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Website conversion, which is transforming your visitors into customers can be one of the hardest things to achieve in your website. I know of a lot of people who ask me,

“Is there something wrong with the sales letter or advertisement?”

“Is the design of the website affecting my sales?”

However, from what i have learnt from certain Marketing Sherpa case studies, it is just the little additions and tweaking here and there into your website that can actually increase website conversions as much as 30%.

Here are some of the tactics accomplished websites use to increase conversions:

1.Product Image

It has been proven that images play a part in making the customer judge if the product is in good condition or not. The larger the image, the better. Provide a thumbnail of our product next to your product description or advertisement. What you can do is to make sure that when your customers click on your thumbnail, they will have access to look at a larger image of the product.

If your product is a digital product, like a e-book, you can create visual graphics or an e-cover for it. A visual graphic for an e-book or any other digital product for that matter has been known to increase website conversion rates as much as 300%!

2.Bestseller Lists

Bestsellers were known to get a lot of clicks, buy-ins and website conversion from customers. What you can do in your website is to create a column, especially on the right-hand side of the website to show customers the product or products that are selling like hotcakes.

Customers are reassured when bestsellers are shown because it tells them that a lot of people have bought the product and it gives them the impression that the product is good and value for money.

3.A-Z Listing

When you give a category of products listed under alphabetical order, they can find the product that they are looking for much more easily. Also it gives customers more variety to choose from. Let’s say there are ten products listed under the letter ‘L’. When they click on ‘L’ they can choose from other products as well besides finding the product they are looking for.

4.Product Reviews And Testimonials

For each product, you can have a list of product reviews and testimonials from other consumers who have bought the product so that your customer can decide on their purchase decision better. It is encouraged to have both negative and positive product reviews, because if you only have positive reviews for the product, customers can get skeptic when they feel that you, as a webmaster are not being truthful to them.

People normally think too much about how to increase their website conversion rates. But judging from these four simple tactics, it is really not that hard to implement them and see your website accumulate more sales.

Jo Han Mok is the author of the #1 international
business bestseller, The E-Code. Unlock the code for
unlimited online profits for yourself by visiting his
website today at: http://www.SuperFastProfit.com

Have you wondered why, despite being able to describe the benefits of the products you are selling, the customer did not buy? You were told not to sell features but the benefits of the product, and that is exactly what you did. Yet you are not able to close the deal. What is that missing element that is needed?

The answer may be that the benefits you described are not benefits that apply to the customer. The question is what is in it for the customer to be interested in what you are selling.

If you are selling to a business organization, focus first on the business requirements that are driving this deal. Whatever you sell had better give returns to the business. Otherwise, this might be your last sale to this organization.

Once you know the business needs, connect them to the benefits that your product can offer. This means you must know your product’s features and related benefits. If you already know your product well, that is half the battle won. If not, you must find out. If yours is a technical product, a user-based understanding is all that is needed for a sales person. Later, you can bring in technical expertise as needed.

The next thing to do is to establish the needs of the business that your product can meet. Present this from the customer’s perspective and your chances of closing the deal are very much increased. There will, of course, be competitive products and prices to be considered.

Having described the concept, how can you do this in a well-organized way? In this case, first list all the product features and their related benefits. Now for each of the benefits, write down what is the business need that can be met. Once you have written all of these down, convert these to questions that you can ask the customer.

You will find repetition in this first version. Clean it up and organize the questions in a natural flow. Note down also the benefits and features along with the questions.

You can now use this questionnaire when you meet the customer. If required, you can also discuss benefits and features of the product. Getting quantifiable information will help in the business justification later.

When the customer sees that you know your contents, you can expect a better response as the customer knows that you are not wasting any time. The respect you show for the customer’s time is a very good basis to build a good customer relationship.

This technique will help you establish which benefits will help the customer based on the business requirements as established by the customer.

The next step is for you to understand the customer’s industry and to be able to articulate the trends and why requirements not articulated by the customer should also be considered. Typically, customers appreciate this additional knowledge that you bring to the situation.

So far, it has all been about value to the business. Successful selling also needs empathy to human needs. Quite often, the person you are selling to will be well versed in the operational aspect of the job, but will have a limited knowledge of the industry direction. They are typically driven by the daily operations. While they may know industry directions, they normally appreciate any specific information that will help them.

The impact of technology has made people look differently at how a business can be successfully transformed. Here again, is another opportunity for you to be of value to your client. It is not sufficient that the customer buys a good or great product. They also need to know how to use it such that they can maximize the returns on the investment.

You need to be able to justify why your product will give better returns. If necessary, you may also need to meet others in the business to show how your products will have an impact on their business.

Presenting your product information, features and benefits and the quotation for the product is just not enough. You must articulate how the products uniquely benefit the business. You must be able to provide information and data related to the business. You know how it will help their business. If you can do this very well, they will even sometimes call on you to ask your opinion because they know you care about the success of their business, and not just on the sales and commissions.

There will be other challenges, especially regarding prices. Even if the product price is lower than the competition, if you cannot relate the value of your product to the business’s needs, it will be tough to close the sale. With the kind of value proposition that you can bring to the table, you will stand a much higher chance of closing the deal.

One exception will be when you find out during the investigation stage that the customer is not ready for your products yet or does not need them. Be big enough to walk away. You would have established your credibility. When the customer does need your products, he will call you because he knows that he can trust you.

Take some time to prepare a questionnaire as described above, if there is none right now. Use it to understand the customer’s business requirements. Then present it based on the unique customer requirements. With these techniques, you will get the customer’s attention because you are helping to solve their business issues using your product. You stand a much better chance of not only winning the deal, but building a rapport and trust with the customer for the longer term.

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of Be Successful News, a site that provides information and articles on how to succeed in your own home or small business. http://www.BeSuccessfulNews.com

Service professionals create websites to attract clients. They want more than an Internet presence: they want Internet profits.

Your website will become a productive, profit-generating resource when you attract ideal clients who are right for you – those who contribute to your business growth. So your website needs to target those ideal clients and begin to establish a connection with them.

Here are 5 ways your website can develop a strong connection with clients who belong in your practice.

(1) Write with an edge.

Your ideal clients will enjoy the way you think, talk and act. Will they enjoy your off-beat sense of humor? Will they be offended by your direct style of communication? Do they share your love of cats, dogs or travel?

Create authentic content and enjoy meeting cilents who appreciate the Real You.

(2) Explain your style of working with clients.

Okay, I will be honest. I love appointments. I hate drop-in anything.

I am not spatially organized. I work surrounded by mysterious piles of paper and my decorating scheme is Martha Stewart’s worst nightmare.

But temporally I like to be organized. If we have a 3 PM appointment, and you call me at the last minute to ask, “Can I call at 4 instead,” I will not be a happy camper. Of course we all can be flexible in emergencies, but some professionals thrive on last-minute changes and impromptu apppoints.

Communicate your preferences. Phone or in-person? Timed appointments or open-ended sessions? Last minute changes?

(3) Clarify your values.

Are you a left-brained scientific consultant? Or have you watched The Secret fifty-five times and counting?

What authors and gurus guide your work? What approach have you adopted?

Rather than come up with a laundry list of values and attitudes (which often leaves readers puzzled), I recommend creating pages that list your favorite books, music and movies. You may even create affiliate accounts with online bookstores so readers can send you small commissions as they make their choices.

(4) Guide your readers to make choices that work for them.

Increasingly we see sales pages that come with a warning, “This product is not for everybody.”

For example, I sell an information product to help marketers stand out from the clutter and earn money by writing online book reviews. You will not get paid by the online bookstore. But you can choose books and reviewing styles to attract clients and buyers.

But not everyone should try. You have to enjoy reading and writing. You must be self-motivated.

Marketers who offer coaching programs increasingly say, “Don’t bother to sign up if you are a whiner or complainer.” They are not kidding.

Few of us will hold up our hands and say, “Sure, I am a whiner. I guess I don’t belong in that program.”

But an anti-whine statement creates expectations. When clients feel tempted to whine (and we all are, every so often) they will stop. Or you can (tactfully) ask permission to say, “Stop, please!”

(5) Add personality to your testimonials.

Everyone needs testimonials. Nobody wants to be the first person to hire a resource. Potential clients come with 1 big question: Does this person deliver results to someone like me?

When collecting testimonials, don’t limit yourself to famous names who say, “Anyone can benefit from hiring Mary” or, “John’s name should be on everyone’s list.”

Instead, add testimonials from real people: “I had no experience with this process. I was skeptical. After working with Les, I gained…”

This testimonial communicates that you welcome skeptics: you don’t mind answering tough questions. You work with beginners. And you deliver results.

If you’re looking for more clients with those qualities, chances are they’ll arrive.

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., helps service professionals take their websites from online presence to online profits. Download the 7 Best-Kept Secrets of Client-Attracting Websites.

http://www.yourcontentstrategist.com/subscribe.html

The secret of growing your internet business: Create a website that’s more than a calling card. Use your website to create a list of qualified subscribers who agree to accept your email messages. Ideally, build trust by sending them messages regularly, typically through an ezine or podcast.

But as a new internet business, you might have just 5 names. Don’t get discouraged. Many millionaire marketers joke about beginning with a list that included their mother and their cat.

But what do you do with those 5 names? Creating a good ezine takes a lot of work.

A few years ago you could send out an ezine every month or two. Now there’s so much clutter you need to have your name in front of readers every week or two.

So you’re facing a big chunk of time every single week, whether you’re reaching 5 readers or 5 thousand. What can you do while waiting for your list to grow?

The answer: Create an e-course.

An e-course is a series of short “lessons” sent to subscribers, one at a time, over a period of days, weeks or months. You send them through autoresponders, using the same program you use or ezines and other e-mailings.

Website visitors sign up through an opt-in program, giving you their names and emails. Most important, they give you permission to send them a series of messages.

When designing your ecourse, you need to decide how many messages or “lessons” to include and how often you will send them.

How many? Typically marketers send 5 to 7 messages for one ecourse. If you send more, readers may begin to tune out. What began as a novelty can become a nuisance.

Readers are busy. So they’ll send your course to a special folder, with good intentions to read “later.” As your lessons pile up, readers begin to think, “I have a lot of reading to do! When will I get time?” They may even trash your messages without reading or decide to unsubscribe. Now they’re gone forever.

With 5 to 7 lessons, you keep their workload manageable.

Fewer than 5? You probably won’t have time to build a connection with your readers. Advertisers say you need to connect 5 to 7 times before readers remember you.

One marketer created an e-course with 87 lessons, sent one day at a time. She was promoting a high-end product so it made sense to target readers who would actually appreciate so many emails. And she delivered extremely high-quality content.

How often? Typically website owners send messages every day or every other day. When you leave larger gaps, your readers may forget who you are.

Readers who stay with your course till the end are probably seriously interested in your topic (or are seriously compulsive about finishing what they start).

To motivate readers to stay with you, create messages that follow this checklist.

(1) Length 350-500 words. Readers are more likely to come to the end of a shorter message than a longer one. You can always include a link to a page on your website.

(2) One specific tip. Give readers a single takeaway point in each message.

(3) One exercise. Include a thought-provoking question or assignment that will challenge your reader. As readers get involved, they want to learn more – and that means calling you.

(4) One action item. Invite readers to learn more by subscribing to an ezine or following a link to a sales page.

(5) Valuable content. Each message should include content not easily obtained elsewhere. Avoid mentioning prices or details of an offer. Instead, direct readers to a sales page for follow-up.

Of course, each message also includes your resource box: your one-sentence elevator pitch, your basic contact information and a low-key call to action. Your call to action might be “Subscribe to my ezine.”

Leverage your ecourse. Expand each message into an article for your article marketing program. Post your messages into your blog (you might revise for an edgier tone with more examples). Keep a file of messages for the day you’re ready to create your first ebook.

Once you reach 100 or 300 ecourse readers, you invite them to subscribe to an ezine or podcast. Once you reach 1000, you can begin to call on your list for teleclasses and special offers.

Now you’ve taken the first steps to grow your Internet business – painlessly.

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., helps service professionals transform their websites from Internet presence to Internet profits. Fr^e download: 7 Best-Kept Secrets of Websites That Attract Clients http://www.yourcontentstrategist.com/subscribe.html

When people visit your website chances are very likely that most of them will leave within the first ten seconds never to return again. The worst part about this is they leave without buying anything. They don’t even take the time to leave you a name, number or email address, so you have no idea how to reach them again, let alone how to get them to come back and give you another chance. How Rude!

It’s sad but true and it can be very frustrating, especially since you’ve taken the time, worked hard and spent big bucks on advertising to get them there in the first place. The truth of the matter is that most visitors hit your site, take a quick glance and if nothing grabs their attention they leave without ever giving it a second thought.

Did you know that most websites don’t even achieve a one-percent conversion rate!

That is to say that if one hundred people visit your site chances are only one of them will make a purchase, if you are very lucky. Chances are even better that they will leave without purchasing anything and never come back again. They will forget your site even exists within a few short minutes; sometimes seconds and all of your hard work and advertising dollars were for nothing.

It’s very sad but it’s one of the cold hard facts of doing business online. If you don’t give your visitors a reason to stick around or better yet a reason to remember you and come back again then you’re pretty much dead in the water.

Please don’t get discouraged. It’s not the end of the world, really! There are techniques that you can use to ensure that you once you’ve invested the time, effort and money it takes to attract visitors that you can keep them around for a while and even keep them coming back over and over again.

The first thing you can do is offer them great content focused on the topic of your website. For instance if you are selling a product or service for cat owners then provide information on cats, not dogs or cows. Great content gives them a reason to bookmark your site and come back again.

The next thing you can do is find a way to keep in touch with them. You can offer them a free ebook or a subscription to your newsletter in exchange for their email address so that you can send them gentile reminders that you exist. If you can capture their attention over an extended period of time them you will have a much better chance of converting them into paying a customer.

Did you know that the average person must be exposed to an offer around seven times before they will make a purchase?

Big companies know this. That’s why when you are sitting in front of the TV munching on popcorn you will see the same commercials repeated over and over in the same time slot.

One more thing you can do is make your website more interactive. Make it interesting and fun for them to stick around. Let’s take a look at MySpace as an example. Go to the main page and snoop around. Not only do they provide a place for people to meet and get to know each other, they have polls, classifieds, forums, videos and more. All designed to get you to stick around and do something.

Now I’m not saying that you should try to compete with MySpace, but what you can do is take the time to design your web pages so that your visitors will want to click around for a while and get to know you. Give them something to do and a reason to come back. The longer you can keep their attention the more times you can get them to come back the better for you and your business!

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of Be Successful News, a site that provides information and articles on how to succeed in your own home or small business. http://www.besuccessfulnews.com/