Year: 2007

Increasing Your Website Conversion Rate

A positive trend in web design is the push towards focusing on the return on your investment, or ROI, as it is more commonly known. Shouldn’t that always have been the case I hear you ask? Well yes, but unfortunately for too long, and by too many, the focus was on having a pretty website, high search engine rankings or the number of people who visit your website. All important things sure, but a website that converts visitors into customers should be your ultimate goal.

There are some simple steps you can take when designing or re-designing your website to ensure that you’re able to maximise your conversion rate and achieve a positive ROI.

Be Open To Everyone

If you ran a small bricks and mortar shop and kept the door locked and the phone off the hook I suspect you wouldn’t get much business. What a silly analogy I hear you say, well not really – the number of websites that make it difficult for people to order or contact you is far, far higher that you think.

Accessibility

Accessibility is the term used to describe the degree to which a website can be used by a cross section of people and devices. It has become increasingly important in recent years, and is even a legal requirement in some countries. Beyond legal requirements an inaccessible website will make it difficult for customers to use your site and encourage them to go elsewhere, such as a competitor.

It is important that you talk to your web designer and come up with an accessibility plan that is suitable for your website and its goals.

Browser Compatibility

Unfortunately the wide choice of web browsers available means that your website may not look the same in each one. Many designers focus solely on Internet Explorer thinking that as the majority of users use IE it should be ok. Not so. Depending on the industry you are in the percentage of visitors from alternative browsers can be as high as 50%. This means you could be turning away as many as 50% of your potential customers.

The good news is by designing with web standards your website will look the way it is intended across all web browsers.

By making it easy for visitors to view and browser your website you stand a far better chance of having them purchase from you.

Make Your Contact Details Stand Out

Oftentimes people want to contact you before placing an order online. Or they want to see your contact details to reassure them that a human is behind the site and can be contacted if need be. For this reason it is important to have your contact details placed prominently on your site. As well as a specific contact page I recommend placing your important details, such as address and phone number, on each page of your site. In the very least I suggest the following contact details:

  • Address
  • Phone Number
  • Email Address

If you prefer one contact method over another feel free to specify it. I also recommend letting people know roughly when they can expect a response.

Have a Clear Returns Policy

If you are selling products online a clear returns policy will help you increase your conversion rate. Encouraging people to order from your website is all about gaining their trust. Sometimes, for whatever reason, someone may want to return what they have ordered from you.

Prospects will feel far more comfortable buying from your site if you clearly state what your return policy is and how items can be returned.

Offer a Variety of Payment Options

Not everyone has a credit card and even if they do not everyone wants to use it. Make your visitors lives easier by offering them a variety of payment options such as credit card, Pay Pal, electronic transfer and good old fashioned cheques. By making it easy for them to pay you you make it easier for them to do business with you.

Make Sure Your Site Is User Friendly

Not everyone is a computer whiz. But almost all people have the money and desire to purchase online or to use the internet to research purchases. By making sure your website is easy to use you stand a better chance of having your visitors stay and do business with you and not your competitors.

Clear Navigation

Navigation is the main way your visitors will move through your website Make sure that your navigation options are clear and easy to understand so that visitors are able to find what they want easily.

Easy To Read Text

It’s common knowledge that most people don’t read huge tracts of text online. To help make sure your site is easy and appealing to read it’s important that you use clear, legible type, and break up your text with paragraphs as well as using bold text and dot points as necessary.

Make Links Obvious

Online an underlined word generally represents a link. For that reason I never, ever suggest underlining a word unless it is a link. If you are wanting to highlight a word do it by using bold or italics instead.

And while we’re on about links make sure it look clickable by using a strong link colour such as a bright blue.

User Friendly Error Pages

We’re not always able to stop visitors from getting an error page but making sure that error page is helpful and talks to them in easy to understand language, without technical jargon, is vital. It’s also often worthwhile to include a search box and links to the main pages of your site to help your visitors find what they are looking for. It’s also a good idea to include your contact details so if they get really stuck they can contact you directly.

Ask For the Sale

My final step is the most obvious but also the most overlooked – ask for the sale. Add to Cart, Order Now, Contact Us – these are just three simple ways to ask your visitors to take the next step with you, whether that be purchasing something online or calling you for a quote. As well as providing information about your products or services you need these well placed Call To Actions to tell your visitors what they need to do next. Calls to Action can be in the form of text or graphics and often a combination works well. Whatever you do make sure it is big and bold so it can’t be overlooked.

By incorporating the above steps into your website you’ll stand a better chance or converting visitors into customers and thus ensuring that you get a positive return on your website investment.

The Reasonable Test

I was just chatting to a colleague (hi Michael *waves*) and we got discussing what I call the “reasonable test” and I figured it would be a good blog post.

We’ve all heard of job creep, whether it be through additional features and functionality or due to having to do numerous mock-ups for a client. Doing too much of this will cost you in both time and money, however you probably want to keep your client happy as you work tgether.

When this happens I apply what I call a reasonable test. Is it reasonable that I do the additional work for no additional fee? Is it reasonable that the client should be billed extra? What is a reasonable solution to this?

This litmus test has stood me in good stead over the years and ensured that everybody is happy and knows where they stand.

Choosing the Right Web Designer

When deciding to set-up a website for your business one of the first steps you’ll need to take is find a web design company who can help with your project. With so many web design firms available the biggest problem will not be finding one but making sure that you find the right one for you.

The right web designer will not only make a website that looks good but will understand your site is a business tool that needs to perform for you. In order to find the best web designer for your project you’ll need to spend some time researching the market, looking for potential design firms and talking with them to make sure you are a good they understand your needs and can deliver a successful solution.

As well as reviewing portfolios and testimonials making sure the web design companies you talk to have knowledge in the following areas will help you make sure you make the right choice.

Clear Communication

To the uninitiated internet lingo can sound like a foreign language. A good web designer will talk to you in a language you understand. So you should hear less of the acronyms and more of the details.

When talking to potential web designers be prepared to stop them when you don’t understand what they are saying and ask them to explain, in a manner that you do. This is nothing to feel bad about. Everyone is knowledgeable in their industry – I have no idea how to fix a broken toilet and I wouldn’t expect a plumber to know what CSS is.

You’re hiring a professional web designer to help you navigate the online world so use their expertise to help you understand.

Designing With Web Standards

Many industries have a set of standards that people should comply with, and the internet is no different. Designing with web standards ensures that a website is accessible to more people and more types of internet devices, such as a web browser (think Internet Explorer or Firefox), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or a mobile phone. Designing a website to meet web standards also ensures that your website continues to function correctly as technology evolves saving costly re-designs.

When talking to potential web designers ask them their feelings on web standards and whether they work to them.

Understanding Usability

An often overlooked part of building a website is usability. Put plainly, usability is the ease of which a website can be used. You want the visitors to your website to be able to quickly and easily move around your website and complete the tasks they are there for, eg buy your products online or make an enquiry. If a visitor is not able to find what they are looking for they will most likely leave and go elsewhere, causing you to loose a sale. In the offline world you’d make sure your shop door is open and your phone on the hook, online you need to make sure you do the same.

As well as talking to web designers about usability take a moment to go through their site and sites they’ve done for other businesses. Are they easy to use? Can you find what you are looking for? Is it usable?

Knowledge of Search Engines

I’ve talked about search engines and search friendly websites in previous articles and I can’t emphasise enough, again, how important they are to your online presence. With search engines accounting for up to 70% of the visitors to your website it’s vital that you make sure your website is built in a search engine friendly manner from the ground up.

Your web designer needs to understand how search engines, crawl, index and rank pages and take that into account when building your website.

Focuses on Conversions

A pretty website is just that. Pretty. Sure you want your website to look good but more importantly you want it to achieve your online goals. The right developer will understand this and will work with you to develop and execute a strategy that will meet these goals and convert visitors into customers.

Converting a visitor into a customer involves creating a clear, professional easy to use website that talks to your visitors. These days you’ve got about 3 seconds to capture your visitor’s attention. That’s it. In that time they have to work out what your site is about and what’s in it for them. The more complicated your message the more difficult it is for them to work it out – and the easier it is for them to hit the back button.

Make sure your web designer understands the importance of building a website that focuses on conversions. Talk to them about creating Call to Actions (eg a Buy Now button), how they will approach the online ordering process, help you collect leads or achieve any other online goals you have.

Deciding to take the plunge and create an online presence is a big step. In order to do it right and come away with a successful website you need to make sure you choose the right web design business to be a part of your team. The more information you arm yourself with, and the more time you spend talking to potential designers, the better chance you will have of making the right choice for your business. Good luck!

Why A Website Budget is a Good Idea

I receive a lot of enquiries from people wanting a website. Unfortunately in many instances the prospect has no idea of their budget, or they don’t want to tell me what it is. I understand that they feel that if they give out a budget that’s what they will be quoted but they are so off the mark.

Giving the web designer an idea of how much you want to spend helps us suggest a solution that fits your requirements and your budget. I always use the car analogy – if I’m looking at buying a new car I give the car salesman an idea of what I am looking for and my price range. That way he knows whether to direct me to the Mercedes or the used car lot down the road. Without giving him that information he’s not able to make any professional recommendations He’s just flying around in the dark.

You don’t have to give an absolute figure, consider a ballpark or a price range. And remember the web designer you choose must be within your budget but it is just as important, if not more, to make sure the web designer you work with is one that has a good understanding of your requirements, can deliver a successful solution and is someone you’d want to work with.

Are Your Contact Details Prominent on Your Website?

When I find a website I like one of the first things I look for are the contact details. I always do this when it’s a site I’m considering buying from, but I also often do it on information sites. If a site is purely informational I can understand they may not have this information but if you are selling products and services online your contact details are a must.

I want to know who I am buying from and if I can’t find any contact details or they are hidden and I have to hunt them out I wonder why. What are you trying to hide?

Make your contact details clear and easy to find. As well as helping convert visitors into customers they’ll help your rankings in local search queries.

Internet Marketing Essentials

Once your website is built it is important that you spend time and money on marketing it online to ensure that you are attracting targeted visitors who you can then convert into customers. There are many internet marketing strategies, in fact far to many to mention here. However the 5 strategies below are essential to any online marketing efforts.

Search Engine Rankings

One of the most important considerations when building a website is to make sure it is search engine friendly. The benefits of this is a website that not only looks good and provides information, but one that appears at the top of the search engine results for relevant keywords for your business. For example if you had a bed and breakfast in Daylesford Victoria wouldn’t it be great if your website was one of the top results for “bed and breakfast accommodation daylesford” in the search engines. With results like that you are guaranteed that prospective customers looking for your service will find your business.

The process of creating a search engine friendly website is called Search Engine Optimisation or SEO for short. It is usually done by an SEO professional, or your web designer, if they have experience with SEO. There are also plenty of online resources if you would like to give it a go yourself. I’ve listed some of the better ones in the resources section at the end of this article.

As well as optimising your website it is important that you get links from other websites to yours. Search engines, such as Google, partially rank websites by the number, and quality of links to have to your website.

It’s important to remember however, that high search engine rankings take some time to be achieved so it’s important that you focus on additional internet marketing strategies while you work on your SEO.

Pay Per Click Advertising

Pay Per Click (PPC) ads are the sponsored ads you see on search engines such as Google or Yahoo! With Pay Per Click advertising you pay only when a customer clicks on your ad, regardless of how many times it’s shown. You select your search terms and set an amount you are prepared to pay if someone clicks on your ad. When a user searches for, or is using, a search term you have bid for, your ad will appear on the right side of results pages under the heading Sponsored Links. If a user clicks on your ad you pay the amount you bid for that term.

Pay Per Click is a great way to target hundreds of niche keyword terms for a relatively low cost. In addition it is highly targeted and the results are highly quantifiable. The benefit of this is targeted traffic to your website – ie the people visiting are looking for your services!

Pay Per Click campaigns can be running within hours and is a great way to drive prospective customers to your website quickly. For this reason a PPC campaign can compliment your SEO efforts. It sends you targeted traffic quickly while you wait for your SEO efforts to kick in.

Online Newsletters

Online newsletters are a fabulous way to communicate with prospective customers. It’s an opportunity to showcase your knowledge, provide information about your products and services and promote special offers.

When deciding to start an online newsletter you’ll need to consider the following:

1. How often you want to send it out – you want to send it out regularly enough so that people look forward, and remember it, but not so often as to inundate your readership. With the amount of information overload doing on these days that can be a fine line to walk.
2. What sort of content you want to include. It’s always best to keep a few regular content types to help give it a consistency. The amount of regular, fresh and interesting content you can come up with will help you in determining how often you send it out.
3. How you will manage your newsletter and your subscriptions. There are numerous email newsletter management systems on the market so take the time to choose the best for your requirements. I’ve listed some of the more popular in the resources section at the end of this article.

Your should also make sure your newsletter is branded the same as your website. It helps make your business recognisable and memorable to your prospective customers. Your web designer should be able to help you with the branding and setting up the newsletter and subscription system.

Blogs and Forums

Additional ways to market your business and attract links from other websites include creating a blog and participating in internet forums.

Blogs

Blogging can bring your business many benefits:

  • Blogging is a great way to communicate with clients, customers and prospects. Whether it be talking about new products or services, company news or resolving an issue, you can communicate on a level not seen before.
  • A blog give you a voice which in turn gives readers an idea of who you and your business are. Your goal is to then engage them enough to want to do business with you.
  • Blogging can help position you as an expert in your industry.
  • Blogs attracts links and can help you in your search engine rankings.

Internet Forums

Internet forums are a way to communicate with others in your industry and potential customers. It can help you promote your business and show off your expertise and knowledge. It can also help you expand your knowledge and meet like minded people.

To find relevant forums try typing in your industry and “forums” at a search engine such as Google.

Website Analytics

Website analytics, the process of analysing your website’s visitors, is a powerful way to understand what is going on with your website. It enables you to see who is visiting your website, where they are coming from, what search terms they used (if applicable) to find your site, how long they stayed on your site, what pages they looked at and so on.

Website analytics can be handled in two ways:

1. By analysing your website log files with a software program.
2. Installing a small piece of code on your website.

There are many applications out there ranging from free to extremely expensive. I’ve listed some of the more popular in the resources section at the end of this article.

There you have it. The above internet marketing essentials are a great start in helping you to make the most of your website by attracting targeted, prospective customers to it.

Have You Checked Your Online Forms Lately?

This is just a quick post while I try to get back into the swing of things but it’s one I thought worth a mention.

When was the last time you filled out your own online forms? If you’re thinking you haven’t lately how do you know they are working?

I always recommend that my clients test their forms regularly. It’s a good way to ensure that they are working properly. It’s also a great way to find any usability issues. If you find them hard or annoying to complete I suspect your site visitors are too.

So if you haven’t – go test your forms. Now!

2007 Australian Web Analytics Survey

Bienalto, an online marketing consultancy, are running the 2007 Australian Web Analytics Survey. It doesn’t take long to complete and all participants will be emailed the full survey details.

Web analytics is still not widely adopted in Australia so this is a great way to contribute and get an idea of the current state of play. It’s running until the 19 October 2007 so hop on over there.

FreelanceSwitch’s 12 Breeds of Client and How to Work with Them

I’ve just discovered FreelanceSwitch and boy am I glad I did.

Their post: 12 Breeds of Client and How to Work with Them provides great insight. Rather than just bagging out clients they describe 12 common types of client and give advice on how to work with them. Types include:

  • The Low-Tech Client
  • The Hands-On Client
  • The Appreciative Client
  • The I-Know-It -When-I-See-It Client
  • The Always-Urgent Client
  • The Budget Client

I’ve worked with a lot of clients in my time and can tell you the list is pretty spot on. For some rare insight into client types and how to make sure you work well with them the post is a must read.