Three Keys to a Better Conversion Rate

• THE THREE KEYS TO BETTER CONVERSION
  
  There are countless books, articles, white papers, and websites devoted to improving your website’s conversion rate. And while most of them are great books (one of my all time favorites is “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug), I have synthesized all of this great knowledge and advice into a more simplified approach and have been using it effectively for my clients for the past few years. .
  
  My method for better website conversions I like to call the “CIA Approach” – which stands for looking at your website in three specific unique ways – credibility, interactivity, and asking for the business.
  
  If you following my approach, you can be on your way to better web results right away.
  
  Credibility –Let’s face it, unless you are an Amazon or My Space, most visitors have likely never heard of you. How does your current site help you build your credibility?
  
  + Does your site have a professional look/feel?
  + Is your site design custom built or is it a template?
  + Do you have business, security and/or certification logos? (TrustE, VeriSign, BBB Online, for example.)
  + Do you have any Industry-specific logos that showcase your knowledge about your specialty that you can post?
  + Have you won any awards? Are they posted on your site?
  + Do you have a privacy policy? Is it easy to get to?
  + Do you have a toll-free number?
  + Is your contact information visible on every page? If not, is it easy to get to?
  
  Interactivity – Unless you show them, most visitors don’t know what to do when they are on a site. We’ve seen too many sites with too little interactivity, which will cause your customer to bounce from your site, usually after only one page. How well does your site lead your customer to their desired result?
  
  + Does your site have a clean navigation system?
  + How crowded is your navigational bar
  + Does your site have clickable text links? Are they easy to see?
  + Does your site have a clear path for all visitors? Do you have specific paths for different market niches?
  + Is your site just a glorified brochure or do you have clear calls to action for your users?
  
  Asking for the Business - Most sites fail this third yet crucial test – yet we learned this as one of our first rules in sales. Always ask for the business! Since we don’t know online exactly what our customer is looking for – we’ll need appeal to them equally. For example, some of your customers may respond better to a text call while others may respond better to a more visually appealing graphical call. Exactly how far does your site go to appeal to each of your potential customer’s unique needs?
  
  + Do you provide both text and graphical calls-to-action?
  + Do you ask for the business at the top of the page, middle of the page, and bottom of the page?
  + Do you have a unique selling point? And do you provide customers with a unique offer?
  + Do you provide customers with a sense of urgency?
  + Do you ask for the business on every page of your site?
  
  While there are many additional factors that do go into improving your website’s conversion rate, updating your site accordingly so that it meets with the approval of the CIA Approach should bring you better web results quickly.
  
  Ron Weber is the President of SD Interactive, a San Diego Based Interactive agency. He can be reached at ron@sdinteractive.com. Come visit his site at http://www.sdinteractive.com/.