Traffic Into Customers

The purpose of search engine optimization is not solely to generate traffic to your website. The true purpose is to generate quality traffic to your website that results in sales. Therefore, the techniques a website development company uses for search engine optimization must take into consideration the traits, needs and desires of the target market that will be interested in what your website has to offer. In order to produce quality, targeted traffic and to enhance the site’s conversion rate you must consider the right keywords.

In the traditional business environment, retail stores not only have to consider their location and promotion to get customers into their store, they also have to look at what gets those customers to buy once they are there. The online marketplace is no different, except for the fact that there aren’t any salespeople saying, “How can I help you?” This fact alone increases the focus on converting browsers to buyers.

There are a few reasons that people shop and don’t buy when they visit a website. One major problem is directly connected to human nature. Studies show that the average person who visits a website will leave the site if they don’t find what they are looking for in less than two minutes and the majority are not willing to wait more than 7 to 8 seconds for a website to load. Other than being impatient, people also expect a website to be easy to read and easy to use and, of course; they need to be prompted to buy through a call to action. Additionally, acceptable payment options are important to closing a sale. For these reasons the PSI Website Design Company takes into consideration many of these little known facts when considering website development for our clients. It's never just a routine job. Each client and their business are considered individually.

So, the primary characteristics for exceptional conversion rates are – a website that loads quickly, communicates clearly, navigates effortlessly, is easy to read, prompts action for the browser to buy and has desirable payment options. That sounds pretty simple, but how do you achieve all that?

First, for a site to load quickly, one must understand that a large percentage of people still use dial-up services that are 56k or slower to access the Internet. Flash technology is attractive and isn’t a huge issue for people with high-speed internet service, but it can absolutely kill load times for dial-up browsers and can slow the loading speed for high-speed service users. Additionally, Flash technology can hinder optimization because the search engines have difficulty reading it and are more interested in the text, as are most potential customers. So, though Flash designs are attractive and interesting, they are not necessarily recommended for optimization and conversion rate purposes. Low upload speed from the host site, excessive use of scripting and excessive use of comments in the HTML code can also increase load time.

Clear communication comes from delivering your message quickly. This is directly connected to the organization and content of the text on your webpage. It is more difficult for people to read text online than it is for them to read printed text; therefore, web copy needs to be more focused with shorter sentences and paragraphs than what would be used in traditional communications.

Ease of reading can be linked to the color and contrast used in web design. For example, white text on a blue background can be hard to read as can black text on a dark background. Black on white is by far the easiest to read, but if using colored backgrounds and/or colored text make sure that the content is easy to read and visitors don’t have to strain to get the message.

Navigation through the site should be as simple as possible. Users need to be able to find what they are looking for quickly – in less than two minutes. Websites should be conservative with the navigational buttons placed in an orderly fashion where they are simple to find. Every page should have a link to the home page so browsers don’t get “lost”.

Sales and marketing basics emphasize the need for a call to action, but for some reason, people often forget to include on in their website. The call to action can be as simple as a button that says “Buy Now” or a text link that says “Click here to order”. “Contact us today” is another effective clause. If you review some of the top e-commerce sites on the Internet, you will find that they use numerous calls to action throughout their site. There is no question about what you do next if you want to buy something. A clear call to action definitely prompts impulse buyers to make a purchase.

Once you’ve captured the sale, a lack of desirable payment options can turn buyers away. While there may be some costs involved in accepting different forms of payment, having a variety of payment options such as mail order, credit card payments, check-by-phone and PayPal® can ensure the sale closes.

While this may seem like a lot to consider, it is really very easy. Following the basic recommendations made in this article will ensure that your website is user-friendly and conducive to doing business. Fulfilling these two important needs can skyrocket your conversions rates and your revenues!