Converting website traffic to sales is a common task small business owners face.
You may be just starting out in your business or you may already have an all singing, all dancing website but the sales on your site are few and far between.
Either way, if you’re not getting the sales and leads you expect from your website, there is definitely help at hand.
As a digital marketer, I help small businesses with this all the time and I have devised my top tips to help small businesses get started:
Use Google’s Tools…
– Register your website with Google. I was recently the guest speaker at a Women in Business West Kent event and discussed this exact issue. Not enough businesses know that once they have a website, they must register it with Google, otherwise, Google will not rank you on the search pages. If you don’t rank on the search pages, you can’t be found by potential customers; but once you have done this, you will have a much better chance of converting website traffic to sales.
– Google Business Profile. This is a free Google tool that helps to put your business and your website in front of potential customers. It’s a great hack especially if you have a location based business as it is linked to Google Maps. It increases the chances of you getting the right type of customer to your website making them more likely to convert to a sale.
– Google Analytics. Another excellent tool by Google that’s also free but slightly more complicated to set up. Once in place, you can see where your traffic is coming from and discover any issues that may need sorting. For example, if you have a UK based business that needs UK based customers but all of your traffic is coming from America, you know there is a problem that needs fixing!
Check Your Website’s Functionality…
– Website functionality is key! Imagine you were a potential customer scrolling your website. Is your website easy to navigate? Does your checkout or enquiry page work well? Is it mobile friendly? Converting website traffic to sales won’t happen if there are unnecessary obstacles for your customer such as broken links or pages that fail to load properly.
– Optimise your website loading time and site speed. How long does your website take to load? Did you know that the optimum time for a website to load is between 2 and 5 seconds? Converting website traffic to sales is largely driven by the functionality of your website because customers need everything in front of them straight away to make a decision. Your audience is unlikely to wait around for your website to load if is taking too long. They are more likely to get bored and find your product or service elsewhere. A fast website is more likely to keep your audience on your website for longer and having reliable website pages that load and function well is seen to be more trustworthy too. If you come across as a trustworthy business, your customers are more likely to buy from you.
– Maintain your website regularly – Websites need maintaining just like our phones and computers. Prevent glitches from happening on your website by ensuring your website has regular maintenance.
Get Salesy…
– Does your website explain what your offer is? Make sure it is clear and concise and optimises your customer journey.
– Ensure all your information is up to date. This includes product and service information and how a customer can find you. It sounds simple but so many people will spend hours updating email signatures, social media and letterheads but forget to change the information on their website. Ensure your website is the first to be updated if your business details change so you don’t miss out on important sales.
– Quality pictures – Pictures help sell! Ensure your site has good quality pictures to show off your products or if you’re a service based business, ensure you have a good quality headshot of you and/or your team.
– Make sure your website includes calls to action throughout. What does your potential customer need to do in order for you to make a sale? Implement these strategies throughout your site.
– Social proof. This isn’t anything to do with social media; instead social proof means showing your target audience testimonials of your product or service. Recommendations from others help immensely, so don’t be shy in showing off how your business has positively impacted others.
Once you have implemented these tips into your website, you should notice an increase in conversions and I’m here to help if you need it along the way. You can also subscribe to my newsletter for more free tips!
Good luck and happy converting!
Charlotte x