I have so many prospects that spend so much money on search marketing but haven’t taken the time to consider that good design and content will get them more actions. We measure return on investment (ROI) based on conversions or how frequently a visitor reaches a goal on your website. Generally that goal is to get the visitor to a thank you page for filling out a lead or an order form.
The first step to increasing your ROI is to define your goals. It could be multiple goals. For example, the BOALT website has two goals: a contact inquiry and request for proposal form. If you don’t have goals on your website – that’s a problem. You might want to consider adding a form or two.
The next step is how to handle that first customer that clicks on your website. How are you going to engage them? Are they enticed to click on the next page that leads them to the form? In order to achieve success here you need to understand your audience. Are you a real estate broker looking for new listings or new buyers? Are your a mortgage broker looking for a certain type of credit score? The tone of your content will help filter the right type of customer. Also using certain call-to-action words like: “Learn More”, “Request a Brochure”, “Sign Up” will increase your conversion. There are certain stop words that decrease your conversion as well such as: “we”, “our” and “trust us”. Let the customer gain trust in you on their own, don’t sell it to them. Lastly, keep everything short and to the point. The most important part of the process is the lead or sales funnel. Once a customer has clicked on the link that takes them to the beginning step of that funnel, make sure you lead them through the process efficiently without any confusion. Rule of thumb on that conversion path – less is more.
Any information that you can gather from them after they place the order might help you increase conversions. We’ve found that the shorter the form, the more successful it is. Also, asking for certain confidential items such as social security numbers can really hurt your conversion. Try to get sensitive items over the phone after you have attained that customer.
Good luck! Remember, the customer must be able to identify the goal. Keep them focused on the conversion path. Less is more and no sensitive data!
