In theory, we are all very aware of the importance of conversion rates. After all, no amount of traffic or mentions can make up for what is, in reality, cold hard success: converting a lead into a paying customer.
However, practice often strays away from theory, and we don’t have conversions in mind when crafting product and service pages.
Let’s look at eight tips that can help you increase conversions, and how you can implement them on your pages.
Emphasize the solution, not the features
You certainly want to talk about the features of your product or service and what makes it unique, but you primarily want to tell your visitors how your offer will benefit them. So instead of talking about yourself (your product, your service, your brand) – talk about them.
Tell them what will change in their lives and how you will solve their problems if they choose to convert. Of course, you may want to be a little less or a little more direct, but the point should be clear: it is they that matter, and not you.
Compare and contrast
While the subheading may take you back to your English lessons in school, in the world of copywriting and digital marketing, comparisons are one of the best ways to illicit conversions.
When you design a page that will compare and contrast similar services, you are instantly offering some incredible value to your visitors: they don’t have to do all that research on different kinds of services themselves, and can at a glance (or after a couple of minute’s reading) determine which service to choose.
And we all know value is one of the pillars of conversions.
Utilize social proof
Testimonials and customer reviews are a great way to inspire trust in future customers – after all, if so many people have already had a pleasant and beneficial experience with your brand, why not see how you can help them?
The trick with testimonials lies in not overdoing it and making it sound real, genuine, and not overly promotional. You can, of course, also add reviews from other websites, a list of your most prominent clients, and so on – but when selecting the social proof you want to use, always consider the audience you are trying to convert. What would inspire them?
Inspire action
The most widely known and used conversion tool is certainly a CTA – a call to action.
And while its purpose is precisely what its name suggests – inspiring someone to take that all-important action and convert (whether that is signing up to an email list, making a purchase, giving you a call, etc.) – most websites forget that they need attention grabbing calls-to-action button and not just a perfunctory CTA.
The way you inspire action matters – so set aside some time to work on the CTAs, instead of just slapping a “contact us” button to the bottom of your pages.
Use a chatbot
No matter how well you have written a product or a service page, there is a chance that a customer might have a question you have failed to answer. In which case, they might give up and go somewhere else, or, if you provide the opportunity, they might get in touch with you and ask.
While this certainly means having a customer service team ready to answer any queries, you can also add a chatbot to these pages. Your chatbot can even handle some of the simpler questions and provide an answer or let the customer know their inquiry is being processed.
Video is the new normal.
Video has been used for a while as a sales tool, but only recently has it become widely accepted as a conversion booster.
People like to watch videos more than they like to read long articles – and there are certainly all kinds of services and products that lend themselves perfectly to being showcased via video.
When you provide details in video format, you will allow customers who are not into reading a whole lot of text to see your product or service in action. Not to mention that visuals are much easier to digest, and can also provide more selling points than mere words.
Enlist the help of FOMO
Fear of missing out can help you when you are promoting an offer that has an expiration date.
Instead of just telling visitors the offer will expire on a certain date, you can add a countdown timer to your pages, making sure they are aware time is ticking away and that they are running out of it.
This way, you can entice shoppers to consider buying something they have not even been looking for at the time, but are tempted by your limited offer.
Make it as easy as you can
Eliminate any superfluous conversion steps: if someone needs to sign up for something, don’t ask them a bunch of questions, no matter how relevant they may seem to you. Only stick to the minimal requirements, and ensure customers can spend as little time as possible converting. If they need to give up 10 minutes of their time to sign up, chances are they will just give up altogether and leave.
Provide as many payment options as feasible, and make sure you clearly emphasize the safety of your website. An SSL certificate is an absolute must, but the more confidential and valuable information you demand, the better your security needs to be.
Make delivery options easy and straightforward – always think about the customer, and not how complicated something is on your end. The easier it is for them to access you, the better their chances of converting.
Final thoughts
Conversions are fickle things, prone to uncertainty and change. However, if you focus a significant portion of your attention on improving them, and more importantly, if you keep testing out different ways to achieve that, you will soon figure out a formula that works best for your target audience.