Many small businesses think they can sign up for WordPress, create a stock website using the pre-installed themes, and sit back and watch the customers pour in. But that’s not how it works. There are actually a great many factors that influence the performance of an online storefront.
Here are just 5 ways you can optimize your website for better conversion rates.
- Mobile responsiveness
What is mobile responsiveness? Simply put, a mobile responsive website’s layout – and sometimes content – adapts to the screen size of the device (i.e. desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone) someone uses to conduct their search.
And, nowadays, businesses just do not have the option of forgoing mobile responsive design, as more than
3 out of 4 Americans now own a smartphone while 1 out of 2 own a tablet. And nearly
60 percent of online search queries are conducted via mobile device.
With the soaring popularity of mobile devices, responsive design is important for two major reasons: easy navigation and
catering to customer intent.
If your full website displays on a smartphone screen, for instance, the content will be so tiny it will be difficult to navigate or disjointed when consumers zoom in. Additionally, having too many on-screen elements could slow down your website’s loading time – at which point customers will bounce.
Potential customers also often use different devices for different reasons. While they might turn to their desktop for online banking, they use their smartphones quite a bit to satisfy their appetites. So, you should consider what content you should display immediately that will turn window shoppers into paying customers.
- Convenient navigation
Navigation affects a whole host of critical elements, including user-friendliness and search engine result page rankings (SERPs). You simply cannot achieve the high conversion rates you want from a website that is both invisible and difficult to navigate.
Some
navigation mistakes to avoid include:
- Using generic menu titles such as “products” and “services”. These won’t help you stand out from the crowd and they don’t tell potential customers anything about your offerings. If you own an independent book store, for instance, better navigation titles might be “best-sellers” or “classic literature”.
- Including too many navigation elements. When you add too many main menu items, you’ll crowd out the ones that really matter.
- Listing menu items in the wrong order. According to certain cognitive psychology studies, we tend to remember the first and the least bits of information presented better than the in-between info. So, list the pages where you really want your customers to go first, such as product and service pages, and put the contact link at the end.
- Fast loading time
When people click on your site, they expect to get what they want in a matter of
seconds.
Nearly half of all consumers demand websites load in two seconds or less. If you add just one second to that loading speed? Forty percent are gone! Let that sink in for a moment: 4 out of 10.
If you want to keep that traffic on your site, you need to improve and maintain your website’s loading speed. There are a number of ways your site can go from turtle to cheetah, such as optimizing images, using browser caching, and signing up with a reliable hosting service.
- A weekly updated blog
Blogs are possibly
the single largest lead generating tool in a business’ marketing toolbox. Why beg for attention through traditional modes of marketing, such as TV and magazine ads, when you can lay down a trail of breadcrumbs that lead customers straight to the welcoming mat?
Businesses that regularly post to their blogs generate 126 percent more leads, increase their online visibility and Google rankings, and are more likely to make a sale. The key is to cater your content to every stage of the customer’s purchasing journey, from answering a general question to satisfying a specific need.
- SSL certificates
An
SSL certificate lets visitors know you’ve taken the time to establish and verify a secure connection between your organization’s server and public web browsers, which reduces the likelihood that hackers can access your consumers’ personal and financial information.
SSL certificates aren’t just to establish trust and fortify internet connections against cyberattacks, however. Google now warns Chrome users when they are visiting websites without SSL certificates, which may inspire more clicks on that back button. The global search giant has also included SSL into their search algorithms, meaning your SERP rankings will likely be affected.
These are, of course, just a few elements of a high-performance business site. To really tap into your site’s profit-generating potential,
contact our inbound marketing experts at Social Spice Media. We combine our technical expertise with social savvy strategies that drive organic traffic and consumer engagement.
And to get an idea of how your website is currently performing, get started with our fast,
free website audit.
