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  • What Causes Low Conversion Rates?

    What Causes Low Conversion Rates?

    In today’s competitive online landscape, quality content marketing is more important than ever.

    Search engines are constantly evolving and improving at detecting and rewarding relevant, fresh content creation.

    By creating quality content targeted to your audience and promoting it through effective channels, search engine optimization can help ensure that your website or blog ranks highly in search engine results pages (SERPs), driving more traffic to your site. I

    n addition, a strong content marketing strategy can help you build a loyal following of readers who will return to your site for new and exciting information. Quality content can set your website or blog apart from millions of others vying for attention online.

    Why Conversion Rates Matter

    One of the most important aspects of any website is its conversion rate – that is, the percentage of many visitors who take a first step, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.

    There are a number of ways to improve conversion rates, and the best approach will vary depending on the nature of the site. However, there are some general principles that can be applied in nearly all cases. The first time, it is important to make sure that the site is easy to navigate and that users can easily find what they are looking for. Second, the overall design should be professional and appealing.

    Finally, it is often helpful to include some sort of incentives, such as a discount or free shipping, to encourage visitors to take the product or service. By following these guidelines, it is possible explanations to significantly improve the conversion rate and achieve better results from any website.

    Though you could argue that conversion optimization is a science (as it relies on rounds of postulation and experimentation), there’s no single set of rules that any site can follow to achieve more conversions.

    For example, one particular layout might see more conversions by turning its green call-to-action red, while another layout might see more traffic and conversions by turning its red CTA green.

    There’s no surefire way to get the right placement, the right persuasive copy, and the right formatting all at once.

    The Problem with Low Conversion Rates

    A low conversion rate can be a major problem for any business. If you’re not converting a high enough percentage of your leads into paying customers, it can be difficult to sustain your business. There are a number of potential causes of a low conversion rate, and addressing these issues is essential if you want to improve your bottom line.

    One common cause of a low conversion rate is poor product fit. If your product isn’t meeting the needs of your target market, they’re not going to buy it. Make sure that you’re doing your research and offering a product that meets the needs of your target audience.

    Another potential cause of a low conversion rate is pricing. If your prices are too high, a potential customer will be turned off. On the other hand, if your prices are too low, people may not perceive your product as being high-quality. Finding the right balance is essential if you want to convert more leads into paying customers.

    Finally, consider your sales process. If potential customers are getting lost in the sales funnel or they’re not receiving adequate follow-up after their initial contact with your business, that could be causing your low conversion rate. Work on streamlining your sales process and making it as user-friendly as possible.

    What Causes Low Conversion Rates?

    If you’re facing a low conversion rates, don’t despair. By taking a closer look at your business and addressing any issues, you can boost your bottom line and start converting more leads into paying customers.

    That being said, there are common root causes of low conversion rates. No matter what kind of fix is necessary—whether it’s a color change or the inclusion of more bullet points—you can almost always trace the root of the problem back to one of these three main sources:

    1. A Lack of Attention.

    A Lack of Attention

    If lack of attention is your problem, it means your users simply aren’t able to focus on the site of conversion rates. This can manifest in a number of ways; for example, your CTA might be so hidden on your site that your customers aren’t able to find it. They may not even be aware that it exists. As a contrasting example, if your landing pages landing page is not optimized and is so dense with design elements and words, your users might be so distracted they can’t focus on the eventual site of ecommerce conversion rate benchmarks.

    A CTA is a call for people to take some specific action in support of a cause or campaign. Calls to action can be found in many different places, from advertisements and public service announcements to political speeches and fundraising appeals. No matter what the context, a CTA typically includes three key components: an explanation of the situation, a sense of urgency, and a specific request for action. For example, a CTA might explain that there is an environmental emergency that requires immediate attention, and then ask people to call their elected officials to demand action on the issue. By clearly articulating the problem and the desired course of action, calls to action can be powerful tools for motivating people to take positive change.

    There are three common categories of fixes you can apply to this lack of attention. The first is minimization. In this strategy, you’ll be minimizing (or eliminating) anything on the landing page that isn’t a CTA. This means cutting some of the fluff content, pulling away any banner ads or links away from the site, and possible adding more white space to the design.

    The second is ease optimization. You have to make the call-to-action easy to see and use. For example, if you’re using a traditional checkout, make the “add to cart” button prominent and intuitive to click. If you’re using forms, try reducing the number of fields to make things simpler.

    The third is heightened contrast. Make your CTA stand out from the rest of the material on the landing page by using bright colors, and possibly other cues that lead users’ eyes to the eventual destination, like arrows or eyelines of people in a background image.

    2. A Lack of Value.

    A Lack of Value

    The second major affliction in conversion rate optimization is a lack of value. If people don’t see any value in the act of converting, they aren’t going to convert. It’s a very simple concept from a high level, but it can get complicated when you try to evaluate what “value” your SEO agency has to offer.

    For example, if you’re running an ecommerce site or ecommerce store, your customers need to know that the products you’re offering are worth the money you’re asking from them to pay for it. You can increase this perceived value by including an indication of a discount (showing suggested price versus actual price), adding more bullet points or a video that showcase the product’s strengths, including testimonials from actual customers, comparing your price to your competitors’ or even lowering the price altogether. Convince your reader that this is worth the transaction.

    B2B companies and other service-based businesses that don’t have a one-to-one exchange for increase conversion rate also need to demonstrate value. For example, you can’t just offer an email form and hope that people will hand over their information. Make it worth their while by offering a valuable email newsletter, or a free download of a whitepaper, or some other tangible exchange.

    3. A Lack of Trust.

    A Lack of Trust

    Finally, it’s possible that your new visitors don’t have enough trust in your brand or your product. Trust is a subjective measure, so you may find this more difficult to detect than a problem with value or user attention. Still, if you can rule out the latter two, you can assume there isn’t enough trust in your organization to warrant a conversion funnel.

    There are a number of inclusions that can increase user trust in your offer. First, include contact information for your company, including a website landing page, the name of your business, a physical address (if possible), and a phone number. This gives people reassurance that you’re a legitimate business. Including user testimonials is almost always a surefire way to increase user trust as well—include these in either written or video form, with an emphasis on the visuals if possible. Include the faces of the people giving the testimonials if you can.

    Beyond that, offer plenty of resources, content, and communication options for anyone undecided. This not only reassures potentially skeptical customers, it also provides more information that could help them make a final decision. For example, you could offer a tutorial video, a link to your company blog, or even a live chat window (provided you have someone waiting to answer those inquiries on the other side). As your reputation grows, so will your average visitor’s trust.

    Chief Marketing Officer at SEO Company
    In his 9+ years as a digital marketer, Sam has worked with countless small businesses and enterprise Fortune 500 companies and organizations including NASDAQ OMX, eBay, Duncan Hines, Drew Barrymore, Washington, DC based law firm Price Benowitz LLP and human rights organization Amnesty International. As a technical SEO strategist, Sam leads all paid and organic operations teams for client SEO services, link building services and white label SEO partnerships. He is a recurring speaker at the Search Marketing Expo conference series and a TEDx Talker. Today he works directly with high-end clients across all verticals to maximize on and off-site SEO ROI through content marketing and link building. Connect with Sam on Linkedin.
    Samuel Edwards