When you mention the keys to success you can expect to be instantly barraged with potential keys. You are likely to hear that ‘it is all in the list’ or possibly that traffic is key, or maybe that you cannot be successful until you have your own product. The long list would keep going on from there. While I agree there are many keys to online marketing success, traffic conversion is definitely one of those keys. Along with conversion rate is the testing to help drive that rate even higher.
Many experts believe that traffic conversion is actually MORE important than the traffic itself. It is true that you must have traffic coming to your website. Without traffic, there are no potential buyers to convert to sales.
However, if your site doesn’t convert traffic into buyers or subscribers, why send people to your website to begin with? That is where traffic conversion comes into play.
Traffic conversion is actually both an art and a science. Traffic conversion is the art of providing compelling written copy that appeals to the potential buyer’s needs and wants. It motivates the targeted traffic that arrives at your website to become buyers of your products and services, and subscribers to your ezines and newsletters.
Traffic conversion is also the science of breaking down the copy that you have written into its key component pieces. Those key components all come together to create a compelling sales page.
You then measure the positive impact that each of those component pieces is having on the final conversion of your targeted traffic. Is each component positively turning your targeted traffic into sales of products and services and subscribers to ezines and newsletters?
The only way to know whether each component is successfully working for your site is to TEST! You scientifically test each and every component. Nothing can be left to chance during this testing process.
Methodically, in a step-by-step manner, work your way through each component of your website. Start with the headline. What is the conversion rate with the current headline? Does it meet good copywriting criteria? How can you improve the current headline? Make those changes to improve the headline. Then test by allowing targeted traffic to go to the ‘improved headline’ website.
What is the conversion rate with the new headline? If it is higher, consider moving to the sub-headline as your next step. If it is lower, re-edit and measure again. If it is of high quality, move onto the next step.
Make changes to each key component of your website. Measure the positive and negative impact that those changes have to your conversion rate. As your conversion rate continues to improve, move on to another component.
Remember to keep what works and throw out what does NOT work at each step. Also remember that if you don’t test, you will never know how profitable your site really CAN be for you!
