Website Not Converting? It Could Be Down to These Common Mistakes
You’re directing plenty of traffic to your site, perhaps through the effective SEO strategy you’ve got up and running.
But the sales are still not coming.
As well as directing targeted traffic to your website, you also need to convert that traffic. If that’s not happening, you could be making one of these common mistakes. Apply some simple conversion rate optimisation (CRO) changes to bump up performance.
There’s Too Much Going On
The most likely problem is that there is a lack of clarity on your home page or landing page. Complicated websites where too much is happening are off-putting. Fancy features are distracting to visitors, preventing them from making any decisions at all.
Keep it simple. Use a logical structure and intuitive navigation to provide visitors with an obvious way to find what they are looking for. Use a good site search tool too.
Keep the message clear and simple. Some pages like your home page will have more going on than others. But even here, you should make it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for and point them in the right direction.
It’s Too Slow
Arriving on a slow website is a painful experience. People expect things to be fast these days, even if they are visiting on a mobile device. With new technology like Accelerated Mobile Pages, people are not willing to hang around.
That means there are no excuses for slow-loading pages. Don’t expect people to be so desperate to read your content and buy your stuff that they are willing to wait around while your page loads.
Check your website using Google’s PageSpeed tools, then do something about it. Not only will this help conversions, it could also give your SEO a lift at the same time.
It’s Not Clear What They Should Do
You may have a simple design and a fast-loading site, but sometimes it’s just not clear what you want your visitors to do. You need to make it clear to them by using a call to action (CTA).
Your CTA can vary depending on your goals. It could be to buy your products, sign up to list or just to give you a call. Whatever the goal, make it clear and make it simple.
For example, if you want visitors to contact you, provide them with different options like your phone number, email address, contact form and social media links.
There’s a Lack of Trust
Sometimes visitors simply don’t trust you enough to contact you or buy from your store. There are many potential reasons for this.
The website might look professional. If you’ve created it yourself, it might look awkward and amateurish. A professional design will instantly change that.
Another instant trust booster is to add testimonials or case studies. You can also add details of professional organisations you are part of.
The simplest trust booster of all is to show the people behind the brand. Add names and photos of your team members to show visitors who they are dealing with.
Delve into Your Analytics to Find Out What’s Up
If you’re lacking conversions, it could be down to any of these reasons or something else entirely. But take the guesswork out of it by looking at your analytics.
Which pages are people arriving on? How long are they spending on each page? Where to they tend to leave? If you sell products, are visitors leaving at a particular stage of the checkout process?
Try and work out what’s going on, and then you can make changes that make a real difference to your conversions.
