Website Conversion Rate : 9 Key Determinants

Author: Dele

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I often read statements like “I get massive traffic to my website yet I make no sales or very little sales”.

In short, the website conversion rate is poor.

Some outrightly boast of the size of their mailing list but really have nothing or little to show for it by way of sales. Meanwhile, a lot of resources would have been wasted on getting this massive mailing list, to no effect.

A massive mailing list without sales is effectively a fiasco!

Some key factors that determine website conversion rate and hence how successful a webmaster’s sales efforts will be are at the point of the advert before the customer gets to your website while some are after the advert, when the customer is finally at your website.

Very important determinants to having a good website conversion rate are:

• “Effective”can and should be brief. So the first contact with your customers must be very brief as they are unlikely to be interested in any long unwinding sales pitch.

When you now get them to go to your website, and subsequently to return to your site often, the more likely are they going to be willing to spend more time on your site. That is saying , initial adverts(splash pages, e-mails, solo ads etc) and first landing pages on your website should often be brief but effective.

• How targeted is your advertising? I read of some people having a massive list without anything significant to really show for it. Imagine a customer brimming with enthusiasm to go to your website based on your advert only to be disappointed and leave abruptly on getting to your site feeling deceived as there seems not much correlation between the advert that brought him to your website in the first place and the contents he now sees on your website.

Lawyers will ordinarily say there is lack of “consensus ad idem” i.e. meeting of minds.
Alternatively it is a case of the computer terminology “Garbage in, Garbage out”

• Is your website properly set up to effectively convert?
Do you have the necessary text links, banner ads, e-books , newsletter signup forms etc in strategic places, ready and waiting to be clicked upon?

• Is there a “call to action statement” on your website to guide and ginger the prospect to take immediate action?

• Having enough products/services on your website such that if the prospect does not pick on one, he is likely to pick on the other.

• Design and layout of your website is important so that it does not act as a turn off. For example, the contents should be in proper paragraphs and contain some banners/pictures to liven up the website.

• Do you have a follow-up system such as a newsletter in place to follow up with your prospects, as most customers need to see or hear about your offer at least five to seven times before pitching their tent with you.

. Is there a proper linking structure in place on your website such that your prospects can adequately navigate your website to access the needed information to make their purchase decisions?

. Update and add to your website content regularly.
It is common knowledge that most visitors do not buy products the first few times they visit any website. They will be watching for continuity, and added content while giving them this confidence will also elicit the much needed purchase response.

You will have realized that a large number of the determinants of the website conversion rate are on the website and so adequate preparation should be made before visitors are invited to your website or massive traffic sought, so that you do not merely waste resources i.e money and time in getting visitors to your website with no significant positive result achieved.

Tags: home business tips, sales, traffic, website conversion rate

This entry was posted on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 12:09 pm and is filed under Internet Marketing - General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.