How to increase conversion rate of your online selling campaign

It’s incredibly important to always work on increasing your conversion rate (the % of visitors who act on your desired goal). What if 10%, 25%, 50% or 90% of the people who visit your website actually purchased, subscribed, registered or whatever your goal is for them instead of the 2% Internet wide average? How much greater would your sales be, your cash flow, your profitability? What if you could dramatically increase your conversion rate just by testing and changing a few things?


And here’s the great thing:
Just a little increase in your conversion rate can mean a huge increase in your sales and cash flow.

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Conversion rate example


$100- average sale amount
$500- lifetime value of each customer (total purchases while they remain a customer)

If your current conversion rate (the number of visitors who purchase ÷ the total number of visitors) is:

2% (2 out of 100 visitors)

$200- average sales
$1000- total lifetime value

5% (5 out of 100 visitors)

$500- average sale
$2500- total lifetime value

10% (10 out of 100 visitors)

$1000- average sales
$5000- total lifetime value


You can see that by just converting a few more visitors, you’re getting a huge increase in total revenue. I stopped with a 10% conversion rate, but nothing says that you can’t test and tweak until you get that conversion rate higher. What about 20%, 50% or more?  All of a sudden, the numbers become huge and all without a lot of extra effort or expense on your part.

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You won’t be able to achieve a 100% conversion rate, because a certain of the portion of your visitors arrive at your website accidentally and really didn’t mean to land there. But even if that were to represent as much as 10 % of the total, that still leaves a possible 90% conversion rate.

51 ways to increase your conversion rate

  1. Write for the web- make your content scannable- headings, subheadings, bullets and boldface
  2. Make your content easy to read- font size, font style, color, and background
  3. Answer your visitor’s questions, before they’re asked, especially- “What’s in it for me”?
  4. Make it clear why they should do business with you
  5. Improve your navigation- guide visitors to the action you want them to take
  6. Keep your navigation consistent throughout your website
  7. Make sure your website is easy to use
  8. Test, test, test- headlines, colors, fonts, images, call to action buttons, placement of elements, etc., etc., etc.
  9. Use A/B split testing and multivariate testing
  10. Reduce your download speed by reducing large image files and eliminating flash animation
  11. Use web analytics software (free or paid) to understand your visitor’s behavior
  12. Make sure your content is relevant
  13. Use simple language, not industry jargon
  14. Match your landing message to the marketing message the visitor clicked on
  15. Contact customers who abandon their shopping cart, ask why and offer them an incentive
  16. Offer multiple ways to pay and to order
  17. Offer a toll-free phone number
  18. Offer customer service
  19. Cross-sell or up-sell on order confirmation page. Customers are more likely to buy when they already have their credit card out
  20. Add a tell-a-friend script to the order confirmation or thank you page
  21. Use trust badges and reassurance logos such as GeoTrust, Verisign, protected by ________, Stripe and others
  22. Place your privacy, security, shipping, guarantee, and return policies or links at the points of greatest customer anxiety
  23. Offer a free trial
  24. Provide full contact information
  25. Anticipate objections and answer them in advance
  26. Offer free shipping
  27. Add incentives
  28. Don’t ask for unnecessary information
  29. Test your site’s usability
  30. Focus on benefits rather than features
  31. Offer reviews/testimonials
  32. Make sure your USP (unique selling proposition) is clear
  33. Use psychological triggers
  34. Test your pricing
  35. Test different offers
  36. Ask for the sale- tell your visitor exactly what you want them to do- “Buy Now”, “Order Here,” “Add to Cart,” etc.
  37. Survey your current customers
  38. Create an exit survey for visitors
  39. Add a site map
  40. Address needs of different personas
  41. Place your important points above the fold
  42. Check your spelling
  43. Make sure your links work
  44. Create both thumbnails and full-size images of products
  45. Design your site so that it’s accessible for impaired individuals
  46. Use eye-tracking and heat mapping software
  47. Check how your website looks with different browsers and screen resolutions
  48. Hire a proven copywriter
  49. Position your website and yourself as the authority/expert in your industry
  50. Use conventional icons- don’t make your visitor think because they’ll just leave instead.
  51. Be upfront about pricing and shipping costs- before your visitor has to give any personal information.