Is your website converting or is it just a fancy beautiful website driving visitors away?
Your target audience must be able to find what they are looking for once they land on your website. When they come to your website, especially your homepage, and can’t find what they want, they will leave immediately and this is not good for you as the website owner.
A website homepage is meant to give the user a summary or peek into what your website is all about. This is where the user takes a decision whether to stay or leave and if the user leaves without taking the required action, we can say the website didn’t convert.
What is A High Converting Website?
A high converting website is a website that meets the goal of the target audience and the goal of the website owner. The user has a goal in mind to visit the website and the website owner has a goal he wants to achieve when the user takes certain actions. If these goals are met, then we can say your website is converting, if not, then something was not done right and you need to find a way to fix it.
I want to share with you the features that your website should that will make it convert visitors into paying customers.
Features of a High Converting Website
For a website to convert, there are features it must have. Let’s look at them.
1. A clear message or value proposition:
The Hero area is the first thing the user sees when they open a website. You must get their attention here. You must make it clear here what you are offering or promising with an eye-catching image.
The message must be written in a way that the user will say, yes, this is what I want.
Depending on what you are offering the message will defer. Your value proposition can be a statement that tells the user exactly what you do like, We help students like you get admissions abroad. You can also frame it in form of a question e.g. Are you looking for how to gain admission and study abroad? We are here to guide you.
So make your message very clear. And add a clear call to action. We will talk about Call to Action as we proceed.
2. A non-Confusing Navigation
One mistake most people make is to cluster their navigation header with so many items. When you do this, you are confusing the user and making it difficult for them to take the right action and when you do that, your website cannot convert.
Minimize the items on your menu, only put the key important ones there and move the rest to the footer area. And let your menu tell the user exactly what to expect when they click on them.
3. How the need will be met
The next thing you should have that will make your website convert is to explain the steps it will take to fulfill the promise you make. It can be like a quick step process of what the user needs to do to get started or it can be a step-by-step process of how you will help the user meet that goal. So ensure that you guide the user on what to expect or what they need to do.
4. What you are offering
This is where you will now list the things you do or different options the user can choose from. You do not need to write long details here but present at a glance, what and what you do or which options to choose from. Summarize what each option does and then if it requires more explanation, use a call to action to direct the user to where they will find more details about it. Using a picture or an icon can help here as well.
5. A clear call to action
Yes, Call to action as the name implies, or simply CTA is a call for the user to take action. Like it has been proven that most people don’t do anything until they are told to do so. Likewise, you must tell the user what you want them to do on your website.
You have seen call to action like, Learn More, Contact Us, Read More, Download, Sign Up, etc. These are good but they are a weak call to actions and do not convert very well. Your call to action must have action or urgency for it to push the user to take action.
Instead of Learn More, why not Learn More About ……., Schedule A Call Now, Download Your Free Guide, Signup For Our Newsletter.
The point is, to make your CTA have an expectation so that users will know what to expect when they take action. Use a very good color that is catchy for your CTA,
6. Social Proofs (Case Studies Testimonials and Reviews)
One other feature that will make your website convert is having Social Proofs which can be in form of testimonials or reviews.
Why is this important? We all like to follow what others have done. We do not want to be the first to make mistakes or fall victim, so we try to check the experiences of others.
Doing this will reduce a lot of objections that your users will have because, in their mind, they will be saying “if Mr. A, Mr. B, etc have enjoyed it or benefited from it, then I should go ahead.” So no matter what you are offering share the experiences of those who have used that service or product and if possible use a video so that people see it to be real than just text that they believe can be manipulated.
Where video is not available, you can attach a picture of the person with the text. Doing this will help your website convert a lot.
7. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
This is a very important feature that will make your visitors say something like “it looks like he is on my mind”. What you do here is to go ahead and answer the questions your users will likely ask before they even ask. You will be achieving two things with this feature;
- You will be saving a lot of time that you could have been answering everyone that calls you or send you an email.
- You will help the user make the right decision immediately without wasting time.
Make a list of all the questions that previous customers have asked and also those you believe they will ask that will clear their objections and provide detailed answers to them and watch your conversion rate go high and save a lot of time for yourself.
You can list them on your homepage or have a call to action to another page where you have them.
How to Display Your Frequently Asked Questions
Because FAQs can become text-heavy, it’s a good idea to only display the question and have a clickable dropdown. Make it clear where someone should click (or else they’ll miss it), but doing it this way makes it more visually appealing to your reader.
8. An Enticing Offer
The last thing on our list is offers. An offer is something that makes the user say, I will be stupid if I don’t take action on this. Find a way to make an enticing offer to your users. This can be in form of a guarantee, getting a coupon, downloading a free guide to get something in return, a discount on your services for a limited time, a free call with you. It’s all about making the user an offer that will make them feel stupid if they do not take advantage of it.
9. Website Speed
Yes, your website speed has a role to play if your website will convert. You must ensure your website loads very fast. It is believed that if your website loads beyond 5secs the user will leave because everyone is in a hurry. Optimize your website and ensure it loads very fast.
Some of the things you can do include; compressing your images before you upload them, using a Content Delivery Network CDN on your website, you can start with Cloudflare as they make it easy to set up. if you are using WordPress, optimize your database, remove unnecessary plugins and themes, use caching plugins, etc.
Ensure your website is mobile-friendly, ie loading well on mobile phones as many people use their phones now and Google favors mobile-friendly websites more.
I am sure you will want your website to convert very well, and these 9 features we discussed above when implemented properly will help increase your conversion rate and equally attract more visitors to your website.
If you have other tips or features that will make a website convert well, feel free to share in the comment section.
