To Have a Successful Website, Traffic is Only the First Necessity
The internet battle is seemingly about traffic, but savvy website owners know the ROI depends on retention and conversion.
These are the under played cards.
Website “owners” understand the importance of drawing traffic but do not always monitor their bounce and conversion rates. Using Pay Per Click gets more traffic, but it doesn't improve the bounce rate. Improving retention and conversion improves the ROI of PPC campaigns.
The best strategy is to use a PPC campaign while improving the organic page rankings of a site. Improving the organic page ranking status is then followed by improving a site's retention and conversion rates.
In the multitude of sites I visit daily, I want to get some immediate impressions and know how I can get answers to some basic questions.
1> Do I feel I can read and navigate through this site easily? 2> How easy will it be to talk to somebody? 3> Does it look like they could solve my problem? 3> Who are these people?
So, how do we create this transition from searching to investigating a site?
I personally feel more secure if I see a few things right away.
1> A phone number inviting me to call 2> An "instant chat" box 3> A clear statement of what the business does. 4> A real easy way to find the scope and cost of the services. 5> An easy way to find out who these people are or who I complain to if things aren't working. How long have they been in business and where are they (I like to know what time zone I am calling).
A site has to show everything a visitor expects in under 10 seconds or at least give them the feeling they have arrived at a site that will solve their problems.
Many sites feel the most important question in a customers mind is the size of the Fulfillment company and they answer this question with a shot of a fleet of trucks, a large building, or a big warehouse. This may answer one question, but it should be accompanied by a consideration of how the visitor is going to have the rest of the questions answered on this visit.
You can visit your competitors sites and judge who is going to have the best chance of getting a visitors attention. Think about the questions your visitor is asking.
Who has the experience Which company would most value my business Which company would best suit my particular needs Which company can give me a human to quickly answer questions What do I do if I have problems getting started Who do I access for my account questions Who is running this company
Each site wants to have the opportunity to answer these questions. The best solution is to have the visitor talking to a company representative.
One of the best transition techniques to take a visitor from surfing to interacting with a company representative is Video. Our society is enraptured with TV and now YouTube. For some reason we enjoy and accept what we hear in this medium at a rate higher than other media.
Having a "representative" talking to the visitor when they arrive is an effective way of getting them to take the next step of dialing your number. The site doesn't have to open with video but a visible video connection available at the visitor's option would suffice. Most visitor's would choose this option.
If you haven't given video or audio consideration, it might be time to consider it while it is still cutting edge. An example of video and a live form introduction can be seen at www.Lipozene.com. This is a strong call to action from a product that is different than fulfillment, but you can certainly feel the pull.
If you would like to have a analysis of your site's strength in retention and conversion, I would be happy to discuss it with you. An accurate answer usually requires software tracking of visitors, bounces, and conversion, but even a visual observation can indicate a lot about the retention value of your site.