What do you know about conversion? Have you had significant experience with direct marketing or online marketing? Are you self-taught, or perhaps taught by following the example of an expert sales guru?
There are a lot of different schools of thought out there when it comes to conversion. And it would be unfair and inaccurate to say that we’re experts at all of them. But when push comes to shove, there’s one conversion technique that we know for a fact works at least as well as any of the others (and probably even better). What is this conversion strategy?
Simple: It’s all about keeping it simple.
You can beg, borrow, steal, or otherwise try to coerce a customer into following the next desirable action you wish them to take. Heck, you can even connive, trick, and deceive customers into buying (but please don’t — it’s bad karma). In the end, though, what works better than any of these tricky tactics?
Again, the answer is: Keep it simple.
Step One
First things first, make sure you are clearly asking for the sale (or next desirable action) throughout your website’s copy. This can be as simple as, "Please call us today and speak to our experts," or perhaps even as straightforward as "Click here to buy now." Work on being concise, clear, and… surprise… simple with your calls to action. Don’t force, but make sure your readers aren’t missing them either.
Step Two
Next up in a "Keep It Simple" conversion strategy, you’ve got to work hard at attracting qualified visitors to your site. This might seem awfully self-intuitive, but the fact of the matter is that many websites attract all the wrong crowd and then work tirelessly to try and get them to buy into a message that they’re simply not interested in. The simple strategy to better conversion is to work at attracting the right audience before you try to convert them into your customers.
Step Three
Track and test the variables. Tweak. Test again. Repeat. The best conversion rate is almost always achieved through repeat testing and trial and error. Even a great initial conversion rate can probably be improved through testing and tweaking the details.
Now again, sticking with our theme here, this doesn’t have to be complicated at all. Rather, it’s a matter of using readily available side-by-side comparison tools that serve two different ads or versions of your landing page equally. With a proper sample size, the numbers don’t lie — use the version that works best, make small improvements, and then repeat with additional side-by-side tests until improvements are negligible.
Don’t Make It Complicated.
Nailing out the details can often become much more overwhelming than it needs to be. It’s human nature to over think and over complicate a situation. Whatever you do, avoid this trap. And remember, when it comes to conversion, simple works!
Until Next Time.
George Chaney
President/CEO
SEO King, Inc.
