Converting Your Visitors into Buyers

Are you converting sales with as many of the visitors to your site as you potentially could?

One of the biggest misconceptions among new web marketers is that getting visitors to your site automatically equals success. There needs to be more to your goal than that. You want to influence them to buy. And that's where the majority of new web marketers fall short.

This article looks at increasing conversions on your site, which is basically what's involved in getting your visitors to buy.

Step 1: Make them aware of you

This step is essentially the step that most new marketers stop at, the step of getting people to your site. It involves knowing what they're looking for and showing them that you have what they need.

Make sure you know what they need. Research the keywords they're looking for. And don't just stop with knowing the words. Brainstorm what PROBLEMS people are using those words to try to solve.

Then, and only then, are you ready to put yourself where they'll find you. Optimize your pages for those keywords they're trying to find solutions with. Buy pay-per-click ads with Google or Yahoo! using those keywords. Write articles that other sites can reprint with a link back to yours.

And always, ALWAYS focus not on your products, but on the SOLUTIONS you offer through them. Make sure your visitors see you as a solution-giver rather than just a merchant trying to unload your wares.

And make sure that when they get to your site, they find exactly what they're looking for. In other words, make sure the page they land on is a continuation of whatever search engine listing, ad, or solution-based article got them to click to your site.

One of the most common mistakes of new marketers is that of trying to be too generic. The thought is, 'If I focus too much on one thing, all the people who aren't looking for it will go somewhere else. But if I make sure my pages generic enough everyone will will just keep looking through my site until they find something they want to buy.'

WRONG. if you had a choice between a page that dealt with the exact thing you were looking for and a page that said that the rest of the site has something for JUST ABOUT ANYONE and if you LOOKED AROUND ENOUGH you could PROBABLY find something that would help you. Which page would you pick?

The one that deals specifically with what you were looking for, of course!

But what about the argument that the generic page will get more people exploring around your site and buying lots more things? Well, consider this.

If someone comes to your page because a search engine result or ad or article leads them to believe that you have help for their specific need and the page they land on doesn't help them, they have NO REASON to believe that any other page on your site will be any more helpful.

In fact, in their mind, if they go back and do a new search, virtually ANY OTHER SITE they find has a greater potential for delivering on what they're looking for than your site, which has already let them down.

So what about all those other people who don't have that specific problem? Either set up pages specifically to deal with what they're looking for, or let them go their merry way. You want buyers, remember? Not browsers.

You won't get them to buy something they're not looking for just because they happened to stumble onto your site. So don't try. Focus on the people whose problems you can solve and don't futilely dream that everyone will buy from you as a thank-you for letting them land on your site.

Step 2: Build their confidence in you

So you've gotten them to land on your site and proven that you actually have something that might help them. What do you do next?

You build their confidence in you. When they come into your site, they have no idea who you are. If they're going to buy from you, they will have to make a decision not only that your product will help them, but that you yourself can be trusted.

And, frankly, they won't buy until they're convinced of that.

So you need to establish your credibility.

Prominently display your contact information to let them know that they can easily contact you if there's any problem with their order.

Display any banners you legitimately can display showing your membership in the Better Business Bureau or your connection with any online service that ensures that their credit card transaction will be secure.

Let them know you stand behind your products with strong guarantees and solid return policies. Think of any conceivable obstacle that might cause you to hesitate from buying from an unfamiliar website and make sure your website overcomes that obstacle for them.

And display testimonials from other customers. Nobody wants to feel like they're the first person to deal with a seller. Let your visitors see that plenty of others have found your product useful and have found you easy to deal with.

Step 3: Demonstrate your product's value

Your visitors won't buy from you until they're convinced that the value of what they're receiving is more than what they're giving up. That's right, they won't buy until they're convinced that they're getting MORE value than what they pay.

Studies have shown that people assign a higher value what they already have than what they want to buy. So you actually have to convince them that your product is worth more than the value they assign to it if you're going to get a sale.

How do you do this? Communicate the value of your products in terms of what BENEFITS they hold for your visitors instead of just in terms of what features they have.

That means focusing on the emotional benefits the customer receives from your products (such as peace of mind, security, luxury, reaffirmation of how they see themselves, etc.) instead of on the physical characteristics of the product.

People buy because they are drawn to a product emotionally. Only after they have determined that they WANT to have it, do they respond to the logical reasons for buying it, as a way of rationalizing the purchase.

And realize that the alternatives they have to buying from you are not just other products identical to yours; you also have to get them to feel that your products will provide them with the emotional benefit they seek better than completely unrelated products that fill that same emotional need.

Always remember that the sole reason for your company to exist is to create value, not just to make profits. If you focus on merely making profits, your business will eventually dry up. But focus on creating or promoting products of real value to your audience and the profits will come on their own.

Step 4: Guide them through a simple, yet planned, buying process

The idea that you can just throw products up on the web and have them sell is a major flaw that causes many web businesses to fail. You need to lead people to the sale.

PLAN their path to the sale. Where are they coming from? What brought them to that page? Make sure the page reaffirms the implied promise you made in bringing them there. Make sure that page provides the help they expect it will.

And then make sure that page moves them along to the next step in the buying process. Avoid distracting them. Don't offer them a multitude of choices; focus the links only on those choices that lead them toward the sale.

Give them links that allow them to reassure themselves of any nagging questions they still might have--but then bring them quickly back to your sales funnel. DON'T LET THEM GET DISTRACTED.

And don't expect them to follow your sales path on their own initiative; encourage them to take the path you want them to. The simple words,"Click here to see your options in..." or "Put this product in your shopping cart" make a HUGE difference in getting people to go where you want them to go.

For all their assertions that they want to make their own decisions, people are surprisingly reluctant to take initiative. But a gentle and
well-placed encouragement to take the next step can and does get many people past that reluctance.

Final thoughts

Converting visitors into buyers is not just a matter of luck. It involves understanding your target audience and guiding them in their thinking. But it can make a tremendous difference that is well worth the extra effort.

Helping you become the successful business owner you want to be.

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