As business owners and digital marketers, you face the same challenge day in day out, regardless of the industry you operate in – “How do we increase our online conversion rates to get more new business?”
Being upfront from the get-go - this isn’t easy! Anyone who has spent any time trying to optimise a website to increase conversion knows that there is not simply one quick fix to generating a higher volume of good quality leads.
You may engage in all sorts of activity to drive people to your website. From spending silly amounts of money on paid advertising or social media campaigns, to SEO campaigns designed to boost your Google rankings. And all that with every Tom, Dick & Harry telling you that their solution will guarantee you a certain level of high-quality traffic that has a better chance of converting. The reality is, your conversion rates will probably not improve a jot.
In my experience, there are 3 fundamental steps to follow to ensure your website is operating in an optimal fashion and converting as many of your opportunities as possible.
Step 1 - Make sure they know you can help service their needs
OK this isn’t the easiest one to start with, but it is vital. Making sure a user is completely satisfied they are in the right place is a must. They shouldn’t have to dig around your website to feel reassured. They should know, from minute one, that you can help service their needs.
How? Well firstly (and annoyingly) you do have to have a good product or service! Sorted? Great news.
Then it’s time to let them know all about your product in a way that is engaging and easy for them to understand. Great content that is easily digestible and answers your users' pain points is a great way to do just that.
Generating high quality landing pages and blogs that tap into what keeps your customers up at night is a great way to grab someone’s attention (after all, you are reading this). Bite-size videos that explain the nuts and bolts of your service and why it can help them is also a great method. Especially in today's day and age, with people’s attention spans at an all time low!
Common sense follows, that if they believe that you are the expert in the field, or that you have the right solution to their needs in that moment, they are far more likely to convert.
Step 2 - Be there to help, in a way that suits them
OK so people are reading or viewing a great piece of content that taps into their pain points and explains how you are going to solve that issue for them. They are now guaranteed to convert. Right?
Well no, not really. As we all know, it is not that simple.
Customers are a complicated lot. A few may convert there and then, however most are more needy and often need some help to nudge them in the right direction.
Make sure you have all your standard communication channels available to them. A phone number for those people who are still comfortable enough to pick up the phone (apparently that’s what some people still use their smart phone for?!). This will help get some of them over the line.
An enquiry form is great for those who don’t have the time to speak now and just want someone to get back in touch. However, it’s not great for those people who are a bit concerned about giving their details away and not being guaranteed anything in return.
So how do you engage with those people who are interested in converting but have a quick question that they need answering before they are comfortable giving you their details and becoming a customer?
How do you engage with people who want to buy while they are at work, but can’t pick up the phone because ‘they are busy working’'?
How do you engage with people that need an answer before they buy your highest ticket item at 8pm when they have got home from work, with none of your staff available to speak with them?
Well, a 24/7 managed live chat service helps all those people and more (of course I was going to mention it).
At Yomdel we are passionate about why live chat should matter to your business and why you must have a high-quality approach to live chat for you to see the dramatic increase in your conversion rates that you are after.
We’ve got a couple of great articles on exactly that if you are interested in finding out more:
- Why live chat matters, and what to look out for
- Quality is the key to incredible live chat results
Step 3 - Make it really easy for them to convert
Right, you have given them all the information they need. They know that you are the expert in your field. They know that your product is going to meet their needs. They may have even contacted you via one of the channels above. They are primed to convert and start becoming a customer.
Please, make it easy for them to convert. I mean please. The customer experience must be seamless here. Do not make them jump through hoops. If they want to convert, the path for them to do so should be so easy that they can’t not!
If you are concerned that your customer journey on the website is convoluted, or maybe you just want to get an objective, experienced opinion on what a great customer experience looks like, then why not get in touch (oh yes, through our mystery shopping services, we are experts on the customer experience too).
We have a decade of experience mystery shopping, in branch, online, over the phone. You name it, we have mystery shopped it. We have found that it really is the best way to truly know your customers experience. If you are interested in reading more on this, you might want to read this cool article - can you really know your customer?
Whether your user is booking an appointment during a live chat conversation, purchasing directly over the phone or getting a quote online, do not make it hard work for them to convert.
And it is as simple as that. Be the experts in your industry, and make sure your customers understand that you are the people that can help them. Be there to help them at a time, and in a method of communicating that suits them. And make it super easy for them to actually become a customer when they are ready!
Our friends at the Fountain Partnership have also got some great thoughts on this – they are a bit fancier than us and call it CRO! However, if you want to read more on this topic, why not click here to check them out!
Alternatively, if you are interested in chatting with Yomdel about how we might be able to help you. And fancy a no obligation chat. Then click here to get in touch.
Chris Smith, CX Expert, Yomdel
