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In This Episode…
We’re troubleshooting why your website’s conversion rate is low by exploring 8 common reasons that negatively affect this metric.
At Thinkplus, we strongly believe that your website’s conversion rate is one of the most important performance measures you have. It measures what percentage of your site’s traffic is converting. In other words, what percentage of your site’s traffic is doing what you want them to do – making sales, generating leads etc. That is, if you are listening to this podcast we are assuming you’re trying to convert your website visitors. If you’re not, then that is the reason your conversion rate is low.
Some of these 8 reasons are by no means easy fixes. They will take time and dedication to solve.
However, it’ll be worth it.
Follow Tim’s recommendations to watch your conversion rate SOAR.
Reason One — Wrong Traffic
Your website might be attracting the wrong traffic. Though this may seem like an obvious reason to start with, it is one of the most key mistakes to explore when it comes to trying to boost your conversion rate. If your website sells software to accountancy firms and all of your website’s blog posts are about marketing for start-ups, then there’s no correlation. The reader searching for marketing blogs to read isn’t going to convert.
This attraction of the wrong traffic starts at the very beginning – from how you reach them.
Reason Two — Channel Targeting
The traffic channels you use in your marketing mix, e.g PPC, Organic Search, Social Media etc, need to match the internet and device usage habits of your target audience. If you’re using TikTok, a social network mostly used by males between the ages of 16 and 24, to sell anti-ageing cream to middle-aged women, then you’re going to attract the wrong type of person. This audience is very unlikely to buy the product you are trying to sell, resulting in a low conversion rate. This is why it is of paramount importance that you utilise the channel that your audience engages with most.
Reason Three — Unrelated Content and Services
Your marketing and advertising have to match what people are searching for. This starts with the content you create. It has to relate to what people are looking for. You also need to make sure that your services or products match what people want. Otherwise, your bounce rate will be high and your conversion rate will be low. It’s not uncommon for new businesses to launch a new service or product, only to see it fail spectacularly. Why does this happen? Because they’re not selling what people want. They’re selling what they think people want, but never thought to check. Your website not only needs to communicate what your business is selling well, your business also needs to sell what people want.
Reason Four — Great Offer, Wrong Timing
Sometimes, websites go in for the kill too early. Your website should speak or offer your users the right things at the right time to take them to the next stage of the sales funnel in a way that feels comfortable. When people land on your blog posts, for example, the pitch shouldn’t be “Buy My Expensive Software” it should be, “Here’s Something Related That’s Going To Help You”. This knowledge-enhancing offer not only helps the customer with their situation and turn them into a warmer lead, but they are also more inclined to trust your website and business’ expertise because you’ve been able to demonstrate it so clearly.
Consider the A.I.D.A method when working out where your users are on their purchasing journey.
Reason Five — Poor Website Design
Your website might look bad. Sorry.
Badly designed websites are conversion blockers. Nobody wants to buy from a dusty shop that hasn’t been redecorated in thirty-years, so nobody is going to buy from your website if it looks outdated or just plain bad. The standard of website design changes fast and if websites don’t change with the times then they quickly become outdated (even if it was designed in the last five years). They prevent conversions not just because they look ugly, but because they don’t look trustworthy, putting potential customers off giving you their information, or making a purchase.
Reason Six — Untrustworthy Website
Earning trust is hard in person. Earning trust online is even harder (especially so for badly designed websites). If a website doesn’t appear trustworthy then people won’t trust it, meaning that your job of converting them is twice as hard as normal. If people don’t trust your website, it is highly unlikely that they will convert. Sometimes a website can do well with conversions without the need to look trustworthy because the brand of the business is so well known that people don’t think twice about making a purchase, but if your business doesn’t have this level of trust already then your website needs to earn it.
Reason Seven — Slow Page Load Times
The one thing that’s worse than a bad looking website is a slow bad looking website. If a website or page is slow to load then potential customers are likely to become frustrated and will just close the window and move onto the next page. This means no conversion.
Reason Eight — Old Content
No website’s content should be set in stone. Content should evolve and improve over time. Websites with articles that have publishing dates more than a year old are going to look out-of-date to readers. Although the information may still be relevant today, they might assume the content is no longer applicable and so return to Google to find a more recent alternative. Time should be spent revising and improving your existing content instead, which in turn will lead to an increase in your conversion rate.
Improve Your Conversion Rate
Watch or listen to the video or podcast to gain insight into why your website has a low conversion rate, and if you want more suggestions and advice, then request a free review of your website via this link: https://exposureninja.com/review/
Timestamps
00:00 — Introduction
01:08 — Why Conversion Rate is Important
03:17 — Reason One
06:47 — Reason Two
09:29 — Reason Three
12:08 — Reason Four
16:19 — Reason Five
19:41 — Reason Six
23:11 — Reason Seven
25:31 — Reason Eight
