It is vital to increase your conversion rates in order to have a high sales volume and successful business. Many times it is just a small tweak in an established machine that will produce significant improvements among conversion rates. Pair many small changes with a few large tweaks and you can rest assured that your conversion rates will show dramatic results.

1. Lose the Jargon

Persuasion is valued less than clarity. Avoid trying to bring in conversions with complicated jargon—it does not help with conversion. Write for the people that are visiting your website—normal people, not companies. A great way to practice this is to write in a way that you would speak to a close friend when explaining something. Take a look at your copy, and if there are any words or phrases that you would not use in a conversation with a good friend, aim to word it differently.

2. Make the Buying Process as Easy as Possible

The end goal must be to make interacting with your business and converting as easy as possible. Your customers never should be guessing about how to buy from your website or where they should navigate to next. How can you ensure that customers can make a purchase with ease?

• Tell them exactly what they should do next. The next step should look like the most important thing among the other links.
• Never give users too many options to choose from. When there are too many choices, the easiest thing to do is nothing. Incorporate filters to slim the content.
• Offer free shipping. This is one of the most popular motivations for consumers to make a purchase.

3. Address any Objections

When website visitors read what you have to offer, there will always be resistance. There will be objections in people's conscious and subconscious about whatever it is that you have to offer. It is a bit tricky to ease these concerns over the internet, but it is possible. You should create a list of all possible objections that the customers may have. After this, add information to your copy that will take these concerns away. For example, if a concern might be that the product won't work for the customer, provide testimonials from real customers that have seen success with the product. While doing this, it is vital to come up with a long list—do this by seeking input from outside sources, conduct user testing, and ask customers to think about what concerns that might have or previously had.

4. Communicate Your Value

One common mistake that entrepreneurs make is that they fail to provide sufficient information about the products or services that they are offering. So many websites describe their products with just the most basic information in the form of bullet points with a price at the end. A better way to approach product description is to add as much information about it that is possible. Layers of information should be topped with images and videos. If someone can take in all of this information about the product and are still not convinced for conversion, there is a problem. But it is possible that someone can be convinced after reading just a fraction of the information that is provided and will complete their purchase right away. Up to half of all potential sales are lost because of inadequate information. And the most important detail is to remember that the price should be listed after the value has been communicated.

5. Offer Up Proof

Offer your potential customers proof to any claims that you are making. People will remain skeptical until they see evidence. What are the types of proof that can be provided? Collect things like customer testimonials, case studies, and results of scientific studies and tests. Also include third party reviews, social proof, and a way to show the proof—a demo! Produce a video that will show your product in action.

6. Increase Trust

Customers will not buy from a source that they do not trust, point blank. When it comes down to it, there are only 4 reasons that people will not buy from a company: no money, no need, no hurry, and no trust. There is not much to be done about the first three reasons, but it is possible to build trust. When you take the time to add trust elements to your website, you will then see your conversion rate increase. What exactly is it that makes people trust a website?

• It should be easy to verify the accuracy of the information that is provided on your website. This can be through third party support (testimonials, source material, etc) for the information that you present. Many times people won't follow the links, but simply having them present will help with conversion.
• Show that the organization is personal. The best way to do this is to provide your physical address, use a photo of yourself, or list any organizations that you are part of.
• Detail the expertise within the organization through the content and services that are provided. Are there any experts on your team? Do you have contributors that are authorities? If you do, make sure that you provide their credentials and do not link any outside sources that are not credible. When you link to the less credible, you then become less credible just by association.
• Update your content often. Visitors generally assign more credibility to websites that are recently reviewed or updated. An abandoned blog screams “Run!”.
• Use promotional content conservatively. Consumers do not like the hype, popups, and flashing banners. When there are ads contained on your website, be sure to differentiate the content that is sponsored from the content that is your own.

7. Remove the Distractions

The visitors of your website should be focused on one single action with very little distractions. Check to see if there are any features on your website that would turn the potential customer away from your goal. When there are numerous visuals that the visitor has to mentally process, the less likely it makes them to make a decision on conversion. When you minimize distractions like extraneous links, information, and product options, the conversion rate will increase. On the landing page as well as the product page, you should:

• remove sidebars and large headers
• shrink or totally remove the menu
• remove irrelevant images
• remove things that are not contributing to the increase of your conversion rate

8. Remove or Reduce Risk

Consumers know that wherever there is a transaction, there is a risk. Generally it is the buyer that carries most of the risk, and when the risk seems to be too big, the purchase will not happen. One way to reduce the risks perceived by the prospective customers might have is to offer a guarantee.

9. Beat your Visitors to Comparisons

There are direct and indirect competitors for every product and service. Consumers do their research before they make a decision on buying a product by making comparisons among providers. It is a rare case that a consumer will purchase a product without checking the competition first. Knowing this, a smart decision is to look at your competition before consumers do. How can you relay this information to your customers? Point out what advantages your product has over the alternatives. Doing this will also keep people on your site—they don't leave it to seek the information out for themselves. Car companies offer warranties based on a long timeline, food delivery companies guarantee a short delivery time, and service companies offer to pay for each minute that they are late. These companies compensate their customers for any hassle that is had because of the product or service.

10. Add Immediate Incentives

When a product or service is sold based on urgency and scarcity, it is conveyed as more important. Depending on what it is that you are offering, you can produce time related scarcity or quantity related scarcity. If your product is not limited in quantity, you may opt to offer a time sensitive bonus like a free gift or discount. One thing to remember is that the reason for scarcity has to be authentic. Do not lit to your customers—people will know and you will not be trustworthy.

11. Don't Rely on Hype

Consumers have become savvy to copy writing that is loaded with hype. Forego all of the exaggerations and instead aim your focus to writing copy that is clear and compelling. The message of your brand and your products or services should be straightforward, with very little bells and whistles to distract from the information that consumers are looking for. This type of copy is what will help potential buyers become loyal customers.

12. Use Optional Input Fields

When asking for information for your visitors and there must be numerous fields, keep as many of the fields of information optional, if possible. This will increase the likelihood that the visitor will complete the form with information boxes. It is always possible to ask for more information later, such as in the checkout process. As an example, asking for information on their birthday, you may choose to offer an incentive such as a coupon for their birthday month.

13. Offer More than One Payment Option

Even though the e-commerce boom has happened and now it is simply the norm for most people, not everyone is willing to use the same payment methods over the internet. When you choose to accept multiple safe payment options, you are knocking down the walls that would otherwise isolate some customers. This will ensure that the preferences of all of your customers will be satisfied, and there will be one less barrier keeping them from making their purchase.

14. Use High Quality Images

When including photos on your website, opt to incorporate photos that are of professional quality. When a website uses stock photos, they can appear generic and tacky—ultimately hard to relate to and this will send the wrong message to visitors about your brand. The website may be interpreted as sterile or impersonal. When you incorporate photos that are taken professionally by your direction, customers may have an easier time relating to your brand.

15. Make Use of Directional Cues

Directional cues avert the attention of your visitors to the most important element that is on your web page by using visual cues like arrows. No, do not use something akin to flashing neon signs—keep it subtle but clear.

16. Contact Info is Vital

When you include your contact information, you are giving your website visitors the confidence that they need in order to buy from you. The contact information should be easily visible and not hidden in a way that requires more than a few clicks to find.

17. At Checkout, Offer a Bonus

After a customer has completed their purchase, present them with a new offer that may be used on their next purchase. This could be something like free shipping or a certain percentage off of their subtotal for their next order.

18. Make Registration Optional for Buying

Some websites will require their users to complete a form for registration in order to make their purchase. It is important to offer an express checkout option to minimize any off-putting experiences when trying to make a purchase.

19. Keep Options Limited

When consumers are presented with too many options, they will stop in their tracks and avoid that task all together. When it is possible, clearly convey who your product is for or make your suggestion for which of your products is the best for the majority of people.

20. Include Numbers for Social Media Accounts

Displaying your social media follower counts acts in the same way that a testimonial does. This social proof has the potential to speak volumes about a company and will reduce the risk that the customer will feel, thus increasing conversions. Providing this information for social media accounts will furnish additional opportunities for the website visitor to interact with the brand.

Author: Garenne BigbyWebsite: http://garennebigby.com

Founder of DYNO Mapper and Former Advisory Committee Representative at the W3C.