This week for Ask An SEO, we have a question from Margherita in Florida. She asks:
“I’m getting good traffic to our website, but not getting any conversions. I just redid my website and have more content coming, especially in the first few pages to make them longer. Why might this be happening? What can I do to increase conversions?”
Thank you for your question! I’m happy to help.
There can be hundreds of reasons why your traffic isn’t converting, and I don’t know if you’re looking for leads or ecommerce sales, so this answer is going to be split into three sections.
- Why website traffic is not converting – how to find the right information.
- Lead generation.
- Ecommerce sales.
Why Your Website Traffic Is Not Converting
Traffic may not be converting for many reasons.
Here is how you can start evaluating and troubleshooting.
Read Your Copy
Is the copy about you or is the copy about the benefit to the end user?
What I mean by this is are you saying “our product does XYZ” instead of “If you need a solution for XYZ, product A on this page is your answer.”
Also, does the copy clearly tell the person they are in the right place or provide a solution/answer?
The above is called “we, we” syndrome.
If your copy says “we”, “our” and other similar words more than two times anywhere on the page, you have not written for your end user.
Here is another example.
We issue:
“Our products are the best for the blue widget because they are made to last.”
This is about you and not about them. Change this to:
“If you want a blue widget that is compatible with XY and lasts a long time, you are in the right place.”
Now it is about them and you have solved their problem at the same time.
You have also reaffirmed they have found a solution.
Now think about if your copy tells the person how to engage with the page.
Do you specifically tell them to take an action like click the button below or fill out the form to the right?
If you don’t tell people what to do, they may not know and may not take your desired action.
Is There a Call to Action That Is Directly Next to the Message?
If no, this is another issue.
Many designers will expect a person to work for results.
Add buttons and forms directly above the fold and make sure the person doesn’t have to think about what to do on your page.
How Fast Is Your Page?
Regardless of desktop or mobile, check your page speed.
Slow pages kill conversions.
Remove images that do not get clicked or used.
Compress, scale, cache and lazy load all other images depending on what they are and if they are needed.
Remove excess plugins, fonts, tools, and code from your website and pages.
If you aren’t using something and you do not need it, get rid of it.
Pull off excess tracking and ad networks, these are killers too.
Upgrade your PHP and also apply a CDN if you take business from all over.
Faster pages give a better user experience and can help you convert.
Look at Your Audience & Properly Determine Who They Are
If your core buyer base is women aged 40 – 50 years old and that is who your website is designed for, but the page has more men on it, or women aged 20 – 30 years old, adjust for the audience.
If it is men and the product can be used by men, then make it about “him.”
If it is only able to be used by women but you sell to men buying for a woman, make the imagery and wording about shopping for her.
People in their 40s have different needs and wants than people in their 20s. Keep that in mind and make sure everything on the page and in your funnel is for the audience’s interaction with it.
Lead Gen
Here are ways to help get your lead gen traffic to convert.
- Is there a direct call to action after you sell the person your product or service? Does it match the call wording-wise?
- “Click Here”
- “Try It Free”
- “Submit”
- Etc.
- Have you reinforced there is no commitment if there is not one?
- Does the page talk about a guarantee to build confidence?
- Next to, below or right by the CTA, have you placed information about never spamming or selling the user’s information.
- Does the copy reinforce that the person will get their solution if they fill it out or start a trial?
Ecommerce Sales
Ecommerce is fun because there are so many factors that come into play and tests you can run.
You can go with sympathy and let the person know they’re supporting a local business, or you can go with branding and reinforce you are trusted and have great prices or quality products.
The color in the background or order of your images can even impact conversions.
I recommend starting at your sales funnel during checkout and ask yourself:
- Do you have a money-back guarantee by the add to cart and the purchase now that is clearly visible?
- If you’re in fashion or something that has sizes, do you share more well-known brands and let the person know how your sizes match up with them? Same with cosmetics and colors “similar to XY by AB” or “Size M here is an S in XY Brand”.
- Does your company offer free shipping and is that clearly listed once the order qualifies?
- Can you show that you have a better price than Amazon, Walmart, and other retailers or say this is not available on them and only here on your site?
- When the person is checking out, do you offer a promo or discount code and is there a way to access one directly from the box (click here for all available codes… there are no working ones on other websites).
Helping to get website traffic to convert into sales and leads is always a fun project and there are many ways and tools to do it. The above information should give you a solid foundation to begin your testing.
Thank you and I hope this helps!
Editor’s note: Ask an SEO is a weekly SEO advice column written by some of the industry’s top SEO experts, who have been hand-picked by Search Engine Journal. Got a question about SEO? Fill out our form. You might see your answer in the next #AskanSEO post!
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