Why is My Website Still Failing to Convert?
Writing by Nick Stamoulis in Internet Marketing
Keep in mind that “converting” can mean something different for every website. Obviously we would all like to increase our sales, but maybe you’re measuring your conversion rate by how many people sign up for your company newsletter, download a trial version or fill out a lead form. Converting doesn’t have to mean buying. However, if all your offsite SEO seems to be doing its job and your overall traffic is up but you aren’t seeing an increase in your conversation (measured in sales) metric, here are three things to consider:
You don’t have a compelling argument to buy.
Of course you need to thoroughly introduce all your products/services on your website, but simply telling a visitor why your products are great isn’t going to make them convert. You need to demonstrate how your product is going to solve their problem or meet their need. Don’t just focus on the bells and whistles that make your product cool, show your visitors how your product is exactly what they need to make their lives better. What value are they going to get for their money? Give real world examples, offer in-depth case studies, and let them download a trial version — make your product worthy of their wallet!
You aren’t being aggressive enough OR you are too aggressive.
There is a fine line between not aggressive enough and too aggressive, and oftentimes that line is set by your potential customer. If someone fills out of a lead form because they wanted to download a white paper and you inundate their mailbox with sales pitches and a sales guy starts calling them every other day chances are you are going to turn them off. On the other hand, if someone fills out a lead form and they never hear from you again (or maybe they just get a solo email six months from now) they are probably going to forget about your company and move on. Knowing how aggressive you (or your sales team) should be will often boil down to where your potential customer is in their buying cycle. If they are just beginning to shop around they may not appreciate a sales pitch. However, if they are ready to buy they might be more willing to set up that demo with your sales team.
People can’t find the information they need.
Most visitors to your site don’t want to spend more than a few seconds looking for the information they need. That’s why it is so important to optimize each and every page of your website. The search engines rank individual pages, not websites as a whole, and the better optimized each page is the more targeted searcher it is going to attract. You want to pull a potential customer to the exact page of your website that they are looking for, and that doesn’t always mean your homepage. Deep, internal pages that address their search query are much more meaningful than a general overview page. Treat every page like a landing page and your conversion rate should increase with time.
