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How to Increase Website Conversion Rates

Sun, 27 Oct 2019 01:10:53 GMT

5 Tips for Better Converting Websites

A conversion happens when you get people who visit your website to take any action designed to lead to an immediate or future sale. While it can be a long road from getting a person to give you a social media share or signing up for a newsletter to an actual purchase, even these types of conversions are getting future customers into your funnel.

Make a purchase, submit a form, click an offer, read an entire blog post, reach a landing page – these are the conversions you want to see from website visitors to grow your business. The percentage of visitors who take an action, or convert, is your conversion rate.

What Kind of Conversions Do You Need?

Increasing website conversion rates is a high-ranking goal for any growth-focused marketing strategy. To raise your conversion rates, you first must determine what it is you want your website to achieve for your business. Which website conversions are important for your business are dependent on the purpose of your website?

If you sell products or services online, then the most important website conversion rates will center around purchases. But most local businesses use their website to grow awareness, generate leads, and convince website visitors that they are the best option to fulfill whatever need the consumer is searching for. If you fall into the latter category, website conversions that feed lead generation will be the most important.

Once you determine which conversions are the most important, you’ll need to know what your current conversion rate is for each action you want your website users to take. The easiest way to determine your website conversion rate is to use a tool like Google Analytics, where all the data sets you need are just a few clicks away.

Here is how conversion rates are determined: If you have 10,000 website visitors a month and 500 take one of the actions you want them to take then your conversion rate is 5% (because 500/10,000 is .05). A website conversion rate of 100% is impossible, but you should optimize your website for conversions so you can get this number as high as possible.

How to Increase Website Conversion Rates

1. Get Micro-Commitments

Micro-commitments are small steps you ask your visitors to take towards a conversion goal. They are so small that your website visitors don't need to think too deeply about doing it because it doesn't cost them anything.

You can build on these micro-commitments to create engagement, familiarize visitors with your brand, and move them through your conversion funnel.

2. Use Enticing & Bold Calls-To-Action

Calls-to-action tell your website visitors what to do next. Clearly communicate the benefits of taking action now and use power words to inspire conversion. Remember, it is important to deliver what you promised immediately.

3. Get Website Visitors on the Phone

Use call back solutions like phone lead engagement software on your website to convert traffic into leads and new customers. This new click-to-call technology lets you build on high-value engagements; creating a unique experience for prospects and customers.

4. Build Trust

Use social proof such as reviews and testimonials on your website to build trust. With trust, you are more likely to get the desired conversion.

5. Use Soft Conversions and Nurture Leads

Soft conversions are actions that indicate a demonstrable interest in your products or services. Every visitor to your website isn't ready to buy right now. An overwhelming majority of your online traffic is seeking more information before making a final decision. Smaller conversions such as opt-ins for free information can still be valuable leads, though they may require more time and nurturing.

Investing Resources in Conversion Rate Optimization

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) to increase your website conversion rates needs to be part of your digital marketing plan. You don't need to implement all of these CRO tactics to increase your conversions within days or weeks.

Start where it's easiest for your business optimize today. It's possible to see small wins almost immediately, so try one or two CRO tactics at a time, track effectiveness, discard what isn't working and invest in the activities that make a difference.

Is Your SEO Service Provider Compliant with the Dreaded Google Penguin & Panda Updates?

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 08:40:37 GMT

Keeping it natural and fresh is the key to success

Most people think of cute animals when they hear the words “Penguin” and “Panda” but for many search engine optimization service providers, these two words are to be feared. Google’s Penguin and Panda are algorithm updates that play separate roles in improving the overall experience of online users.

While algorithm updates should be primarily a concern for companies providing online marketing services, business owners who use SEO services should also know about them. That’s because if your SEO service provider happens to violate Google’s SEO guidelines, these algorithm changes will drastically affect your website’s ranking and your business will suffer the consequences. So before it’s too late, read our guide on the dreaded Google Penguin and Panda updates and what they mean to your business.

Introducing Penguin, the Web Spam Fighter
The Penguin algorithm is targeted at web spam. It was launched in April 2012. Its second version was released just this May, with two other updates in between Penguin 1 and 2.0. “The change will decrease rankings for sites that we believe are violating Google’s existing quality guidelines,” says Google’s official announcement. “Next generation” Penguin affected 3.1% of search queries.

Google search spam chief Matt Cutts advised webmasters to build websites that “people will tell their friends about and bookmark,” as opposed to conducting spamming. Web spam is often conducted by SEO providers desperate to get back links. In short, Penguin is about links.

Get to Know Panda, the Crusher of Poor Content
The other algorithm change that shook the SEO industry was Panda, which was designed to target poor quality content, particularly duplicate articles. It was launched in February 2011, with the most recent update rolled out just this July.

“This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful,” says Google’s announcement. At the same time, Panda will also improve the rankings of “high-quality sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis, and so on.”

What These Updates Mean to Your Business
In the online marketing world, there’s a popular term called “slap” which is when Google penalizes a website for “black hat” methods, or practices that violate its guidelines. Sometimes a penalty can be as “subtle” as a slight drop in rankings. Sometimes it’s as worse as being removed from search results. Regardless of what penalty your site receives, it can lead to a massive drop in traffic and in the overall positive reputation of your website. No traffic means no visitors, no leads, and no sales.

The hard part is recovering from these penalties. You will need to clean up your website, remove spammy backlinks, and so on. And then you will need to reinvest your marketing budget on more SEO efforts, this time hoping that you will not be penalized. Investing in non-compliant SEO service providers, therefore, is not a wise move. Any black hat activity they conduct can result to penalties for your website, and lost opportunities for your business.

How to Tell Compliant SEO from Spammy and Poor SEO
Not all business owners have the technical know-how when it comes to online marketing. That’s why they rely on trusted SEO service providers to take care of their websites and online presence. In essence, they entrust their business to SEO service providers. It is therefore crucial to know if you are indeed entrusting your business to a provider that is compliant with Google’s SEO guidelines and in tune with these search algorithm updates.

Here are some indicators that your provider is up to date with SEO best practices:

Focusing on High Quality and Fresh Content – Content must be written for the target audience and not for search engines. Content must be something of value, something useful to users connecting your business, products or services to them. It is therefore important that your provider makes an effort to understand your business, target market, products and services through consultation and provide a mechanism for regular creation of content.
Building Natural Backlinks – The best way for people to link back to you is to publish high quality content that is engaging and worth sharing.
Using Social Media – A smart SEO service provider uses social media to help spread your content in the digital social sphere. Likes, pluses, shares, tweets, and retweets strengthen your social signal which is important as it is part of the SEO signals that Google detects.
Saying No to Spammy Techniques – Make sure your provider does not involve spamming in their SEO practice. Unnatural or spammy links will get you and your website in trouble. A compliant, high caliber SEO service provider does not do the following:
- Massive submission of articles to article submission sites
- Massive forum postings
- Massive guest postings
- All of the above with the same sets of keyword-rich anchor texts
On-Page, Off-Page Optimization – Ensure your SEO provider optimizes not just the content on your site but also your navigation, SEO tags such as the title, description, alt texts; overall site structure. They also optimize (but not over-optimize) content and links placed on external sites such as blogs, press release sites, social media and social sharing sites.
Knows Panda & Penguin Updates – Online marketing services providers must know all about Google’s algorithm updates. If they could not provide consulting about it, then it’s either they’re not yet compliant or worse, they really don’t know about them.

How to Deal with Google Algorithm Updates
Recovering from Panda and Penguin penalties will be difficult and time consuming. But if that happens, you will need a comprehensive website audit report to know what could be the possible causes of the penalties. Bad links need to be removed. Bad content needs to be improved or taken down. Your compliant provider will know what to do.

The best way to deal with algorithm updates still, is prevention. While business owners need not know the technical aspect of SEO, it will help if they can determine whether a provider is up to date with the latest search algorithm changes. All it takes is to ask the provider about the items above. Doing so will give you some idea on whether they are compliant and if you can indeed entrust your website and your business to them.

Our SEO methodologies comply with the latest search algorithm updates, including Google’s Penguin and Panda. We are not into black hat techniques, spammy practices and over optimization of anchor texts. We focus on creating high quality and fresh content, building natural links, uses social media, maximizing Google+ for improved SEO footprint, and conducting on-page and off-page optimization.

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SEO Goes Natural & Social with High Quality Content

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 08:36:39 GMT

How to Comply with Google Panda and Penguin Updates

Doing effective SEO has evolved into a more “natural” and “social” process. Algorithm updates, particularly Google’s Penguin and Panda, are continuously changing the course of conducting search engine optimization. Penguin targets bad links while Panda goes after poor content. Google, through their algorithm updates, has reiterated that website owners and search engine optimization practitioners must create a better experience for users. And that trying to manipulate rankings through keyword over optimization, link schemes, and black hat methodologies will only harm your website — and your business.

See our Infographic:

Here are some Penguin and Panda update-compliant SEO methodologies.

Publish High Quality Content

The era of run-of-the-mill, duplicate, and poor content is over. If you want to get into the SEO battle and win, then producing high quality, compelling content should be in your arsenal. Great content is key to increased visitors, more engagement, more inbound links and higher rankings.

72% of B2B marketers use content marketing as part of their overall marketing strategy – BtoB Magazine
86% of B2C marketers use content marketing – Content Marketing Institute
90% of consumers find custom content useful. – TMG Custom Media
90% of CMOs say high quality content has a positive effect on audience attitudes – Custom Content Council
79% of marketers say their organizations are shifting to branded content – Forrester
72% of marketers rate branded content as more effective than magazine ads – Custom Content Council
60% of consumers feel more optimistic about a company after reading onsite custom content – Content Plus

Stamp it with Google+

Google+ Authorship & Publishership
Google+ is not just the search engine giant’s answer to Facebook. Plus is a social layer that connects all your Google activities. Google+ authorship in particular is a powerful SEO tool as it stamps your content on your website or blog with your identity as an author or publisher; and you are given credit for every piece of content you publish. The accumulation of authorship credits helps you to rank higher on search engines.

Google+ is Growing Fast

Has 359 million monthly active users as of March 2013
This is way up from 135 million in December 2012
From only 100 million users in September 2012

Claim your Authored Content
By creating a Google+ profile and linking it to your website or blog, you can claim authorship of your content with your Google+ profile. Once authorship is claimed, your Google+ profile will show up next to your search results.

Get Indexed Immediately
Content posted on your Google+ will be indexed immediately into the Google search results, increasing the possibility of your Google+ network seeing your posted content in their search results. When your audience engages with your content it will be further advertised to your audience’s network. In this chain reaction, posts have the ability to go viral.

Great Content plus Google+ Influence Search Rankings
High quality and compelling content will most likely receive +1s and shares. These act like social recommendations, influencing what searchers see on Google SERPs while they are logged in to any Google account.

Blog It!

Create Content and Publish it on your Blog
Blogging revolutionized publishing content on the web and is the mother of social media. It is now, and more than ever, a great tool for providing high quality and fresh content to your target audience and for SEO.

Write informative and engaging posts that people want to read, make use of and share with their friends and you acquire back links without engaging in black hat techniques.

Blogging/Content Generation

Companies that blog have 97% more inbound links – HubSpot
92% of companies who blog multiple times per day have acquired a customer from their blog – HubSpot
B2B marketers who use blogs generate 67% more leads than those that do not. –InsideView
Companies that blog receive 434% more indexed pages on average – HubSpot
Businesses that blog at least 20 times/month get 5x more traffic than those that blog 4 times or less – HubSpot

Do Articles, Press Releases the Right Way

Mass-produced articles and press releases are often tagged as duplicate or poor content, partly due to article spinning, anchor text over optimization and massive submissions. But when implemented the right way, well-written articles and press releases attract the right kind of site visitors.

70% of consumers prefer articles over advertisements when it comes to getting to know a company – Content Plus
80% of business decision-makers prefer a series of articles over advertisements when it comes to getting information about a company – Content Marketing Institute

Just make sure to AVOID:

Massive submission of articles and press releases
Submission to article and press releases farms
Keyword-rich, overly optimized anchor texts

Use Promotional Copy

Promotional content is a powerful tool. Consumers are attracted to promotional copy because people inherently like good deals. And it’s also a type of content that they will share with friends. Consumers visit a site over and over again to check on their latest promotions. Promotions attract visitors, are shared around and produce back links naturally. Promotions attract traffic, leads, customers – and keep them loyal.

83% are likely to tell a friend about a company that uses sales promotions, such as special offers, discounts or coupons
76% said they have a positive feeling toward a company that offers online sales promotions
71% said they are likely to be loyal to a brand that offers online sales promotions
66% said online sales promotions improve a company’s image
65% said online sales promotions help finalize decisions for undecided buyers

Share It Socially

It’s not enough to create high quality content. You need to share it with the world; make sure everyone sees it so that they can link back to your site and share it with their networks. Social sharing completes the modern SEO methodology of attracting social and natural traffic and links. Social media is beneficial not just to SEO, but also to sales as 90% of users listen to recommendations shared from friends.

92% of consumers around the world say they trust online recommendations from friends and family, above all other forms of advertising
70% read other experiences
65% learn more about businesses, brands, products & services
53% compliment brands
50% express concerns about brands, products & services — Nielsen
Users spend 30% of their time online on social channels where content can be shared. – AOL & Nielsen

“Natural and social” SEO focuses on creating high quality content users want to read, use, and share. High quality content can spread naturally across social networks as well as build natural links. This consequently results to higher Google rankings.

Google Penguin and Panda updates are meant to improve Google search results for users. Business owners can do their share in improving the user experience by employing SEO service providers that use natural and social methodology. Quality SEO will result in increased exposure of your website, higher rankings in the search engine, more traffic to your website, and result in more sales for your company.