Sources:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wEALaryogq_QgXMLDCpSwxYEGNbnFYp9aUPDp5mMEYM/edit
Increase Website Conversion
Welcome to a new series on Internet Marketing for RV businesses. With the wealth of information that we have at our disposal for internet marketing, how do you know which strategy will give you the best return for your investment?
To help solve this problem, I’ve created 15 different internet marketing strategies that you can implement immediately. These strategies will get you real, actionable results. And to make it easy, I’ve broken the 15 strategies down into 4 articles.
- Website Design That Sells
- 3 Easy SEO Tips To Target Your Perfect Buyer
- Content Writing Tips That Intrigues Visitors and sells more RVs
- How To Build Your Dealership’s Online Branding And Rankings In Search Engines
As each article will lay the foundation for actionable marketing strategies, if you have questions or comments, please be sure to comment below. With that said, let us begin.
In this article I’ll be talking about how you can create or modify your website design so that it sells. How? I will be going over the first three internet marketing strategies that you can implement immediately. And those are:
- What The Highest Converting Websites Do Differently
- How to design each page of your website.
- Six items every webpage needs.
Step 1: What The Highest Converting Websites Do Differently
In order to understand how we can get the most out of your website, we need to understand the psychology of the visitors that come to your site.
Yep, we’re getting deep here. But why are we doing this?
As soon as we can figure out how our visitors respond when they first view a web page, the easier it will be to use that information to our advantage. Enter the rule of the Golden Triangle.
The rule of the Golden Triangle proves that the triangular viewing pattern on the upper left hand side of your computer monitor draws the attention of the viewers the most.
The thick horizontal red line represents the fold of the page.
Why is this important? Because it tells a huge secret into where to place the most important information on our website and how we can manipulate our viewers eye movements to exactly what we want them to see.
With this key piece of data, you are able to design your website in such a way that it gives your visitors a better user experience, keeping them on your site longer and ultimately increases sales.
So how does this translate onto your own website?
Step 2: How To Design Each Page Of Your Website
The best way to see how to implement a website design that sells is by duplicating what the world leaders are doing. Enter Amazon, Ebay and Esurance. Initially it’s faster and cheaper to model what the major world leaders are doing because they are the ones that have spent millions testing design layouts to see what sells.
With that, let’s take a look at a landing page from each one of their sites:
Notice how Amazon places the most important viewer information on the upper left: Amazon logo, images of product, description and pricing in the middle. They design their page to give users exactly the information that they are looking for. Then they creatively place the Add to Cart button in the upper right and give it an eye catching yellow color.
As you can see here, even though the Add to Cart button isn’t within the upper left, they can manipulate the viewer’s eye movements by making the button a vibrant color compared to everything else on the page.
Further proof: Just take a look at what else is the same color as the Add to Cart button: Amazon Logo, Go button, Sign In, Customer Reviews and two other Add To Cart buttons. This is what Amazon wants you to view and take action on. Crafty isn’t it. Is your website designed this way?
Next, let’s take a look at how ebay designs their landing page.
Ebay’s sales layout is very similar to Amazon with the exception that Ebay places their Buy It Now buttons in the middle column instead of on the far right. With Ebay, they decided to place all of the details of the item below the fold and place their Buy It Now button in the middle of the page.
As with Amazon, you’ll notice that ebay’s Buy it Now and Add to Cart Buttons are big, blue and really jump off the page. It would be interesting to get the results on if Amazon or Ebay’s Buy it Now button placement converts higher.
Now let’s check out one of the biggest industries in the world… insurance.
Esurance has one of the best landing pages around. In fact, they were the company that paid Eyetools to study visitor viewing habits that resulted in the Golden Triangle results above. So it’s no wonder that they have everything on their landing page within the layout of the Golden Triangle: Title, call to action, form and button.
The rule of the Golden Triangle is the foundation for how every page on your site should be structured. Can this rule be bent? As we’ve seen from Amazon’s yellow Buy it Now button, you bet it can. But it should only be bent when you have completed a split A/B test to prove an increased conversion rate.
The way in which your website is designed is what gives your visitors the first impression that either sends them away or keeps them on your site.
What first impression do you think your website gives?
Step 3: Six Items Every Webpage Needs
So now that we covered the benefits of design layout, here is a list of the most important items that every web page should have above the fold:
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- Contact info – Every webpage should have at minimum your company phone number above the fold. Other pertinent information depends on the type of website. For instance, RV Dealers and RV Parks should all have their address on each page with a link to an on-site map for visitors to view where they are located. Whereas with RV manufacturers, the address is less vital for sales and doesn’t need to be above the fold of every page.
- Social Media – For the most part, every web page should have social media icons above the fold of every page. This allows visitors to stay connected with your business down the road even if they aren’t necessarily in the buying stage when they visit your site.
- Awards / Testimonials – Showcasing that your company has won an award is one of the best ways to build credibility and trust with visitors on your site. And don’t forget to showcase your amazing Google or Yelp reviews.
- Captivating Title
- Intriguing product or service details and body content
- Call to action
I’ll get into more details on numbers 4-6 in my third article that discusses Writing Content that sells, but for now just know that these six topics are a must for every page on your site.
As you can see from the tip’s above, decreasing your website’s bounce rate and increasing sales is a multi layered approach that starts with the design and layout of your site. It teaches us to align the most pertinent information above the fold and within the upper left hand side of the page. Then we can place our boldly colored call to action button to strategically guide the visitor to exactly what you want them to see and take action on.
What’s more is that you are noticing that your pages have to be laser focused at giving your visitors exactly what they want. This leads us to making sure that you have a specific page for every product or service that you provide.
Implementing the tips above will drastically help your site give visitors a better user experience and keep them on your site longer.
How can you get more targeted traffic to your website? Well, that’s another topic. And one that I’ll cover in my next article as we continue our series on Internet Marketing for RV Businesses. So check back next week as we go over 3 Easy SEO Tips To Target Your Perfect Buyer.
Do you have questions on website design and structure that sells? Write your comments below.
Are you driving a lot of traffic to your website, but not seeing that traffic convert?
Then this article is for you.
Website User Experience – Conversion Rate Optimization
When it comes down to user experience on your dealership’s website, the first thing that you should be thinking of is conversion rate optimization. And we’re not just talking about getting a visitor to fill out the contact us form on your RV page.
While that is extremely important, if that is the only thing that your website focuses on, you’d be missing out on three other areas of the customer buying cycle.
Also referred to as CRO; Conversion rate optimization is the systematic process of increasing the percentage visitors that engage in actions like:
- Filling forms
- Engaging in live chat
- Clicking on your phone number
- Clicking on the address on your website.
- Subscribing to your newsletter
This is a process increasing your websites CRO comes down to three things:
- Understanding what actions are expected of your visitor throughout the buying process (or sales funnel).
- Creating an easy to use website where users an easily use your site to get what they need.
- Testing and changing the things that prevent users from accomplishing pre-defined goals.
### current state of editing
Generally, this process consists of having an in-depth understanding of how the users go through the website, the actions expected of them to take and finally, the things that prevent them from rounding up their desired goals.
However, before moving further into what conversion rate optimization fully entails, it is best to understand what conversion truly is.
A conversion is basically the generic term used to describe how a visitor completes the goals of a site. These goals can come in diverse sizes and shapes. Those who make use of their website to trade products have their primary goal as the user making a purchase.
This primary goal is often referred to as macro-conversion. Furthermore, smaller conversions can also take place before the user fully completes this macro-conversion like having to sign up just to receive emails. It is called micro-conversions
Some examples of macro-conversions include:
- Buying a product from a website
- Requesting for a quote
- Actively subscribing to a service
Meanwhile, examples of micro-conversions include:
- Signing up for the website’s email lists
- Creating an account on the website
- Successfully adding a product to your cart
What Is Conversion Rate Optimization And How Can I Increase The User Experience On My Website?
The conversion rate of a site, as we have explained above, is the number of times a user successfully completes a goal that has been split by traffic on the site.
Should a user convert in any of their visit like purchasing a product, the number of conversions will be divided by the number of sessions. This session refers to the number of unique times a user visits a website.
Also, for those who sell a subscription, they will have to divide the number of conversions by the number of users available.
Note that, conversion rate optimization only occurs after the user makes it successfully to your website.
Also, bear in mind that CRO is way different from the conversion optimization for SEO or the paid adverts which aim at users who click through to a website from those organic search results, the number of clicks you can get and the exact keywords driving the traffic.
Nevertheless, most website owners are confused about how to make use of CRO to increase user experience on their site.
One fact is that, without a basic understanding of how people make use of your virtual product, techniques of CRO are dwindling and turning into a huge waste of budget and time.
Subsequently, it is vital to have an understanding of what these individuals need in a bid to optimize all of it. Some ways in which you can increase the user experience on your site and successfully convert them include:
- Auditing of your website
As a website owner, if you are truly serious about boosting user experience and your conversion rate, you should try to identify areas that have issues on your site. The various methods you use in identifying these problems are through:
- Making use of google analytics
- Heat mapping, and;
- Survey tools
All of these can be used to know why visitors are losing interest on your once bubbling site. Also, you will finally get to know the pages that require lots of attention for you to move forward.
Do not forget that, you must not make all the necessary changes all at once. Rather, you can prioritize the exact pages or issues that are very important and come up with the necessary solutions for problems that are a top priority.
- Testing
Those struggling with increasing their site’s user experience will have an idea on what the issue is after they conduct an audit of the website. However, they may get stuck on the best ways to fix it.
Note that, conversion rate optimization centers on making smart transformation guides through user experience and data.
Although your gut feeling can assist in guiding your solution, you can also try testing as a possible way of allowing consumers to vote for any solution they prefer.
However, they are not to vote in a hypothetical survey, instead, you will be capable of viewing which exact site enhancements win through tracking real transformation to the conversion rates.
How To Get Started With CRO
In getting started with the whole CRO process, you will need to follow through some steps which include:
- Benchmarks and internal goals
The first step you will have to take here is to set up the goals you want for your CRO campaign as well as figure out exactly where you are. It is very vital to set the goals you want to attain before you move into the A/B testing.
After setting the goals, the next step is to note down your most recent conversion rate which is the benchmark. Like this, you can track if our conversion rate is improving or taking downward steps.
- Delve into Google analytics
Since you have an idea on the conversion rate of your site and have a particular goal to attain, it is time to try figuring out exactly why your pages are not getting converted like they are supposed to.
Finding this out through Google analytics will tell you exactly which of your conversions are the strongest as well as the weakest.
Analytics will be able to help you see the difference in conversion rates on your different devices.
- Find And Collect Quantitative data
You can make use of it to increase all your conversions. Also, you can make use of survey tools to try and poll users concerning why they got to be on a specific page. After using tools to discover the quantitative data, you will still need to collect the said data.
This can be done through:
- Skype interviews or face to face interview
- Comprehensive survey
- On-site survey
- User testing, etc.
Run Split Tests
There are roughly two highly prominent types of testing when it comes down to conversion rate optimization. They include:
- A/B testing, and;
- Multivariate testing
Majority of the advice you will get on CRO will be that you should keep on testing, however, it is not always so simple to understand exactly what these tests you are to run do and the exact time to run them.
We will be analyzing the split test today. First and foremost, split testing has to do with testing a control against a variation for a distinct element. While the control is the initial or original item, the variation is what you are to change.
In simpler terms, you will get to change one item on a particular page and check out how the results on the page will vary from the initial version.
However, split testing is also referred to as A/B testing. A further explanation suggests that it is the process of taking an element on a particular web page such as a call to action button and then, you get to change it.
After changing it, you are to compare the results for the two versions of the page. It is done by splitting the traffic evenly among both if them.
So, if you are to try roughly four different versions of a specific call to action button, you will have to divide your web visitors into four and the percentage of the overall variation will be twenty-five.
Meanwhile, it is ideal to run Split Tests as your conversion optimization tool because it works adequately with sites that even have low traffic. It does not matter if you just started building your business, the split test can be used.
Also, it offers very dependable data as the variables are usually small. What we are trying to say is that, based on the fact that you are only transforming one distinct element at a point in time, you can get results much more swiftly.
And, they are also measured easily. Nevertheless, have an idea on the benchmark that best applies to you
Click-Through Rate For E-commerce
We will be analyzing click-through rates for e-commerce as so many people have no idea of what it is. Basically, it is a group of CRO techniques that has been uniquely structured to run e-commerce site browsers into steady buyers.
They can be turned into buyers through:
- Price anchoring
If you are interested in making all of your products look very affordable without even touching the price, you should look up to price anchoring.
It goes thus: showing someone a particular price will get them anchored on the price for only a short timeframe. Next is to add what is known as reassurance copy to the product as well as the checkout pages.
The reassurance copy is just small snippets of copy that are all over your CTAs and they make your consumers feel very comfortable about the choice they will be making. It can either be free shipping, a money-back assurance, social proof or even a major benefit
- Make use of diverse high-quality product images
Since you are aware that product images can either make or break the product Page’s conversion rate that you own, you can show some images of your product from diverse angles.
Also, you can show them your product as it is in action and you can take it a step further by visibly marking your top sellers.
- Have a good site search
This can make a very big difference in e-commerce conversions. You do not have to wonder why as the reason is not far fetched. With a good site search, you are showing people what they want to find.
Endeavor to pay close attention to the sort of products that people actively search for all the time. Your job is now is to make the products very easy to discover.
- Try featuring high revenue products above the fold
If you are searching for a very simple way of increasing your conversions, you can try featuring any of your most profitable products above the fold area of your website. You can dose for your category and product pages.
- Make do with product filters
Those who have a category page with about 1001 products on it can add product filters. Like that, people can easily view items that fit perfectly with their budget, size, and style.
Create Amazing CTAs
The best way to say it is that your call to action can either break or make up your conversion rate.
If you use the wrong CTA, your visitors will not be interested. However, when you make use of the CTA, you will get to find more users hitting your buy button.
Furthermore, there are easy but highly effective strategies you can utilize in crafting powerful yet amazing CTAs. They are:
- Try testing the first and second person copy
Diverse CRO research has revealed that the first person CTA which is “I want to try it” works very well. Nonetheless, some other individuals have taken note of a very high conversion rate with the aid of the second person.
The second person CTA can be “get your free quote”. You can try the two.
- There should be an urgency to your CTA
A simple way to get some more visitors to purchase a product is by adding urgency to your CTA.
You can make use of numbers to do this. An example is telling visitors to place their orders within the next two hours for their products to be delivered that same day. You can also try the “only five left”.
To Wrap It Up
Conversion Rate optimization will go a very long way in giving you the ideal website that does not only drive traffic but also appeals to your consumers to turn into steady buyers.
