If you look at your website ’ s analytics , you ’ ll discover the two most visited pages on your site from organic traffic are the Home page and the About Us page . Therefore , those pages need to be very well-written so a prospective customer is convinced to call or opt in . Conversion : The TRUE Measure Of Your Website ’ s Effectiveness
Now that we ’ ve established your website doesn ’ t produce any leads ( your marketing does ), how DO you know if your website is effective or needs work ? You look at conversion .
Conversion is a measurement of how many unique website visitors call your office or fill in a form . If you had 2,000 visitors to your website last month and generated two phone calls and two form fills from that traffic , that ’ s a total of four leads and a 0.2 % conversion ( 4 ÷ 2,000 ). Most websites convert at around 1 %– 2 %. E-commerce sites tend to convert higher at 2 %– 5 %. Businesses ’ websites tend to convert at a lower rate , around 0.1 %– 1 % on average . However , those are averages and do not necessarily mean your site has to convert at those rates . Further , that ’ s a measurement of your generic website with general traffic , not necessarily specific landing pages you are using in a marketing campaign that is driving people from an email , ad , or other marketing promotion to a landing page .
So , the first step in figuring out if your website is converting well or not is to get a true measurement of its conversion . That requires you to PROPERLY install and configure either Google Analytics or some other website tracking software to get accurate data . Over the years , I ’ ve had members make radical changes to their websites because they didn ’ t “ feel ” it was producing anymore , or they were bored with it , only to discover that the changes instantly stopped all lead flow . Further , I ’ ve seen businesses taken advantage of by web design companies who convince them their site is ugly , old , and unproductive , then sell them a $ 20,000 website project WITHOUT ever even looking at the DATA for its current conversion ! It ’ s shameful . Would you allow a doctor to do major surgery on you without data in the form of X-rays , MRIs , blood tests , etc .? I should hope not . This is why a critical first step in improving your website ’ s performance is to get a real and true reading of conversion .
Now , which analytics software is best ? Google Analytics is free and very powerful , but it ’ s a nightmare to figure out and can cause you to waste a lot of time looking at statistics and information that isn ’ t really relevant to measure for YOUR business .
We use and recommend CallRail , which is a very simple and powerful tool to measure and track website conversion that we put on all our clients ’ websites so they can see how their site is producing as well as listen to calls from inbound leads to ensure they are being handled properly .
Another piece of software we recommend IF you are going to work on SEO is Moz Local ( if you ’ re targeting local traffic ) or Moz Pro ( if you ’ re targeting across the U . S . or the world ). They also have a free tool that is a good starting place if you want to check it out before paying for a subscription . Moz also has a lot of great SEO training that can help even a layman figure out a plan to get higher rankings . Simply go to Moz . com for more information .
10 Critical Components To A High-Converting Website
As I said earlier , your website doesn ’ t need to be an expensive , high-design site with bells and whistles , but there are things you should have to maximize the conversion of traffic to your website .
A FUNCTIONING
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Website . I ’ m amazed at how many businesses have sites that are rife with broken links and webforms that don ’ t work . The other day when I was troubleshooting a client ’ s digital marketing plan , I discovered that two out of three of their website ’ s forms were not working . Specifically , they were not delivering the results they should ( one promised a free report that was NOT on the next page , although it was promised on the opt-in form ), and both did not alert this client that they had a lead . Another client discovered their site had been hacked and was displaying an ad for sports gear right in the middle of their website . They only discovered it because they came to me because their marketing wasn ’ t working , so I reviewed their site with them ( to be crystal clear , this was NOT a site we had produced ). All of these are not uncommon . Therefore , the first critical step in any website conversion is to make sure the links work and the forms actually do what they are supposed to do . And here ’ s another IMPORTANT tip : I would also strongly suggest that all webforms flow into a proper marketing automation system ( or CRM ) where they can be tracked and instantly followed up on .
Website Tracking
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Software . As I said above , Call- Rail is the one we use and sell to our clients . However , there are dozens of them out there . The key is not necessarily which one , but to make sure you actually USE IT properly and use REAL DATA to make changes , not your feelings . As Mark Twain once said , “ Supposing is good , but KNOWING is better .” When it comes to digital marketing and websites , you use actual data to deduce , not opinion .
A Site Built On A Proper SEO Plan .
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I don ’ t have the space in this article ( or this magazine !) to convey how to do a proper SEO plan , but I will tell you it ’ s worth outsourcing this activity . SEO is one of those specialty skill sets best outsourced until you ’ re running a full marketing department and can afford to bring it in-house . Further , it ’ s critical you understand that SEO is an ONGOING effort , not a “ set it and forget it ” activity .
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