How to improve your conversion rate and SEO

Have you ever worried that your conversion rate is not as good as it could be? Or perhaps you are puzzled that though you are seeing an increase in traffic to your site, this increase is not reflected in sales figures. Let’s explore some of the reasons for a poor conversion rate – and importantly, work out what you can do to make it better, including improving your SEO.

1. Carry out an SEO audit

First off, it’s important to work out why users are visiting your site but not staying long enough to make a purchase. Perhaps it is a lengthy form, too many pop-ups, or maybe key features are not where your customers expect them to be. A clunky, hard-to-navigate site can be hugely off-putting, so a good starting point is always carrying out a full SEO audit.

This will allow you to pinpoint key elements which might be affecting your conversion rate, such as how user-friendly your website is, any technical issues or errors, or whether your landing pages could benefit from important keywords. Since the latest Google algorithm looks at user experience, addressing these issues can also impact favourably on your SEO – so you might be killing two birds with one stone. For further guidance and information, have a look over here.

If your website operates in multiple countries, you need to look at international SEO. While the strategies are the same in any language, you may need some help with a multilingual website as there are further elements to consider. One thing to check is that you can view content with a different web address in every language. If you click a flag to change language and the web address is identical, then Google will only index one version of that page (probably the English version). This will mean your multilingual versions will be invisible to Google. A surprising number of websites have this problem.

2. Appeal to your audience

You need to understand your customer in order to appeal directly to them. Spending time understanding your audience can pay dividends, because you can write content which they will find it engaging. Invite existing customers to a small focus group, and ask for ideas on the sort of content they would like to see. If your audience spends time on your site and engages with your brand and product, they are more likely to form an affiliation with your brand. In turn, this will transform into loyalty – and sales!

3. Be helpful

By adding supportive features to your site, such as Live Chat, you offer users the chance to raise questions and have them answered quickly – without the delays of an email. Keep a track of what types of queries come through, too, as this can help you identify any gaps in the information your site provides. Address them quickly to prevent future users stumbling across the same issues.

4. Observe how users spend time on your site

Using tools to allow you a direct insight into how users interact with your site can be invaluable (more info about that here). Visitor tracking software allows you to see direct screen recordings of how users behave on your site. You’ll be able to identify what they click on, where they spend the most time or if they stop midway through filling out a form. Analysing user behaviour can also highlight what is most visible to them – or if an offer stands out (or doesn’t). Once you have a better understanding of how potential customers behave on your site, you can pinpoint what works, and what puts people off.

5. Send abandoned cart reminders

Sometimes, visitors simply run out of time. Track users who placed items in their cart and send a gentle reminder email later on. Research shows that almost 30% of sales can be recovered using this strategy. It’s important to time your email well, though; those sent around an hour later seem to work best.
As you can appreciate, many factors affect your conversion rate. Some of these you can control, and others you can’t. Maximising your SEO and spending time pinpointing how your users interact with your site can pay huge dividends in the long run – and with a few simple tweaks, you can easily boost the number of sales you achieve from the same amount of traffic.

Best of luck!