Photo: Jacqueline Cao, founder of Elevated Rankings; Credit:
Paul Smith Photography

Driving traffic to your website isn’t enough if those visitors don’t convert into customers.

Depending on your business model, a conversion may mean a sale, product download or email opt-in. When you implement small changes, such as the addition of a lead gen form or create a testimonials section, you can increase sales immediately.

Here are a few simple changes you can make to your site in order to improve conversions and increase your bottom line.

1. Optimize your CTA’s

Small changes to your call to actions or CTA’s such as text color, font size and placement can make a significant impact on conversions. According to ConversionXL green, red and orange buttons perform well. Hubspot conducted a study in which red buttons beat green by 21%.

 Red communicates passion and excitement whereas green connotes “natural” and “go forward” since it’s used in traffic lights.

Words can also significantly impact conversions. Use action-packed words like “try”, “access” and “reserve” in order to motivate potential buyers to take action. Use buttons instead of text for your main CTA’s as these tend to be more visible and receive higher click-throughs.

If your site runs on WordPress you can easily install plug-ins which will allow you to experiment with your CTA’s and run A/B testing.

 The images and text surrounding the CTA can also affect conversions. Make sure the background image doesn’t interfere or clash with your button’s message. You can also use photo editing software to adjust the background transparency level and make a CTA button more visible.

2. Include a lead gen form on every page

Maximize conversions by putting a lead form on every landing page. Lead forms can be placed above the fold, at the end of your content or even in the sidebar. According to Hubspot, leads with three to four field forms maximize conversions while longer forms actually increase bounce rates.

Keep lead forms as concise as possible since visitors are likely to ignore long forms and hesitant to give out personal information. Third party tools like Clearbit can be used in order to glean more information about a customer based off their email address. Avoid the use of captchas since this an extra step for customers to complete.

3. Provide customer testimonials

Demonstrate social proof and credibility with customer testimonials. These are particularly effective because they aren’t sales pitches and come from an unbiased party.

Potential customers are more likely to relate to a real person. Add an image of the person who shared the testimonial to build trust and authenticity. 

Consider creating a video testimonial to resonate more deeply. Video testimonials allow your existing customers to show emotion when explaining how your product or service has impacted their lives.

Display testimonials on prominent areas on your website such as the homepage, contact page or even a full-fledged testimonials page. You can also opt to add testimonials on every page of your site.

Link to your business page on Yelp or other relevant review sites where customers can read even more reviews. For example, Baunat Jewelers prominently displays snippets of customer reviews on the homepage which are linked to the full review on Trust Pilot. Establishing trust is particularly important for a business like Baunat since they sell jewelry and consumers are naturally more apprehensive when making big ticket purchases online.

4. Display contact details on every page

Contact information such as your company phone number and e-mail address should be displayed in a prominent area such as the header, primary navigation or footer area. This will make it easier for prospective customers to contact your business without having to navigate to a separate contact page.

Show visitors that there’s a real company behind your website by providing bios and photos of your founders or team. Your site should also have a detailed “About” page and provide information about your company’s history, mission and founders.

Websites that convert

The key to improving sales is to make small changes over time and observe the direct impact on your bounce rate and conversions. Even the smallest of changes can make a difference and impact your bottom line so don’t be afraid to experiment.

This article has been edited.

Jacqueline Cao is founder of Elevated Rankings, a digital marketing agency that helps small businesses build an online presence by building an effective online marketing strategies. She currently consults numerous businesses including Baunat and other local and national clients. Connect with @jacquelinecao2 on Twitter.

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