In today’s economy, your website is your image, it’s your brand, it’s an extension of your company. The image you portray, and the message you convey, are everything. One of the keys to operating a successful website is the ability to convert your visitors into a lead or inquiry, and ultimately, into a paying customer. You can have a lot of traffic, but unless you are converting your traffic into customers, it’s the same as being located by a busy highway without an off ramp to your business.
When it comes to the look, layout and functionality of your website, it is important to keep your customer in mind. If your website is not visually appealing, or easy to navigate, then chances are your potential customer will not stay too long; they will move on to the next site. So how do you convert your traffic into a lead or customer? One of the most significant things you can do is create a Call to Action for your visitors. A Call to Action is used to entice the visitor to do something, or take an action. Let’s look at three different ways you can utilize a Call to Action from your visitors.
1. Use a Contact Us form. Email has become a common way of exchanging information today. A simple form will usually have a field for a Name, Email Address, Phone Number and a Comment or Question field. This form should only ask for basic information from your visitor. Too much information may actually make your visitor wary of filling out the form! We recommend using a form instead of posting an actual email address since the posted email address could easily be harvested by spammers. Your email address in the wrong hands, could lead to years of unsolicited email.
2. Post your phone number in the top of your page. Your phone number should be easily accessible, on your homepage, or on a Contact Us Page as well as any other appropriate pages. People want to know there is someone they can call if they have questions about your products or services. Posting your phone number shows that you are a real business, and are approachable.
3. Set up a Live Support Feature. If you have ever shopped in a department store, you know it is fairly common for a sales associate to approach you and offer their help. A Live Chat, is in essence, the same thing. You’re offering assistance as soon as the consumer initiates the chat. For this purpose there are different types of software on the market, and surprisingly, it doesn’t have to cost you anything. All that’s needed is a person and a computer to be able to handle any inquiries you receive.
The last important point is that in order to get targeted traffic to your website, you need a Search Engine Optimization strategy. If your website is not optimized properly for your keywords, then how will you be found? Search Engine Optimization is the best way to get people searching for your product or service, direct to your website. Once you have visitors, then you can begin to work on improving your conversions.
