How To Convert Visitors to Customers

The following is adapted from the newly released book Conversion Optimization by Khalid Saleh and Ayat Shukairy.

When the average ecommerce store converts only 2% of its visitors into customers, it is hard not to wonder what is stopping the remaining 98% from moving forward with the purchase process. Conversion optimization starts with gathering detailed market information. The more detailed the information, the more precise the optimization process will be. You then use that data to shape how your website interacts with its visitors.

This relentless focus on customers sounds familiar to marketing folks, but it isn't always a comfortable fit with the technical or business world on the Web. It is rare to find a company with marketing and IT teams who work collaboratively when creating the company's website. IT teams may blow your mind with innovative designs, but ultimately it is the conversions that will make a difference to your bottom line. Similarly, the focus can’t be on what the CEO, VP of marketing, or business owner wants, but rather on what the visitors want. If a user isn't happy, conversion rates will drop and revenue will suffer. We've all heard the classic example of the Fortune 500 company that developed a fancy website costing more than $20 million--only to find that the site did not generate the expected revenue because it did not appeal to the company’s target market, nor was it user-friendly.

So, what can you learn about your visitors that will help you encourage them to "add to cart" and eventually make a purchase?

To accomplish the difficult task of converting more visitors into customers, you need to consider many aspects regarding your visitors:

• What are your visitors' general buying patterns?
• What trigger words will have the most impact on your visitors?
• Can visitors find the information they are looking for to make a purchase decision right away?
• How do visitors view your website design? Does your design instill confidence in visitors?
• Which website elements persuade visitors to remain on the site, and why?
• Which website elements cause visitors to exit, and why?
• Which of your competitors are your visitors likely to consider (maybe a brick-and-mortar store or a strong competing website), and why?

The goal of asking yourself these questions is to see your website from your visitors' vantage point. By doing so, you will start to understand what they are thinking, what objections they have, and how they will navigate and browse through your site.

[bookisbn]0636920000167[/bookisbn]