If you’re struggling with low conversion rates, you may want to consider implementing certain changes that could positively affect your website’s conversions. Marketing strategies have changed over the last few years, and marketers must be proactive with directing consumers to parts of the page that matter most, such as CTAs and gated content.
Here’s how to boost conversion rates with three easy website changes.
1. Rearrange Your Landing Pages to Highlight Your CTA
CTAs can make a massive difference in conversion rates, but only when they’re used properly. You might have already optimized your CTAs in a few of the more traditional ways:
- Making them larger
- Including contrasting background text
- Formatting them in surprising colors
- Adding strong verbs and including benefits
However, there’s one design element that many businesses overlook: CTA placement.
Heatmap studies show that people view websites in an F-shape pattern. They start at the top left-hand corner, move toward the right, then slowly skim down the left-hand side. It mimics the way most people read articles, books, and magazines.
To increase exposure of your CTA – making it more clickable – consider placing it at one of the F points. For instance, you could put a few inches below the top of the page on the right-hand side. That’s approximately where the second horizontal line of the “F” would go.
2. Implement Intelligent Pop-ups
Popups have received some bad press over the last few years, but they’re actually highly effective. You just have to use them the right way.
Remember that people visit websites in search of valuable content. They want to walk away with something of value, and if your popups are disruptive rather than helpful, you’ll likely chase traffic away.
Fortunately, you can set up intelligent pop-ups to trigger after certain actions, after a certain amount of time, or even when a user is showing intention to abandon a page. Here are several ways to use popups intelligently:
- On a blog post, trigger a pop-up to appear when the user has scrolled partway down the page.
- On a product page, trigger the pop-up when the mouse goes to close the screen.
- On a landing page, trigger the pop-up after the user has been on the page for a certain period of time.
Most importantly, don’t trigger a pop-up just for the sake of it. Make sure that the pop-up adds value to the user experience.
- Offer a discount code to reel in customers who might have otherwise bounced.
- Provide a free download in exchange for contact information.
- Invite the visitor to participate in a brief survey with a free gift.
The point here is to avoid annoying your website visitors. Give them a reason to stick around.
3. Point to Gated Content From Old Blog Posts
Your old blog posts can provide a goldmine for backlinks to your landing pages and gated content. Instead of letting them languish in the archives of your WordPress account, go back through and sprinkle links to your gated content using contextual anchor text.
For instance, let’s say that you run a dog grooming business. You have a landing page with gated content that includes a free download with your top 10 dog-grooming tips.
Go through your old blog posts to search for anchor text like “dog grooming,” “grooming your dog,” “bathing a dog,” and so on. Link to the landing page with your gated content to drive more traffic to it. You’ll instantly improve your potential conversion rates.
Dismal conversions don’t have to remain dismal. Using these three simple steps, you can immediately open more doorways for conversions and sales. For more information, rock your next holiday season with conversion rate optimization.