Simple tips to get your website generating more business

We all want our websites to generate more leads and sales. Even the most professionally designed and well-written sites can be missing simple ways to get visitors to take action, commonly known as a “conversion” (giving us the conversion rate metric that measures the percentage of visitors who take such an action). 

The good news is that improving your website’s conversion rate doesn’t have to involve expensive redesigns or wholesale change – something as simple as rewriting the heading of a page can deliver a sizeable uplift. For more tips and a more in-depth understanding of topics like this, check out our upcoming webinars.

It's also important to clearly state what the user will gain by clicking the CTA. Focus on the benefits rather than the features to make the CTA more appealing (this is true of all conversion-focused copywriting). “Get Your Free Plumbing Quote Now” is much more compelling than “Contact Us”. Here’s an example where the “Contact Us” button was changed to “Store Your Boat”, giving a 44% increase in clicks on the button.

Where you place your CTA on the webpage is crucial for its effectiveness. Place your primary CTA where visitors can see it without scrolling (known as “above the fold”), but remember they need to understand the benefits of what is on offer before they’ll take action, so ensure they can see these too.

Depending on your page’s length, you are likely to want to repeat the CTA within the content and at the end – don’t assume people will scroll back up to find it! Some websites use “sticky” CTAs that are always visible as you scroll, but be careful these work on mobile and don’t intrude on the content if you use them.

The design of the button is important too – it needs to look like one! Choose colours that contrast with the rest of your webpage to make the CTA button pop, use a large bold font and add visual cues like an arrow or other icon to emphasise the action.

2.    Make tt easy

Don’t make your visitors hunt for what they need. Put your phone number in the header of your website and make it a “tel:” link, so it can be tapped to call you directly. You might do the same with your email address, and ensure both are visible on mobile as well as desktop.

As above, ensure calls to action are easily found, repeated through pages and at the end, so users don’t have to scroll much to find them. You might also consider including contact forms within key pages, rather than making people click to the Contact Us page to send you a message, like this example.

On ecommerce sites, ensure the search function is easily found, along with the basket/cart button, especially on mobile.

4.    Reassurance

For many visitors, all they know about your business is what they see on the website. Without you there in person, they need reassurance to trust you. This is why customer reviews are so important, but many companies hide them away or assume people will search for them.

If you have a good rating on any review platform (your Google Business Profile, Facebook page, Trustpilot or anything else), you should display that rating on every page of your website in a prominent position. You don’t know which pages people will land on or visit and you can’t assume they’ll scroll to the end of pages, so right at the top of the page is generally the best place – that way, it’s instantly clear that you are highly rated.

Similarly, don’t hide away other reassuring elements like awards you’ve won, being a member of a professional body, qualifications etc. Whilst they might not be the primary thing you want people to see, make sure you utilise them within page content and don’t just hide them down in the footer of pages or on a single About Us page.

You can also reassure people of the safety and security of your website – let them know you value their privacy in a statement next to the “submit” button for any forms, tell them everything is secure (e.g. “Secure Checkout”) and use padlock icons or similar to visually suggest security.

Another simple tip is to include your physical address in the footer and on your contact page – people often check for this just to see where you are and as a sign of a legitimate business. If you can’t show your address, at least say “[Company] work from our offices in [location], but we’re not open to the public.”