s speed:
- If your website uses many images, use a compression tool to compress the image files so your website can load faster.
- Avoid using unnecessary plugins. At most, only install a few basic ones that are crucial to operations. This will also help you make your site faster on the back-end.
- Enable browser caching. Caching means not every part of a site will be loaded each time, so this speeds things up.
3 – Add testimonials and reviews
Online testimonials have become an essential form of proof for customers when determining the quality of a business or product.
Studies show that almost 82% of customers read online reviews before deciding to buy from a business and read an average of ten reviews before making a decision.
Consumers trust each other’s word more than what a business is simply saying about itself. Showcasing the words of other happy customers increases your prospect’s confidence when they visit your business and increases your site’s credibility as well.
Conclusion
Tracking your website’s conversion rates is extremely important for knowing how well your website is performing.
You have to stay on top of UX, know your customers, and craft a powerful message that provides value to your users.
It surely takes work, but that’s precisely what’s going to bump your conversions and increase online sales.
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