Finding a competitive edge is an ongoing evolution for any business. You must be willing to adapt to advances in technology, economic factors, seasonal influences, increased competition and more. One constant factor to remember is that without data to guide the evolution, you are merely guessing and more often than not this will lead to failure. However, with the right data and statistics you can analyze successes and failures; allowing you to adapt quickly and keep your business moving forward.
On average 80% of people visiting your website are looking to get information that will aid them when it comes time to make a purchase. That could mean learning about your shredding service, requesting a quote, or simply searching for a phone number. Analyzing the trends of visitors on your website will help you establish which pages are visited the most and how to improve the call-to-actions on these pages in an effort to increase your web conversions. Tracking the path taken by the visitor to obtain this lead is called a conversion funnel. In the shredding industry, a web conversion is most likely going to be a visitor filling out the request a quote form on the website, generating a new lead opportunity.
How Do You Track Conversions?
A website can be a vital tool in your efforts to generate new business, tracking information from your website is just as important. You must lead people to your website; whether it is from an online ad, a search engine result, or other means of advertising. The data obtained on how visitors arrive at your website will provide helpful information to determine which external marketing efforts are proving successful at generating traffic.
If you want to drive traffic on your website to the ultimate goal of becoming a customer, you can establish a number of conversion funnels and goals to track within your analytics. The most common way of tracking conversions is to insert a piece of code into the “thank you” page the visitor is directed to after submitting the form. Each time this page is loaded it will be tracked as a conversion.
Increasing Conversion Rates
Conversion funnels help you analyze the path of the visitor before landing on that thank you page. This can help you understand how the layout and usability of your website is affecting the number of conversions. As an example, the most common path of visitors converting on your website is: home > services > contact > thank you. You can assess that it took three steps for most of your visitors to complete a conversion goal. If it takes more than three steps to complete a conversion goal there are probably failures within the website’s usability; perhaps the contact information is not easily accessible or there are no prominent call-to-action’s present. The most successful conversion funnel should be one or two steps. One of the simplest ways to achieve this is to provide a contact form and any pertinent business information on the home page.
There is no guarantee that a visitor to your website will convert into a lead, no matter how ready they are to buy. However, utilizing the data you’ve obtained from your analytics, traffic funnels, and previous conversion numbers you can make educated decisions on areas that need improvement. Once those areas are improved you’ll be able to track the success of those changes. It may take weeks or months but if you regularly monitor your data you’ll see if the changes or proving to be successful. Here are a few common do’s and don’ts when it comes to trying to increase your conversion rate:
Don’t:
- Use Industry Jargon: Don’t assume that all visitors know and understand your industry’s terms and concepts.
- Use Excessive Graphics: Images are great for creating a visual understanding of your business, but don’t bombard the visitor with an abundance of irrelevant images that can distract them from ultimately finding the most important thing, your contact information.
- Stuff Keywords: In order for people to find your website, you must include relevant terms related to your industry; but overstuffing these keywords into your site can make the site hard to read and understand. Remember you are selling to a person at the end of the day, not a search engine robot.
Do:
- Provide Customer Testimonials/Reviews: Promoting your business is always done best by a happy client.
- Use Strong Call-to-Actions: Engage the customer with easy ways to get a hold of you, a phone number, address, contact forms, live chat. Make them prominent so that visitor’s eyes are drawn to them without having to scour the site.
- Follow Up On Leads Quickly: Conversions are meaningless if the lead is left sitting unopened in an email inbox. A quick response will lead to higher rates of converting leads into sales.
How Can NetGain Help?
If you are reading this and contemplating how to even go about doing this, don’t fret. There are a few questions to ask yourself before deciding your next step:
– Do I have Google Analytics installed? If you answered yes, then you will have data to analyze. If you answered no, or not sure, then the first step is to get it installed so you can start tracking your visitor data.
– Is this something I can do myself? If yes, then you are on your way. If no, it’s time to consult an industry expert who can help implement, educate and provide the tools necessary to make your website an integral part of the sales team.
NetGain is a proud member of NAID and PRISM. Over the years we have established ourselves as an expert in the online marketing industry. Our team of specialists can help identify strengths and weaknesses with your online presence. It is our goal to educate you through the entire process, so when our job is complete you will know how to utilize the tools and data provided. If you’re interested in learning more about conversion tracking and funnels, or have a general question about your website please do not hesitate to contact us today.