From Page Views to Profit: Making Your Website Convert

There’s a big focus on likes and shares online, with a lot of businesses paying close attention to how many social media followers they have, how many website visitors they get and how many comments they get on blog posts. Businesses also tend to focus on search engine optimisation and trying to reach the top of search results. Though these are all important, and they’re all worth keeping track of, they’re only part of the story.

When used effectively, effective marketing can be the beginning of a conversion funnel that turns online visitors into loyal, paying customers. But, that’s only the case if your website is able to actually convert. It’s one thing grabbing someone’s attention on social media or in search results and drawing them to your website, but then what? If they’re not converted into a customer, they’re going to go elsewhere. You need to turn page views into profit, and there are a number of ways to increase your chances of success.

Why Do Page Views Matter?

If you had a brick-and-mortar shop, you would focus on foot traffic, carefully keeping track of how many people come through the door. When you have a website, you need to do the same, but this time it’s in the form of page views. Just like a physical shop, the more people who enter your business – this time as a website user, rather than an in-person shopper – the more likely it is that some of them will make a purchase. When you have more page views, you have more

opportunities to showcase your products or services, capture leads – through forms, sign ups or downloads – and encourage conversions with CTAs. Think of page views as a way to open the door to a potential lead, which you can then take and turn into a sale if your website is able to convert them.

Where Businesses Go Wrong

Slow Website Speed  If you’ve ever clicked on a website and had to wait a long time for the page to load, you’ll know that it’s tempting to immediately click off and head elsewhere. If your website takes too long to load, users will bounce before they even see your content and what you have to offer. Having a website that loads quickly is an essential part of converting page views into paying customers.

Cluttered Design  If there’s too much going on, being on the website can overwhelm visitors. If they can’t work out what your business does or what action to take within the first few seconds, they’re likely to take their business elsewhere. Your website design needs to be engaging, but also simple to use.

Weak or Unclear CTAs  All websites need to have calls to action, but CTAs like ‘click here’ and ‘find out more’ are vague, and they don’t necessarily give users enough of a reason to take action. Regardless of what you want customers to do, the CTAs on your website should tell users exactly what they’re getting and why it matters.

Lack of Mobile Optimisation  With so many people accessing websites via smartphones and tablets, it’s important that all business websites are mobile-friendly and optimised. But, a surprising number aren’t. If your site isn’t responsive and user-friendly on smartphones and tablets, you’re going to miss out on a lot of page views, conversions and profit.

Neglecting SEO  There’s no point spending time creating engaging content, or outsourcing content creation to a digital marketing agency if you don’t want to handle it yourself, if no one can find it. Without search engine optimisation on your website, your pages are unlikely to get the views they deserve

How to Improve Website Conversions

Your website might not be covering as many leads as you would like at the moment, but there are ways to ramp things up. Here’s how to turn page views into real, measurable profit:

Understand Your Audience  It’s important to know who’s visiting your site and why. It’s a good idea to use analytics to learn where they’re coming from, what pages they visit and how long they stay. You can then tailor your messaging to match their goals and pain points.

Optimise for Speed and Mobile Use  With speed and mobile-friendliness being so important, you need to optimise your website accordingly. Use tools to ensure your site loads quickly and make sure your layout looks great and functions smoothly on all devices.

Use Clear and Compelling CTAs  Your CTAs should stand out and use action driven language, such as encouraging someone to start a free trial or inviting them to get a custom quote. They’re more likely to click if they know exactly why they’re clicking.

Build Customer Trust  Customer testimonials, case studies, reviews, certifications and guarantees help you to build credibility. People are more likely to buy from a website that feels trustworthy.

Streamline Navigation  You need to make it easy for users to find what they’re looking for on the site. A confusing or overly complex menu can be frustrating, increasing the risk of users going elsewhere and losing you conversions.

Create Valuable Content  There’s a lot of content online, so make yours stand out as being valuable. Blog posts, videos, FAQs and product pages should all answer real customer questions and help to guide users toward a purchase decision. Every piece of content should have a purpose.

 

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