by Jamila Vaughan

Created on: October 29, 2008

Is this scenario familiar? It's the bottom of the sixth, and bases are loaded. But once again the team just can't seem to get any runs. The crowd lets out a collective sigh. Tracking your web analytics software can be just as disappointing. Your SEO, link building, and Pay Per Click Advertising efforts have increased the number of visits to your site. But these visitors are disappearing like sand in a sieve. Experienced designers know they should be focusing on web site conversions - not just counting the visits, but making the visits count. We will discuss just three of the many ways you can improve your web site conversions and increase the success of your site.

First of all, your web site should have definite objectives. There are informational sites, e-commerce sites, blogs, etc. Your goals should be specific and quantifiable, for instance: to receive e-mails, online inquiries, phone calls, etc. Meeting your objectives means the you have attracted your ideal web site visitor and they have answered your call to action, completing the sale or becoming a lead. How do we do that?

1. Offer clear, consistent navigation.

Your navigation should be descriptive, and lead people to where they think they should end up. This is about THEM, not you. Web visitors scan a page very quickly looking for keywords they've thought up in their own brains. So your menu items should include words and phrases your visitors would be expecting, not cute, kitschy titles or what you want to force feed them. Then each click of the mouse needs to take people from a more general to a more specific place - getting them closer to their objective. If someone isn't finding what they are searching for, they will become bored or frustrated and give up. And you've lost a web conversion.

2. Focus on benefits & problem solving.

I can't stress the importance of this enough. Web copy is just as important as the content of any marketing piece. Your web content must focus on the visitor's needs, interests, problems. Talk about specific ways in which your business will meet these needs and solve these problems. Now, you've got a listening ear, and now you're on your way to getting a web conversion. Writing on the web must take into account many factors such as audience, purpose, search engines, etc. So small business owners need to spend time, effort and money on quality web copy. And please spell check!

3. Tell people what to do.

This is where your call to actions comes in. Think back to your site objectives. Each page should have clear directions about where visitors should go. And it's gotta be big and bold and extremely clear to web site visitors. Do some informal web site testing: ask a couple of friends or colleagues to sit down and use your site. Look for signs of confusion or hesitation, and frantic clicking of the browser's Back Button. These are all signs that you may need to call-out your call to action.

These were just three of the dozens of ways you can improve web site conversions. Contact an experienced web designer or a usability expert to increase your web conversions. And start turning those hits to home-runs.

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