Today’s topic is one of my favorites to talk about. I am a big fan of looking at and building pretty websites, but let’s be real. A website that doesn’t convert is pretty useless. Your website is your 24/7 sales person and should be set up as such. Yes pretty helps, but it isn’t everything.

 

So what is a website conversion anyways? A conversion can be measured a number of different ways depending on what you are tracking. If you are tracking how well a sale does in your online store then a conversion is a sale. If you want to see how well a new opt-in does then a conversion would be a download of that freebie. For the purpose of this post and to keep it simple I’ll be defining a conversion as

Any action that causes someone to take the next step you want them to take with your brand

Read that again because the wording is important. A conversion is something that is planned and executed. It doesn’t just randomly happen. This means that YOU are in control of the conversions that happen on your site and what conversion happens too. Exciting, right?

So how can I optimize my site for the conversions I want? I’ve got 3 for ya!

#1 Decide what conversion you want most on your site.

This one is simple enough, right?

Actually, this is the one that trips people up the most and causes you to not have the conversion you are looking for on your site. What I mean by that is that most of us are super excited to share #allthethings with the people who land on our website so we overload our website with information and tasks for our visitors. This is no bueno, friends.

We have to keep our websites simple and easy to navigate. If you want people to buy your e-book then keep that in mind when building each page of your website. If you want people to sign up for your email list then keep that in mind when mapping out what each page will look like. Picking up what I’m putting down here? Good.

Don’t ask people to do 10 things on one page. Keep the goal of the page simple and clear so that the result you want actually happens. If you want someone to opt-in to your newsletter don’t just have the sign up at the top of the page. Put it in a couple different places on the page. Now I’m not saying just plaster the page in your email sign up form, but remind them of it frequently.

The simpler the call to actions are on your page the more likely someone is to take them.

#2 Keep the Ask Simple

I want action from each person who visits your website. This may seem ambitious and not really attainable but not so my friends! How you ask?

First, I only want action from your Dream Clients. No reason to clog up your inquiries and newsletter with people who may never purchase from you. This happens from strategic branding and research which is another topic for another day.

Second, you have to make the ask simple and easy to do. A lot of times people tell me that they want their conversion to be the purchase of their high-end coaching program. My next question is, “It’s your first time on a coach’s website and you love what they are saying, love their branding, and a couple blog posts you read. Are you immediately on your first visit dropping a couple thousand dollars on their coaching program?” The answer 99.9% of the time is no.

So why do we expect the same from our websites and then cause ourselves unnecessary pressure and stress? Because we are human.

The ask needs to be so simple that a person who is interacting with your brand for the first time will actually take that next step with you.

What are some easy asks you could make?

• Asking them to download a free checklist, workbook, or training
• Asking them to follow along on a social platform
• Joining a free challenge
• Signing up for a free discovery call or strategy call with you

Catch my drift? Just by doing this alone and taking the pressure off of yourself to convert every single visitor into a high paying client right off the bat will be huge!

Bonus Tip: MAKE THE ASK! Don’t forget to tell them that this next step is available to them! Make it obvious on your website what you want them to do next whether it be to opt-in to a newsletter or book a free strategy call.

#3 Build your website for your Dream Client

I talk about this a lot, but it is seriously what will make or break your business. If you don’t build your website with your Dream Client (DC) in mind you will lose conversions. Don’t worry about how everyone else is structuring their websites do what you know your DC wants.

For instance, a lot of photographers have their navigation bar set up like a coaching business and that just doesn’t work for them. When someone is looking for photography services they go from the home page to the portfolio because they want to see if this person is even a good fit for them before they go read about them. For a coach the person might read about them before they check out their services because that’s how they’ll know if they will be a good fit.

Knowing this information about your DC and where they are headed on your site helps you to place your call to action buttons in strategic places that result in conversions for you.

How can you do this? Look at your analytics and see which pages people are visiting the most. You can do this in Google Analytics or if you have a Squarespace site you can find this under Analytics (although I do recommend using Google Analytics anyways because it is way more in depth).

The more you tailor your site to your DC the more you will see an increase in people signing up for discovery calls and email sign ups- whoop whoop!

Which of these three do you need to work on the most? Let me know in the comments below!