For many years I have been saying to website owners: “there’s no point having a fantastic website if no one is visiting it”, and, by the same token: “there is little point spending lots of money getting visitors to your website if, when they arrive, they find it difficult to navigate or find what they need, and it has no call to action.”
What I was really highlighting was that you should always consider Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) AND Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) together, and spread your digital marketing budget, no matter how small, across the board as a whole digital marketing strategy.
The CRO bit…
So ‘what is this CRO?’ I hear you ask. Well its nothing new. Good shopkeepers have been doing this for centuries: Making customers feel welcome, pleasantly asking what the customer is looking for today, placing products in the right place of their shop. Knowing what goes best where to entice the customer. Showing off the special deals and the price reductions on the way in and on the way out. Making sure the payment counter is clear and friendly.
Now imagine your website. Does it fill all these criteria and more? Try to think like a visitor. Just look at your website and see: is the navigation clear? Do your products stand out? Read your text out loud and see if it still makes sense. Of course, it’s hard to check your own work sometimes, so ask colleagues and friends if they would do a ‘usability test’ for you. Ask them to be honest, even brutal, and you will be on your way to a better and well thought out website.
You can start to be a bit more scientific if you like. There are plenty of applications and tools that will conduct a survey for you and even do complex split testing (show different versions of your site to different visitors so you can get data on what converts better).
It may be that a different font or font size may do better. A different colour pallet may get the customer clicking ‘add to basket’. That may sound silly but these simple style and format changes are proven to improve a web site bounce rate (or otherwise if you get it wrong).
However, if you’re not at the stage where you can employ a load of analysts, or perhaps just starting out, then for me, asking a load of friends and colleagues can be a very good substitute.
The SEO bit…
Once you’re happy with the look and usability of your website, and your ‘shop’ is looking good, you need to look at how to get more people inside it.
In basic terms, the more visitors you attract to your shop, the more sales or leads you are likely to make.
In our Victorian shop example of setting out (optimising) the shop to make it easier for the customer, now takes us outside and asks ‘how do we get more people to walk past the shop?’
You could put up a bigger sign with spotlights on it, so customers can search you out better as they walk along looking for services like the ones you provide. If your shop is in a town of other shops all selling the same thing (as typically displayed in a page of Search Engine results) then it might be important to be on the main street and not a back street, and maybe have a sign on the window highlighting your unique selling points that the others don’t have.
In the modern world of Digital Marketing, there are many ways to attract ‘click-through’ visitors to your website.
Search Engine Optimisation can be a big part of that marketing, and in itself is a very wide subject that can make a huge difference to the number of quality visitors you receive.
So even on a basic level, make sure your titles and tags are all completed properly, your products have good descriptions, and refresh your content on a frequent basis.
Of course, all this takes time and consideration. If it’s not the best use of your time, but you see the rationale, then please don’t hesitate to contact us for a free consultation.
