What are Website Conversion Strategies
Website conversion strategies are marketing and technology efforts focused on increasing your websites efficiency with turning visitors into prospects or customers. The majority of website conversion strategies involve redesigning your current website and re-writing your websites copy. However, to build an effective paid search campaign, conversion efforts must also be allocated outside your website and on selecting keywords, re-writing paid ad copy and considering the paid search engines user demographic and psychographic profiles.
The process of converting visitors into prospects or customers through a paid search channel starts the moment a person sparks a thought, launches a browser to search and selects a keyword. At that moment, the potential visitor has developed a preconceived expectation to what they are looking for and what they are planning to find. As a marketer, by choosing the right keywords, you begin the process of pulling a qualified search user to your product or service.
After the search user enters their selected keyword, they scan the search engine results page for relevant listings that match their preconceived expectation. By knowing your customers and therefore understanding what potential customers want, your ad copy targets the search users expectations and pulls them into a click-through. The click-through transitions a search user to a website visitor.
Your website visitor has followed a path of consistency from the keyword they selected to the relevant ad copy they clicked-through. They expect to continue to find equal consistency and relevancy as they land on your website.
For example, lets imagine a visitor entered the keyword, silver apple ipod. They found your Sponsor Results ad on Google which stated, Silver Apple iPod; 32mg, free shipping; $439 and clicked through to your website.
At this point, the visitors expectations have been met with the keyword they selected and the keyword ad copy you displayed in the search results. As they land on your website they expect to find the same consistency and relevancy that led them through the click-through.
Lets assume you understood the path of consistency concept and the visitor landed on your website with a headline stating, Apple iPod with clear product specifications including the $439 price, a silver color choice option (clearly visible), a free shipping statement (including shipping policy) and other essential e-commerce policies and shopping cart components. The consistency immediately identifiable by the visitor increases their confidence, comfort and commitment to completing their intended action.
Unfortunately, many marketers view paid search as a way to generate traffic versus a way to increase website performance that generates positive financial results. By sending the pay-per-click traffic to a websites home page, a marketer mistakenly creates a disconnect in the path of consistency process.
Using the same example, if a visitor clicks-through an ad stating, Silver Apple iPod; 32mg, free shipping; $439 and lands on the home page which promotes hundreds of technology products, the visitor will momentarily feel lost. They expected to find an Apple iPod but now are confronted with the task of searching again for an Apple iPod using the websites navigational and on-site search architecture. A momentary break in the path of consistency forces the visitor to think, reassess and decide whether to move forward or back-track in search for greater consistency and relevancy from a competing website.
By completing the path of consistency from keyword to ad to website the visitor has a greater probability of converting to a customer. As Leonardo Da Vinci stated, It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.
This is very similar to the traditional salesmanship strategy of getting the prospect to say yes multiple times before asking for the sales close. Your job as a marketer is to get the search user to say, Yes, thats what I want from keyword, to ad copy to website. Then your websites specific call-to-action asks for the close.
Website conversion occurs when you satisfy a visitors preconceived expectation.
The primary strategy for increasing your website conversion is getting to know your customer. By satisfying your customers needs first; you will correspondingly satisfy your own. In the book, The Psychology of Persuasion author Kevin Hogan describes the Law of Reciprocity which states, When someone gives you something of perceived value, you immediately respond with the desire to give something back.
Although effective website conversion is not always as clear-cut as the Law of Reciprocity suggests, the principle applies if you give your website visitor what they require such as confidence, comfort, convenience and fair value then they will reciprocate by completing your call-to-action.
Whether you are a B2B or a B2C enterprise, website conversion strategies concentrate on connecting a visitor to what they want in a convenient, clear and consistent manner. Here are some quick website conversion strategies to keep in mind for your website or custom landing pages
1. Always add your phone number (preferably a 1-800 number) in a prime location on each page of your website - preferably in the header or another prominent position like the upper-right margin of your web page. A phone number not only adds credibility but also provides a convenient communication channel for visitors to contact you if they need assistance.
2. Use customer-benefit copy meaning more you and yours than us and we. The principle here is to focus on serving the needs of your visitors. Answer their question, whats in it for me
3. Offer multiple order or relationship-building contact points. For example, B2C enterprises should provide the means to order products via mail, fax, phone, and online using all major credit cards and even PayPal. For B2B, offer a white paper download, a webinar registration, online brochure or product demonstration in exchange for the visitors primary contact information, as well as a phone number and a contact us form. Make it easy for your visitor to start a relationship with your enterprise.
4. Test various calls-to-action, headlines, positioning messages, testimonials, layouts, graphics and other website components under an A/B split-testing format. One of the greatest benefits of paid search and the Internet in general is your ability to quickly test and track results from different website conversion strategies.
5. Implement keyword-specific landing pages for your paid search campaign. Consistency and relevancy are essential and a custom landing page offers the most effective opportunity for completing the path of consistency. Coupled with A/B split-testing, custom landing pages have helped increase many of our clients results by 60% and greater.
Website conversion is a process and not a destination. By continually identifying and learning new conversion strategies for fulfilling your visitors desires, you will increase your websites performance and generate greater positive financial results in return.
The next and final article of this series will focus on lifetime value of a customer and how it enables you to turn more visitors into prospects and customers regardless of rising paid search costs.
Until next time, get to know your customer and test new website conversion strategies to more effectively satisfy your customers needs. Remember the path of consistency and implement landing pages for your paid search campaign.
Kevin Gold is a Founder of Enhanced Concepts and a published author. If youre interested in increasing your leads or sales, get a free copy of Understanding Your Conversion Rate and 12 Surefire Ways to Increase Your Website Conversion by visiting
Although the degree of increase varies among industry resources, a recent survey conducted by the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) indicated an average 26% increase in bid prices in 2004.
Statistics aside, all indications show an upward trend in keyword bid prices which means fewer results in 2005 from the same dollar spent on pay-per-click marketing in 2004.
What Has Caused the Increase
The simple answer is that pay-per-click marketing has proven to be a tremendous measurable and controllable strategy for generating targeted website visitors among small, medium and large enterprises. As demand for pay-per-click marketing flood the keyword supply of top-tiered pay-per-click search engines and as enterprises compete for top ad placement, the bid prices increase accordingly.
Also, the competitive nature inherent with a bid auction or even with Google Adwords performance auction structure where a combination of maximum bid and click-through rate calculates your bid price causes an increase in bid prices. Just as with an eBay auction, the bid price increases until either a buyer pulls out of the keyword bidding or backs off from shooting for a top position.
What Do YOU Do When Keyword Bid Prices Increase
This question will be answered over a series of three articles. Each article will address, in detail, each one of the following three strategies:
1. Understand Your Performance Metrics.
2. Maximize Your Website Conversion. (Part Two)
3. Discover the Lifetime Value of a Customer. (Part Three)
Collectively, these three strategies will assist you in managing your pay-per-click marketing regardless of an ever increasing bid pricing environment.
Understanding Your Performance Metrics the Foundation
The foundation for managing a performance-based pay-per-click marketing campaign is through understanding your performance metrics. By measuring campaign and keyword performance, youll know how to effectively handle the dynamics of a competitive bidding marketplace.
What are Performance Metrics
Performance metrics are measurable results gathered and calculated from your business online systems or in this case, from your pay-per-click marketing campaign.
Referred to also as key performance indicators, performance metrics form a dashboard for you to gauge the effectiveness of your pay-per-click marketing. Further, performance metrics help establish a baseline for cost effective bid management supported by your current website performance and your business financials. As Business Executive, Thomas S. Monson stated,
Where performance is measured, performance improves. Where performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates.
Understanding your performance metrics starts with defining at least one value-oriented action such as an opt-in, subscription, registration or sale that you seek a visitor to perform on your website. This action (or your marketing objective) is the target for calculating your performance metrics and measuring your campaigns effectiveness.
Performance metrics vary among individual businesses and their unique marketing objectives; however, two specific performance metrics apply to all pay-per-click marketing campaigns regardless of their objectives. These include:
Conversion Rate
Cost per Action
You also need a firm understanding of your business financials and your pay-per-click marketing campaigns unique traffic statistics including:
Average Action Value - The average worth generated from the completion of an action.
Gross Profit Margin - How much you generate on an action, excluding marketing costs.
# of Unique Visitors - Visitors generated from your pay-per-click marketing efforts.
Total Pay-per-Click Cost - Cost to generate the visitors.
Conversion Rate
Google defines a conversion rate as the number of visitors who took a desired action divided by the total number of visitors in a given time period (typically, per month). A conversion rate represents your websites ability to turn clicks into actions.
Conversion Rate Calculation: Actions / Total Number of Visitors
For example, if your pay-per-click marketing campaign generated 1,000 visitors to your website and 10 completed your objective (action) then your conversion rate is 1.0%.
Cost per Action (also called CPA)
Your cost per action (CPA) measures how much it costs for you to generate an action (marketing objective.) In other words, CPA is the dollar amount you need to spend for your pay-per-click marketing campaign to generate one valuable action.
For example, if $100 in your pay-per-click marketing generated 1,400 visitors and 10 completed your marketing objective, your cost per action is $10.00.
Cost per Action Calculation: Total Pay-per-Click Cost / Total Number of Actions
Once you have figured how much it costs for you to generate one action, you can apply it to the value each action is worth.
Heres an Example
Imagine you are selling products (product sales is the marketing objective) and your average sales value is $100 and your gross profit margin is $65. Historically for every 100 pay-per-click visitors to your website two sales are generated; a sales conversion rate of 2%.
During a particular month, you spend $500 on your pay-per-click campaign. It produces 1,400 visitors at an average cost-per-click of $0.36. Based on your 2% conversion rate, your pay-per-click marketing generated 28 sales. With this data in hand, you can now calculate your CPA.
Cost per Action: Spending of $500 divided by 28 sales = $17.86 per sale.
Discover How to Calculate a Target CPA to Establish a Maximum Bid Price
Using the same example, you can set a maximum bid for your pay-per-click campaign by figuring out what percentage of your gross profit margin you are willing to commit to your pay-per-click marketing budget. Lets assume you commit 30% of our gross profit margin to your pay-per-click marketing campaign.
With a gross profit margin of $65 and a budget commitment of 30%, your target CPA is $19.50.
Target CPA: Gross Profit Margin ($65) times (30%) budget commitment equals $19.50.
Now take your target CPA of $19.50 and multiply it by your current conversion rate of 2% to find your maximum bid price. In this example your maximum bid price is $0.39 per click.
From these calculations, you now know your average maximum bid price across your pay-per-click marketing campaign must be equal to or less than $0.39 per click to produce your target CPA of $19.50.
Performance Metrics take the Risk Out of Your Bidding Decisions.
As Robert Kiyosaki, author of mutliple New York Times best-seller books including Rich Dad Poor Dad states, being uneducated is risky. By knowing your performance metrics, you can determine the constraints of your bid prices against your financial objectives to ensure the achievement of your business goals.
Performance Metrics Pinpoint Areas of Competitive Advantage
Most importantly, knowing your performance metrics enables you to identify and prioritize marketing strategies and website improvements that directly affect the bid price you can bid while remaining profitable.
As shown in the above example, your websites conversion rate and average sales value has an extraordinary effect on your cost per action. By focusing your efforts on increasing your conversion rate and/or your average sales value, you can bid profitably at higher per click amounts.
Competition beware when your enterprise is armed with the insight gained through performance metrics you are a powerful force regardless of ever increasing keyword bid prices.
Until next time when we dive into maximizing your website conversion ratestart calculating your performance metrics!
Kevin Gold is a Founder of Enhanced Concepts and a published author. If youre interested in increasing your leads or sales, get a free copy of Understanding Your Conversion Rate and 12 Surefire Ways to Increase Your Website Conversion by visiting