10 Actionable Website Tweaks that ... | Blog

24 Nov '16

webilize, blog image, 10 actionable website tweaks that increases traffic and sales

Is your website helping you drive traffic to your products/services page, in addition to helping increase your overall sales revenue? Having the right strategies in place to help increase website traffic and sales is critical to be sure that your website functions as a successful sales tool. If you haven't already done so, be sure to read our related blog post titled "10 Essential Factors that your eCommerce Website Should Have".

Below are ten website actionable tweaks that you can make to help drastically increase your website traffic as well as convert your prospects into paying customers:

1. Add Video Content

A trend of increased video content was seen in 2016 and expected to rise in 2017 continually. With YouTube as well as live video platforms such as on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat gaining popularity, there are now plenty of options for creating and delivering engaging video content. Additionally, adding videos to your website or landing page can increase conversion rates by 86%. Informational videos and video ads are other video marketing strategy types that marketers should consider to help increase website traffic and draw in qualified leads that convert into sales.

2. Mobile Responsive Design

Consumers today use multiple devices to access the internet, i.e. desktop, smartphone, and tablets. As a result, approximately 29% of eCommerce transactions executed on a smartphone or tablet device. Therefore, it is vital to have a website that is responsive in design to establish a consistent user experience throughout each of the platforms. Also, be sure to check your website's responsiveness by typing your website URL here. Having a website that works on mobile devices will also help improve your SEO. Webilize specializes in creating well-designed and engaging websites that are mobile responsive.

3. Prevent Slow Loading Time and Downtime

For a typical eCommerce website that generates $100,000 per day, a 1-second delay in website loading time could cost the company $2.5 million in lost revenues per year. To put this in perspective, roughly 57% of website visitors will abandon a website that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. When a site goes down, this loss of revenue could be in the millions. Make sure that your website is built on a reliable cloud platform so that the content remains during significant traffic surges. Having optimized page loading times also helps with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on Google since mobile-friendliness is now a ranking signal. Type your website URL here to check the loading speed time of your website.

4. Call to Action

Ensure that your website has clear call-to-actions (CTA's) strategically placed within the site as they will help improve engagement, allow your prospects to make a connection to your brand, and immediately take action. An excellent CTA button directs visitors, gets them to the desired effect, and ultimately improves conversion rates.

5. Customer Reviews

Having testimonials and customer reviews provides your prospective customers with validation of your products and services. It builds trust, credibility, and confirmation. Consumers are 70% more likely to trust brands that their friends recommend, compared to only approximately 10% based on advertisements alone.

6. Social Media Icons

Social media engagement can help improve your sales through social selling. Make sure that the content is easily shareable on your social media platforms. Shares, likes, and retweets can help increase the exposure of your content, as well as increase engagement. These social icons will also help boost your Google ranking.

7. Email Sign-up

From a digital marketing perspective, it's essential to be able to collect email addresses of prospective customers. That way, you can leverage marketing campaigns, promotions, and share announcements and newsletters. A strategy like this boosts the likelihood of repeat customers. Be sure to embed sign-up forms on your website to make the sign-up hassle-free and simple.

8. Search Box and Searchable Content

Ensure that the content on your website is searchable. Consider having a simple layout with easy navigation tools to help improve the overall user experience. This step guarantees that your customers and prospects don't get frustrated when scrolling through pages of information on your website. It also helps to decrease website bounce rates, which is also a Google ranking signal.

9. Cookies and Website Tracking Tags

Cookies and tagging give business owners an inside look into their customer's buying habits. You can get an idea of where on your website your customers visited, what they had put into their shopping carts, which ads were most effective, and why they abandoned their shopping carts (in the cases that they did). Tools like Google Tag Manager can help with adding or updating website tags.

10. Phone and Address

Display your company's phone number and the physical address of your business clearly in the "Contact Us" section of your website. This information improves the validity of your business, builds trust, and puts your prospective customers at ease before they make purchases from your website.