You pay for online advertising. You create content to drive organic traffic from social media and Google. The number of people visiting your website is growing. But your revenue numbers are not.
Converting website visitors into paying customers is the final hurdle of the A-C-T buyer’s journey. By this point the potential customer is aware of you. They consider you a good option. Now the time has come to complete the transaction.
Unfortunately many businesses find this last hurdle the most difficult to leap over.
But there’s no need to fret. In this guide we’ll show why a website is now a business’s single most powerful tool for growth, and we’ll give you clear and actionable instructions on how to convert website visitors into customers.
Does a good website increase business?
For most modern businesses, no asset is as valuable and powerful as a good website. That’s simply because unlike a physical storefront, this digital storefront can be visited by anyone on earth. This means the potential for your website to drive growth is more or less infinite.
Your website forms the hub of your online presence. All other profiles and accounts link back to it. If you successfully drive visitors to your site, through ads, content and other marketing methods, you can then turn them into leads and encourage them to make a purchase.
How much does a website benefit a business? It could potentially grow your business exponentially. But simply creating a website isn’t enough.
The difference between a basic website and a good website is stark, particularly when it comes to converting website visitors to leads and customers.
6 ways to convert website visitors into customers
There are a number of proven ways to convert more web traffic. These methods form a key part of our processes here at Growth Partners, and are implemented as part of the proprietary DigitalArchitect System® – our blueprint for digital growth.
Here’s how to turn website visitors into customers in six steps.
1. Invest in website design
Once you attract a website visitor, you want to keep that visitor on your site for as long as possible – the longer they stay, the more likely they are to become a customer.
The look, feel and usability of your website will determine whether a visitor hangs around for a while (a popular metric is ‘average time on page’), or leaves after a few seconds (‘bounce rate’). Invest in quality web design: make your site beautiful and keep navigation simple.
2. Optimise your site for conversion
Further to the above, your website should be designed to gently nudge visitors further down the sales funnel. Any forms should ask for the minimum amount of information. The buying process should be smooth and feature the minimum number of steps. You might also consider encouraging an initial purchase by offering new customers a deal or discount code.
3. Include clear CTAs
Calls to action (CTAs) are perhaps the most important of all website conversion optimisation tactics. The next step toward a purchase should be crystal clear: make CTA buttons large, eye-catching, and filled with simple yet compelling text (easier said than done).
For B2B, larger or less impulsive purchases, these CTAs should focus on turning visitors into leads by capturing their information.
4. A/B test
A/B testing is where you create two (or more) versions of a web page, featuring slightly different elements, then present these versions to different users and see which performs best.
A key part of site optimisation, you should A/B test different website content, from blogs to forms to CTAs, to find the recipe that results in the highest conversion rates.
5. Create customer-centric content
You should work to offer website visitors content that answers common customer queries, as this can drive higher conversion rates while taking some of the low value busywork away from your sales team.
What questions do you hear from customers again and again? What are the common fears, frustrations, needs and desires of your average customer? Create compelling content based on the answers to these questions.
6. Offer a live chat function
Potential customers will likely have questions about your products, services and brand that lay beyond those covered in your content, so it’s also wise to provide an AI-powered chatbot that can give quick answers to common questions, and which can defer to a real employee when needed.
Modern chatbots are incredibly capable, and can function as a 24/7 salesperson (who you don’t have to pay). They can qualify and capture leads, and even make sales.
Optimise website conversions with DigitalArchitect
At Growth Partners we’ve spent years helping businesses increase website conversions via our proprietary DigitalArchitect System®, which offers a comprehensive blueprint for digital growth, and WebSmart®, our system for building data-driven websites.
Driven by data, DigitalArchitect grants us a deep understanding of your customers, competitors and market. It sheds light on every step of the customer journey, including how we can optimise your website to drive more business. It even determines the strength of your business case for a digital marketing investment, including a three-year ROI projection.
If you’re ready to transform your website into a conversion machine, we’re ready to help. Get in touch for no-obligation chat today.
FAQs
How much does having a website increase business?
How does having a website increase sales? You can think of a website as the digital version of your physical storefront, only this one can be visited by literally billions of people. The transformative potential of a website is therefore incredible – but it’s up to you to capitalise on it.
How do I turn my website visitors into leads?
As mentioned above, there are a wealth of ways in which to convert more web traffic into paying customers. But perhaps the most effective is to partner with a professional team like Growth Partners, as this is an investment that can drive tangible, significant returns.
Why am I getting visitors but no sales?
Bad website conversion rates can have a number of causes – your website is slow to load or clunky to use, you fail to earn a visitor’s trust, the next step down the sales funnel isn’t made clear. DigitalArchitect is designed to diagnose these issues for our expert team to fix.
How effective is a website for a small business?
Small businesses have just as much to gain from a well-crafted website as large businesses, perhaps even more so, as a website can see you quickly outpace other small businesses that either don’t see the value or aren’t willing to make the investment in website conversion optimisation.