Proven Ways To Dramatically Increase Your Conversion Rate
 by: Diane Hughes

There is an old saying that I agree with 100%. "Nothing kills a bad product faster than good advertising."

The same applies to Web sites. Nothing will suck up money faster than a poorly structured Web site that can’t convert sales.

You might have the best product in the world. However, if your site isn’t specifically designed to convert visitors to sales, you’ll be wasting a lot of money to bring traffic to a dead site. All your marketing efforts and advertising dollars will go right down the drain.

Before you begin - or continue marketing your site, be sure you are ready to whiz customers through your ordering process with ease. Do a double check to ensure that your site can instill trust in your visitors.

So what do you need to do in order to dramatically increase conversions? There are a few simple, free things you can do right now that will pay off big time!

1) Reduce the number of clicks to purchase.

Make it easy for your visitors to find the information they need. Implement the three-click rule. It should take no more than three clicks for your visitors to get from the index page to the checkout page. I can promise you that they will not hunt for a way to spend their money. They will simply leave.

2) Make your privacy policy obvious.

With all the spam and scams these days, customers are getting more and more weary of giving out personal information. They want to know exactly what you intend to do with it. So tell them! Make sure your privacy policy is up-front and easy to read.

3) State your guarantees immediately.

If you guarantee that customers will be pleased with your product or service, tell them. If you offer a money-back guarantee, say so. This helps to build confidence. As we all know, people buy from those they trust.

4) Build a relationship with your visitors.

People also buy from those they like. Get personal. Use your "about us" page to its fullest. Make the language friendly, and let the visitors know you are a real individual who cares about their problems and has a viable solution for them.

5) Offer multiple payment options.

Giving your visitors choices is always a good thing. This lets them feel as though they are in control.

6) Make yourself easily accessible.

Give a physical address and even a phone number on your site. Let the visitors know that should they have questions or problems you’ll be there to help them.

As you can see, all of the above relate to building trust and making the buying process a quick and easy one. These are two fundamental, but vital, areas of Internet marketing that many people overlook.

Once you have your site spiffed-up and ready to convert - then and only then begin driving traffic to it in droves. You’ll see a dramatic increase in sales!

Copyright 2004 Diane Hughes