Do you have a beautiful website that you’ve poured hours (and/or a lot of money) into creating, but it isn’t converting visitors into paying customers? In this episode, we’re talking all about how to optimize your website for conversions.
We’re getting into the nitty-gritty of exactly what you need to have on your homepage to convert customers. I’m also giving you some easy SEO tips to help your website rank better in search engines.
This episode is a repurposed Facebook Live training I recently did, and it includes a live website audit. If you hear me reference comments or engaging with others, they were live on the training.
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What is a conversion?
A conversion is simply turning someone from a lead into a client. Conversions can vary based on your goals. For example, sometimes your goal might be to add them to your email list. If your goal is for them to buy something from you, then a conversion happens when they purchase from your website.
Optimizing the hero section of your website
When visitors land on your website, the most important thing is that you give them exactly what they want to know immediately. For example, a website for a restaurant should provide their hours, location, and how to order food from them.
You want to make it really easy for visitors to get the information they want as soon as they land on your site. They should be able to answer these questions in the first two to three seconds of being on your site:
- What is it that you do?
- How can you make their lives better?
- How do they buy?
Without that info, visitors are likely to jump off your website before converting. The way to avoid that is to edit the top section of your website, which is called the hero section.
If you want to direct visitors to your Shopify shop, you need to have a button to it front and center in your hero section. If you sell services and want visitors to book a consultation call with you, you need to have a “chat now” button.
Make sure that you decide what it is you want visitors to do once they land on their site, and stick to only one thing. As Donald Miller says, you don’t want to make people burn too many “mental calories.” Keep the options limited to one action to make it simple and easy and avoid overwhelming your visitors.
In addition to having a button in your hero section, you also need to add the same button to the top right of your navigation bar.
Secure conversions with a brand promise
The next thing you need to have on your website is a brand promise, also known as a transformation statement. This is where you envision the ideal future for your customers.
For example, mine is, “Let’s make your dream business a reality.” Essentially, you are selling the result they will have when they interact with your product.
Underneath your brand promise, you will say what it is that you actually do. This should be done in the form of an SEO-optimized keyword. Under my brand promise, it says, “systems integration and online business management for creative entrepreneurs.” You want to make it extremely clear what you do so that you don’t leave visitors guessing.
Under what you do, you should have another button that leads visitors to buy from you (or book a consultation).
Optimizing the middle part of your homepage
Under your hero section, the next section that you need to have is all about your customer’s pain points. If they haven’t decided to buy from you based on the hero section alone, you need to continue to make it clear to them why they should.
In big, bold letters, you should list out three to five of your customer’s pain points. Then, you should have a short paragraph that empathizes with their pain.
Next, you need to highlight the ideal feature that they’re going to have by working with your products or services. This should also be a big bold heading. Underneath the heading, add a short paragraph about what makes your product great. Lastly, you need to have another buy now button.
Optimizing the bottom part of your homepage
The next section is where you introduce yourself. It’s crucial to keep this brief and quickly explain why you’re qualified to sell what you’re selling. It should include a photo of yourself.
Under the about you section, you should have all of your services listed with another buy now button. Below that, add social proof to your website by using a testimonial from a past client.
Next, you want to add step-by-step instructions for how to buy your products. This section is for people who are not impulse buyers. List it out in brief details, such as “step one: browse our selection, step two: add to cart.” Under that, add another buy now button.
The final part of your website is what Donald Miller calls the “junk drawer.” This is anything else you want to add that isn’t as important as what we’ve already covered.
Optimize your website for SEO
To optimize your site for SEO, every page needs to have a page title and description. The page title should be an SEO keyword, and the description should include the keyword again.
Your pages should also be organized with headings. Each page should only have one H1, and it should say exactly what you do and include the keyword you want to rank for in search results. You can have multiple H2 headings, and they should be the secondary keywords you want to rank for. You can also have multiple H3 headings, and they should be listing services and other details.
Important sections of the conversation
(1:26) What is a conversion?
(2:31) Optimizing the hero section of your website
(8:23) Secure conversions with a brand promise
(10:54) Live website audit
(16:16) Optimizing the middle part of your homepage
(18:18) Optimizing the bottom part of your homepage
(21:32) Optimize your website for SEO
