6 proven techniques for increasing conversions

1. Increasing conversions through the use of independent, single-focused landing pages.
Landing pages are specific pages distinct from your actual website that are designed to move a user closer to a desired action. A landing page is the page that users will be driven to from either an outbound or inbound campaign. The link to the landing page may be sent via direct email, email marketing or even an SEM ad. The goal of a landing page is to either convert users on the spot or drive them to a transactional page.

One of the key ways to increase conversions is to ensure your landing pages have a single focus. If you have more than one hypothesis about what will increase conversion, utilize A/B testing. A/B testing compares the performance of different landing page tactics to find the one that is most effective. The champion of an A/B test will be the one that has the highest conversion and lowest bounce rates. To ensure an accurate and reliable test, an A/B test needs to be done on a randomized basis. The random approach ensures that the data is not being affected by other variables.¹ An A/B test cannot compare landing pages used in different markets or in different campaigns.

2. Increasing conversions through integrating offers and calls-to-action throughout your website.
Website integration between offers, content marketing such as blog articles, and product/service, capability or other pages is crucial to increasing conversions. It’s essential to have links on all core web pages that refer users to the conversion action that you are targeting. This integration ensures readers can find relevant information and helps maximize opportunities to convert website visitors to leads, or leads to purchasers.

The call-to-action is an essential component to increasing conversions.² A call-to-action directs your visitor to complete a specific task. This task doesn't always have to be the actual purchase of a product or service. Calls-to-action include providing email or other contact information as well as completing a lead form. A clear call-to-action should be integrated into every part of the site to fully leverage the website’s ability to increase conversions.

3. Increasing conversions by delivering maximum relevancy through personalized URLS (PURLS).
Personalized URLs, or PURLs, are pages that are individualized for users, thereby greatly increasing conversion rates. PURLs serve a unique purpose that landing pages and websites simply do not. That’s because PURLs provide impressive tracking abilities and very strong insights. You know exactly who engaged with the PURL, what captured their interest and whether or not they moved on with the engagement or transactional process.

In addition, PURLs provide a curiosity factor that can result in a healthy bump in response. When people receive an email or a direct mail package with their name embedded in the URL, it definitely captures their attention. Relevancy is king when it comes to PURLs. Special offers are also an excellent way to increase conversions, and interest within the page can be tracked through the use of the personalized URL. To see a PURL campaign in action, click here.

4. Increasing conversions through retargeting and remarketing.
Retargeting and remarketing are concepts aimed at targeting a user that has demonstrated interest but may not have fully converted yet. Retargeting is the act of targeting ads toward a user who has had a previous interaction; this is usually done through cookies or other information stored from previous user visits. Retargeting is an extremely effective technique for increasing conversions.

Remarketing is a tactic that can be used to not only increase conversions but to leverage the innate user behavior of abandoning. Abandonment occurs when a user fails to fill out a form or complete a transaction, such as checking out of their shopping cart. The user may be remarketed via email or be retargeted with a banner ad. These communications remind them that their cart is still open or that their sign-up process hasn't been completed, or even sends additional information or an offer to drive the conversions. Remarketing is one of the leading techniques marketers are using today to increase conversions.

5. Increasing conversions through optimizing the user experience.
Strategy is critical. Unfortunately, it isn't enough to simply have a strong strategy in mind; you also need to have a stable and responsive website if you want to convert. According to KISSmetrics, conversions can be reduced by as much as 7% if there is a 1% delay in your page response time.³ Websites need to load quickly and need to work well; there should be no broken links, uncompressed media files or missing images. Ensure website functionality isn’t limiting your ability to increase conversions.

6. Increasing conversions through delivering relevant, cohesive outbound communications.
Fundamentally, conversion is the art of getting a user to do what you want them to do: take the desired action. Increasing conversion relies upon two key principles: First, making the most of all traffic on your website; secondly, bringing back the traffic that is most interested, keeping them engaged; and driving them to convert.

The reality is that the majority of users won’t convert the first time they come in contact with your offer. Ensuring any follow-up and outbound communications going forward incorporates behavior-based data and information to increase conversions. Applying web behavior in outgoing email is a proven technique to increasing conversions.

1. Wikipedia
2. Huffington Post
3. KISSmetrics