Is your website failing to convert browsers to buyers?

It’s a common problem for website operators. They’ve invested considerable time and money into getting healthy traffic to their websites, only to see these hard earned visitors click off (bounce) as quickly as they arrive.

Sometimes it’s simply a case of mistaken identity – yours is not the website they thought they were going to.

But in most cases, whether your visitors stay or go is entirely in your hands.
There’s a range of reasons that these visitors bounce before you’ve even extended the hand of welcome.

To ensure they hang around long enough for you to take them to the next phase of your relationship, here’s a selection of these ‘conversion killers’ you would do well to avoid.

1. Poor download performance

Without this fundamental in place you can almost kiss them goodbye forever. If your website doesn’t download quickly, browsers will lose patience and go to a website that does. While this issue is becoming less critical as broadband connections proliferate, you still need to ensure that your site downloads within a few seconds.

2. Insufficient credibility

As soon as your site downloads, your visitors will be making critical judgements in the time it takes to scan from one corner of your website to the other. They will be making judgements on pretty much any aspect you can think of – from the appearance (design, photography, layout, etc), to the navigation, to the amount of text they are confronted with, to the style of writing, your grammar and so on.

The more of these you get right, the more credible you will appear to the visitor, no matter your business size or budget. Then to enhance it further, you need to enhance that credibility with genuine testimonials, reviews or ratings and an address that looks as if it houses a real business. And don’t underestimate the personal touch. A good photo of you and your staff helps put a face to the name.

3. Poor calls to action

Ever been into a shop needing some assistance with your purchase and not being able to get any. Or worse still, finding what you want but not being able to find the cash register?

Well these barriers are what many website owners present to their prospects online by not offering clear and concise calls to action. Once you’ve delivered any piece of information at all, you need to let visitors know what they need to do next – be that contact you, visit an FAQ, call you or add to your online cart. Or suggest complementary or accessory products.

4. Insufficient contact options

You may have passed the first three tests, but many fall over at the fourth. Customers come in all shapes, sizes and communication preferences. Some will want to pick up the phone, others will want to email, some will want to chat online. And by not offering the method they want, you are inviting them to deal with your competitor.

That means providing as many communications channels as you can. You could even go the whole hog and invite snail mail!

5. Insufficient payment methods

Just as you need to offer a range of communication channels, so too do you need to offer a range of payment methods. Offer as many as you possibly can, right down to traditional methods like snail mail and fax. Again, if you don’t, it’s an invitation to visit a competitor.

6. Too many distractions

Web visitors are renowned for their fickleness. They will click off as soon as you give them an opportunity to do so. So make sure there are no distractions on the way to your purchase or enquiry facility. That includes those horrible flash opening sequences. Many too are now saying that by all means invite visitors to join your social network(s) of choice, but whatever you do don’t engage with them elsewhere while you are trying to engage with your website. You can do that after they’ve purchased/enquired.

7. No incentive to sign up

A surprising number of business operators are so obsessed with closing sales on the spot that they miss the next best opportunity – to create a relationship with that prospect for a future sale. Just because they’ve said ‘no’ now doesn’t mean that they will in future. In fact, if you leave a good impression they will tell others – even if they didn’t buy this time around.

So entice all of your website visitors to form an ongoing relationship with you by providing incentive to sign up to your list. Then once they’ve done that, make sure you follow up with a valuable email piece or offer.

You can afford to be creative here. Brainstorm what you can do with your newsletters. Make offers and freebies, have contests, be whacky – anything you can do to make their sign up worthwhile.

So it’s critical to work hard to ensure your website avoids these conversion killers. Once you have you can watch your conversion rates blossom.

Know of any more conversion killers? Let’s hear ’em by adding your comment below.

In addition to being a leading eBusiness educator to the smaller business sector, Craig Reardon is the founder and director of independent web services firm The E Team which was established to address the special website and web marketing needs of SMEs in Melbourne and beyond.