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We Won’t Just Redesign Your Website – We’ll Optimize It To Sell… and Sell… and Sell!
We’ve got good news and bad news for you.
You see, I’ve just done a little web surfing.
No, I wasn’t wasting time.
(Well, maybe a little.)
But mostly, I was looking at a few ecommerce sites – websites whose primary purpose is to sell products and services – sites like yours.
And guess what?
Most of them are terrible! |
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They’re hard to navigate, hard to understand… and, frankly, whatever sales they’re making now… they’re making in spite of themselves.
And our experience isn’t unique. In fact, a study by cPulse found that 85% of visitors to a new website left due to poor design. And a study reported by Trafficology showed that 70% of people who came to a site specifically to buy something from that site, left without purchasing!
In fact, the average rate of visitor-to-customer conversions is 1%. Achieving a conversion rate between 1% and 3% is considered to be good. And getting 3% or over is remarkable.
That’s the bad news
Now here’s the good news: most ecommerce sites I see are… hard to navigate, hard to understand… and, frankly, whatever sales they’re making now… they’re making in spite of themselves!
Why is this “good” news?
Here are just three reasons:
1. Let’s assume that your website is less than perfect. And most are (including ours). Imagine the impact on your bottom line if you made a few changes to your site that increased your conversion rate? I won’t bore you with the math, but just by increasing your conversion rate by 1% you could double your net profits (an increase of 200%)!
2. The more obvious the “mistakes” your website is currently making – the EASIER it will be for us to fix them, and the FASTER and BIGGER will be the impact to your bottom line!
3. And what if your competitors all have one of those poorly performing websites… and you’ve got a website selling and profit-making machine? You’ll clean up!
Okay, that’s all well and good. But how exactly do you convert more visitors into customers?
Well, let’s consider what a highly converting website looks like…
How can your website convert more traffic into customers?
A highly converting website – one with high “Selling Power” - is one that is:
1. Usable
2. "Buyable"
First things first – make sure your website is usable
A website that’s highly usable is one that’s easy to navigate, predict and use. It usable because it’s designed according to widely used website navigation and layout conventions and/or the design and processes are intuitive or obvious. Some of the key elements that determine – or detract from usability – are:
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Loading time(s)
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Size and general layout of webpages
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Color scheme
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Navigation system
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Placement of global and local navigation menus
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Browsing and searching capabilities
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Linking conventions
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Use of navigational assistants such as sitemaps, “breadcrumbs” and back / forward buttons
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Use of Flash, interactive code (e.g. JavaScript), graphics, animation, audio and video
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Use of frames, layers and popup windows
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Text – readability and scannability
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Interactive processes such as forms and menus
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Accessibility for users with disabilities
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Use of content assistants such as FAQs.
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Print capability
Now, make your site “buyable”
A site is “buyable” when everything works together to persuade and enable a visitor to buy:
1. All the elements of your website collectively coax the visitor to buy; and
2. The buying process – from the layout and appearance of your graphics, headings, text, etc to your shopping cart is easy, intuitive and obvious.
The truth is, buyability is a subset of usability. A site won’t convert visitors if it’s not usable. But when we consider buyability, we’re particularly concerned with “usability” elements. As such, we focus on:
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Style of website – Brand, Brochure, Content, Online Service, Catalogue, Salesletter or Hybrid
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What’s appears “above the fold” on a standard browser on loading
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Use of headline(s)
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Article or sales letter style (for sales letter sites)
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Surveying visitors e.g. exit survey
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Anchor tags
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Order buttons and links (how many)
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Use of audio and/or video
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Use of graphics
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Optin offer
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Shopping process
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Appearance of order page
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Photos / audio / video with guarantees and testimonials
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Check out / thank you page options – cross-sells, upsells
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Use of “proof” – examples, testimonials, case studies, client lists, etc.
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Selling assistants like FAQs, live online chat, feedback forms, etc.
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Exit popups (how many and where)
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Print capability
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Downselling
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Credibility – about us, privacy information and contact information
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Guarantee
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Post-script (for sales letter sites)
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Adsense opportunities
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Affiliate opportunities
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Personalization
Please note though, the most important determinant of your site’s buyability is the copy. Copywriting is so important that we treat it as a service on its own.
How we’ll re-engineer your site for more sales and profits
There are three core elements of our website optimization services. The first is essential regardless of whether you want us to do the second or third. Here they are:
Website analysis and recommendations
1. Evaluate “selling power” (usability and buyability): We’ll analyze the functionality and design (layout, content, color scheme, graphics, processes, and all other elements except for the copy which we treat separately) of your website to determine its current “selling power” – the degree to which the design converts – or fails to convert – your website traffic into customers. We’ll combine your sales and profit figures with the results of analyzing your website traffic using certain software tools to get a picture of the current selling power of your website.
2. Identify and recommend changes: Here, we’ll identify and advise you on what elements need to change – and how they need to change - to increase your conversion rate.
3. Website optimization: Here, we make the changes we recommend. In some cases, the changes will be minor; in others, we’ll need to completely redesign your website, and perhaps recommend you implement new software (like shopping cart software or email autoresponder software) to get your site to sell much more. When we design or redesign your site, we’ll consult with you every step of the way to ensure our recommendations meet with your approval. In so doing, we’ll prepare:
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A sitemap – a map of the overall website, indicating the flow between each webpage;
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Wireframes – a blueprint of each webpage indicating the positioning of each element;
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New webpages – we’ll produce the new webpages for you; and
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Software programming or implementation of software or application service provider (ASP) services (if required).
4. Innovation, testing and tracking: We’ll make ongoing changes based on the principle of constantly trying new things (innovation), testing and tracking to improve your results.
Website optimization is only the beginning – and unlikely to deliver the best possible results (the highest possible conversions and net profits). That’s because the real experts on what makes people buy are your customers.
Only by constantly innovating, testing and tracking will we be able to really learn what makes your customers buy (and buy more, and spend more) – and make those little tweaks and changes - and sometimes big changes – that deliver even greater sales and net profits. Want a 12% conversion rate like Amazon.com? Do what Amazon.com does: constantly innovate, test and track!
So What Does It Cost?
We’ll quote a project fee based on your individual requirements, but here’s a guide to how we structure our fees, and the minimum you can expect to invest:
Website Optimization
(All prices in USD)
For questions about pricing, see our FAQ. |
Website “selling power” analysis and recommendations: from $300
Website design / redesign: from $1,200
Website innovation, testing and tracking: from $400 per month
Total: from $1,900 |
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| Call us for a free, no obligation consultation on +1 (213) 985 3133* or leave your details here and we’ll call you: |
| *Mon – Fri, 9 am – 5.30 pm, Australian EST (i.e. Melbourne time). To check what time this is for you, visit: Time and Date |
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