8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads

& Conversions on Your Website

Produced by

Aspire Internet Design Katie Wilson www.aspireid.com

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

1: Design & Develop A Visually Appealing Website Design

89% of customers search the web before making a purchasing decision (Digital Influence Index

2012). In many cases, your website is the prospect’s first impression of your company and its

offerings. The look and feel of the website are the primary drivers of those first impressions.

It may not be surprising that website aesthetics are a decisive factor for engaging users

online. What is surprising is how quickly these users decide whether they like a site or not.

In fact, it takes no more than a split second (50 to 500 milliseconds) for users to form an opinion

about your website (Harvard 2013).

Consider these Statistics

First impressions are 94% design-related (content matters a lot but is powerless when

embedded in poor design)

75% of users admit to making judgments about a company’s credibility based on their website

design (Stanford Web Credibility Research)

Websites that are perceived as great looking are also perceived as usable and trustworthy

(Harvard 2013).

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

7 Components of Visually Appealing Web Design

1. Colors:

The site’s colors should convey your company’s personality or brand. Colors have a

big emotional factor so it’s important to choose colors your audience will love.

2. Fonts:

The site’s fonts should also be based on the company’s brand and the feeling you

want to convey to customers. The fonts need to be easy to read.

3. Pictures & Graphics:

Choose pictures and graphics that display your company and products in the best

light possible. Hire a professional photographer if possible. Images speak volumes

about your company and play a key role in your website’s look and feel.

4. Complexity:

Strive for simplicity in your design. Keep it simple, yet not so simple it lacks appeal.

5. Usability:

Make sure the website’s design is user-friendly. The navigation needs to be straightforward and designed based on how users will interact with the site.

6. Clarity:

Make sure all images and graphics on the site are sharp.

7. Consistency:

Keep the design of the site (colors, fonts, button styles, heading sizes, etc.) consistent throughout the site.

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

Examples of Good Website Design vs Bad:

Zimmerman Metals

Before

After – www.zimmermanmetals.com

Results

Sales increased 40% after the new website was created and launched! - Bruce Pearson, Zimmerman Metals, Roll Form Division

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

Eastside Heating & Air Conditioning

Before

After – www.eastsideheat.com

Results

In the first month, I received 5-6 leads from the new website. With the old website, I may have received 3 in 5 years.

- Boe Kampbell, Eastside Heating & Air Conditioning

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

AVocation Systems

Before

After – www.avocationsystems.com

Results

Our old site was very rudimentary and aesthetically unappealing. Navigation to important sections wasn’t nearly as intuitive as it should have been. Our new

website encompasses everything we had hoped when we started out this process. It’s visually appealing, and all of the information is presented in a way that’s

easy to find and understand. - Trent Mulligan, AVocation Systems

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

Elderlink Home Care

Before

After – www.elderlinkhomecare.com

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

2: Use Compelling, User-Focused Content

Content can make or break a website. It’s that important. The quality of a website’s content

will determine the success or failure of a site and visitors’ desire to do business with your

company.

A Website’s Content Serves Many Vital Functions, Including:

Generating Leads

Driving Traffic to a Website

Conveying Compelling Marketing Messages to Your Target Audiences

Persuading Potential Customers to Take Action (i.e. make a purchase, sign-up, respond to a

blog post, download a white paper, etc.)

Consider these Statistics

Users often leave web pages within 10-20 seconds, however, pages with a clear value

proposition can hold their attention longer (Nielsen Norman Group)

92% of SEO practitioners say content creation is an effective SEO tactic (B2B Infographics)

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

7 Tips for Creating Good Website Content

Here are seven tips on how to write effective web content and ensure the success of a website.

1. Identify Your Target Audience & Develop Buyer Personas

Before creating the content, make sure you really understand your target audience,

their needs, and their language. Creating a buyer persona is a great way to start the

process.

2. Set Content Goals

What purpose should your content serve? Do you want to use it to position your

company as an expert in your field, sell products, educate your visitors, establish a

relationship and connection with visitors? Which relevant keywords and keyword

phrases will drive the most traffic to your site? What tone do you want your content

to have (educational, humorous, 1st person, 3rd person, etc.) Starting with the end in

mind will ensure your content is focused on driving the right outcomes.

3. Educate, Don’t Sell

People don’t want to be sold to. They are seeking an expert they can trust and want to engage and do business with. Position yourself and your content in a

way that establishes you as a leader in your field and provide useful and relevant information to your visitors.

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

4. Chunk Content

Information on the web is consumed in a modular rather than linear style. Content needs to be separated into easy-to-scan “chunks” to facilitate most

visitors’ reading style. Use short paragraphs, instructive headings, bullet points, and anchor points (photos, graphics, and captions) to make it easy for

readers to determine the context of a page quickly.

5. Be Clear & Concise

Write the content in an active voice. Use strong verbs and simple sentence construction. Get to the point quickly. Long, drawn out copy will turn visitors

away.

6. Don’t Forget the SEO

To drive quality traffic to your website, make sure to employ good SEO practices in each of your web page’s content. These practices include: focusing on one

keyword phrase per page (if possible), including the keyword phrase in the title, headings, page’s url, throughout the content, in the meta tags (title &

description), image file names and alt tags, and hyperlinks.

7. Get Help from a Professional Copywriter

Professional copywriters know how to bring content to life and make it jump off a page. Working with a professional copywriter, such as those found

at WriterAccess, can help your content stand apart from your competitors, ensure it is speaking directly to your target audience, and is optimized properly for

the search engines.

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

3: Employ Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization (or SEO) is the process of getting traffic from the “free”, “organic”,

“editorial” or “natural” listings on search engines. Nine times out of ten, consumers turn to search

engines when making purchasing decisions (Brafton 2012). Even if all your new business comes from

referrals and word of mouth, those referrals will seek you out online. To be found online easily by your

target audience, SEO needs to be utilized.

Consider these Statistics

89% of consumers use search engines for purchase decisions (Brafton 2012).

71% of business purchase decisions are started with a search engine (Brafton 2012).

70% of users click on organic results (Search Engine Journal 2012).

53% of organic search clicks go to the first link (Search Engine Journal 2012).

75% of users never click past the first page (Hubspot 2011).

SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, while print or direct mail ads have 1.7% (8.5 times more) (Search Engine Journal 2012).

How SEO Works

There are many factors that contribute to the success of a SEO initiative. At it’s core, SEO is all about keywords. Before implementing SEO tactics on your

website, conduct keyword research to determine which keywords drive the most traffic and will be attainable from a competition standpoint.

Basically, SEO can be broken down into two main factors: On-Page SEO, and Off-Page SEO.

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

On-Page SEO Factors

On-page SEO search ranking factors are completely within your control. For each web page, identify one keyword phrase and incorporate the keyword into

the following:

1. Title Tag (after content, the title tag is the most important on-page factor for SEO)

2. URL (ex: http://aspireid.com/services/web-design/case-studies)

3. High Quality, Unique Content (include the keyword several times throughout the content and use synonyms)

4. Heading Tags (H1, H2, etc.)

5. Image File Name (ex: website-design-sample.jpg) and Alt Text

6. Description Tag (used to provide text in search results and appears under the title tag)

7. Links (use internal links and external links)

8. Clean & Uncluttered Code (Make sure your web pages are clean and uncluttered with unnecessary code. Doing so makes it easier for search engines to

read the pages and makes the pages load faster.)

Off-Page SEO Factors

With billions of web pages to sort through, the search engines need to look at more than the on-page factors to determine the ranking of a page. They use

several off-page SEO factors and signals, including:

1. Links to Your Web Pages (from high authority websites)

2. Substantive Social Presence (posting content and links to your website & lots of interaction with fans, followers, connections is key)

3. Reviews from Customers (from Google, Yelp!, Amazon, BBB, etc.)

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

4: Make Sure Your Site Works Well on Multiple Devices

Your customers expect a great browsing experience regardless of what device they use. How your

company’s website appears and its ease of use on all of these devices can have a big impact on your

bottom line.

Years ago, you could put up a website optimized for a screen resolution of 1024 x 768, test it no a

few browsers and operating systems, and be confident visitors to your website would all have a

somewhat similar user experience. Some users may have had higher screen resolutions and slight

variations due to different browsers or viewing on a Mac instead of a PC. For the most part, however,

the website appeared consistently across everyone’s computers.

Today, people visit websites using many different devices. They use smart phones, tablets, TVs,

and PCs interchangeably as they engage with companies and move through their buying process

for different products and services.

Consider these Device Statistics…

56% of American adults have a smartphone (Pew Research Center)

28% of cell owners own an Android; 25% own an iPhone; 4% own a Blackberry (Pew Research

Center)

34% of American adults own a tablet computer (Pew Research Center)

34% of cell internet users go online mostly using their phones, and not using another device such

as a desktop or laptop computer. (Pew Research Center)

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

Average smartphone usage grew 81 percent in 2012 (Cisco)

Tablet shipments will surpass PC shipments in the 4th quarter of 2013 (IDC)

90% of people move between devices to accomplish a goal (Google)

Businesses that provide a seamless experience to their site’s visitors across all devices are able to generate more engagement and sales.

Four Ways to Ensure Your Website Works Well on Multiple Devices

1. Understand How Customers Currently Interact with Your Website

Analyze the traffic on your website to determine where your visitors are coming from, the devices they are using, and they types of content they are

consuming on each device. If your mobile audience is at or above 10%, it’s time to start optimizing for mobile. Keeping the user’s goals front and center as

you develop your content customization strategy is the key to crafting a seamless experience for your site’s visitors.

2. Utilize Responsive Web Design

Responsive web design (RWD) ensures your website’s content displays correctly and uniformly on a variety of devices, platforms, and screen sizes – without

creating multiple websites. This is a great solution if you don’t need advanced features. Special coding techniques are utilized that make a web page

automatically adjust to the device or screen for the best user experience possible. No more frustrating scrolling and zooming.

3. Develop a Dedicated Mobile Website

For websites that require a lot of user interaction and more mobile functionality, we recommend building a dedicated mobile website. With this approach, the

focus is placed on specific challenges such as navigation, the ability to complete forms easily, visibility, load time, and creating an overall seamless experience

for mobile users.

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

If your site will be selling products online, filling in detailed forms, or interacting with other site visitors through a mobile device, then building a dedicated

mobile version may be the best solution.

4. Measure, Analyze & Improve

Use your website’s analytics and stats to measure the interactions on your site from various devices and make improvements as needed on an ongoing basis.

Example of a Site Not Optimized for Multiple Devices

HVAC Supply - hvacsupply.net

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

Examples of Websites Optimized for Multiple Devices

The Rheem Team - rheemteamcomfort.com

Arvada Visitors Center - visitarvada.org

Tip: To view your website instantly on various desktop, tablet, and mobile devices, checkoutBrowerStack.

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

5: Use Strong Calls to Action

After spending the time, energy, and money to create a good looking website, craft compelling

content, and optimize your website for the search engines so it is ranking for your target keyword

phrases and driving traffic to your site, the last thing you want is for your visitors to leave without

establishing some sort of connection with your company. They may come to your site, read your

information, and then be gone forever.

Having strong "calls to action" on a website is the most effective tactic to converting your

random website visitors into loyal readers and paying customers.

What is a Call to Action?

A call to action is something that's designed to get a website visitor to take action in some way.

The goal is to establish a connection with interested website visitors. It may be as simple as the

visitors giving you their email address and permission to communicate with them. From there,

you can start to develop a relationship and turn those visitors into customers.

If you want to increase your website conversion rate beyond the typical 1% to an above average rate of 4%-5%,

you need stronger calls to action.

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

Examples of Strong Calls to Action Include:

Subscribe to an Email Newsletter

Download an eBook

Request a Consultation, Estimate or Quote

Take Advantage of a Special Offer

Register for a Webinar

Purchase a Product

Connect with Us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Etc.

Request a Free Demo

Try Before You Buy

Sign-up for Free

Examples of Other Calls to Action Which Should be Included on Each Page or Blog Post:

Phone Number(s)

Email Address

"Contact Us" Button Prominently Displayed

Social Media Profiles / Links

Share Buttons (especially on blog posts)

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

Tips on Creating Strong Calls to Action:

1. Understand Your Target Market & Buyers

Knowing who your target audience is enables you to clearly answer their questions and concerns with useful

and relevant content. You can broadly identify who these buyers are by creating buyer personas or customer

profiles. These customer profiles will help you to identify your customers’ challenges and needs, and

understand how to speak to them using their words and language to address these needs and provide

solutions.

2. Identify Your Call to Action Goal

Take a look at your sales funnel and identify where the visitor or prospect most likely will be in the sales cycle

when they visit your website. From there, identify the action you want your visitors to take.

3. Make Sure it Provides Value

The offer needs to appeal to your site's visitors and provide value to them in some way. Often, you can re-

purpose existing useful materials your company is already using or has created for other purposes such as case

studies, sales sheets or brochures on your services and products, articles, "how to" guides, etc.

4. Keep it Simple

If the call to action is confusing, people will not take action. Make sure the offer is clear and concise. Visitors have short attention spans and need to know

exactly what to do next. Don't have conditions, rules, or ask for too much information. Keep it obligation free. There should be an obvious call to action that

leads visitors to the next step in your conversion funnel.

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

5. Make it Prominent

Placing the call to action at the bottom of a web page can bury it and cause it to be ignored or go unseen. Place your call to action above the fold in a clear

and upfront position.

6. Test Your Calls to Action

Conduct A/B testing to find out what calls to action are working best for your target audience. Change the wording, placement, offer and see if the changes

have an impact on conversions.

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

6: Publish New Pages & Blog Posts on a Regular Basis

One of the best ways to increase quality traffic to your site is to publish new web pages and blog posts that are keyword-focused and useful to your target audience on a regular basis.

Companies with only 1-2 blog posts per month

generate

70% more leads than companies

who don’t blog

Companies with 9-15 blog posts per month

generate

200% more leads than companies with only 1-2 blog posts each month

- HubSpot 2013

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

7: Use Social Media & Integrate it Into Your Site

Incorporating social media into your company’s marketing strategy is more about facilitating your

buyers’ process than it is about how you sell your products and promote your company.

With the Internet, people can be anonymous and conduct extensive research without having to talk

to a salesperson or step into a store. In fact, 89% of consumers use search engines to begin their

purchasing process.

Trust becomes a big factor in the consumers’ buying decision. If they don’t trust a company, they

will not utilize their services or buy their products. One of the worst things that can happen when

conducting their search is that they will find poor or negative reviews about a company. The

second worst things is to find no online presence at all. The third worst thing is a badly

constructed website and limited or no social presence.

Utilizing social media and having a strong online presence is one of the most important steps

towards earning trust in our online based society. On social media sites, real-time conversations

are occurring every day that define your market and brand, whether you choose to participate

or not.

These real-time conversations can be harnessed, monitored, and measured. In turn, they can become

highly relevant conversations and engagement opportunities with potential buyers and current customers,

resulting in increased sales and customer satisfaction.

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

8 Reasons Why Businesses Should be Using Social Media

1. Provide Social Proof

Having a presence on social media sites provides potential customers with social proof that your company exists, and enables them to see what others’

experiences have been with your company, products and services. It also enables them to become more informed about your company which, in turn,

increases their level of trust in your company.

2. Extend Your Brand

Social media can help create a recognizable identity for your company, products and services. When potential customers become familiar with a business

because of its identifiable messaging and visuals, they create positive associations with that business and can remember it more easily.

3. Grow Your Company’s Network

Networked companies perform better in sales than those that are less networked. Amassing a large base of fans, followers, and connections enables you to

communicate directly with consumers who are interested in your products and services.

4. Build Thought Leadership

Social media provides a platform and personal branding opportunity for your business and business leaders to build thought leadership and position

themselves and the company as experts in their field.

5. Provide Customer Service

Social media is being used more and more as a customer service tool. By being readily available to prospects and customers and offering support on sites

such as Twitter and Facebook, companies are able to show prospects how responsive they are and keep their existing customers satisfied.

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

6. Reputation Management

Social media tools let you keep track of what people are saying about your company or brand online. Responding to positive and negative reviews or

comments quickly in a professional and authentic way will earn your company respect and help to develop and maintain an excellent reputation online.

7. Exponential Reach

Creating “buzz” about your products and services using social media is a great way to exponentially grow your marketing message’s reach in a way that is

much less expensive than traditional marketing and advertising and much more effective as well.

8. Improved Search Engine Rankings & Website Traffic

Actively participating on social media sites provides signals to the major search engines (Google, Bing, and Yahoo!) and can increase your company’s visibility

and website’s rankings. Links posted on social media sites back to your website can also help to drive more traffic to your site.

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

8: Utilize Email Marketing

When it comes to marketing your business, it’s important to be where your consumers

are. Email use is thriving and is used by 95% of online consumers. 91% of consumers

reported checking their email at least once a day (Exact Target). In fact, it’s not uncommon

for consumers to check their email dozens of times each day. Using email marketing to

promote content and your products and services is a great way to drive more traffic to your

website and is a highly effective tool for nurturing leads through the buying cycle.

Consider these Email Marketing Statistics

66% of email recipients made at least one purchase last year based on a promotional email.

(Exact Target)

7 in 10 people say they made use of a coupon or discount from a marketing email in the

prior week. (2012 Blue Kangaroo Study)

For every $1 spent, $44.25 is the average return on email marketing investment. (Experian)

82% of consumers open emails from companies. (Litmus)

Email marketing spend grows 10% year over year. (Forrester 2011)

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

6 Benefits of Email Marketing

1. Strengthen Relationships, Loyalty & Trust

Email marketing is a great way to build one-on-one relationships with current and potential customers. By creating well-written and engaging newsletters

and emails, readers get to know, like, and trust you and your company. And, consumers buy from companies they trust.

2. Increase Brand Awareness & Stay Top of Mind

Each time an email is sent to consumers, awareness of your company, products and services is reinforced. This helps to keep your company’s name top of

mind when it comes time to making a purchase.

3. Segmentation

With email marketing, lists of each market segment based on demographics, interest, past behavior, etc. can be created, enabling you to craft a marketing

message that speaks directly to each target audience. This is a highly effective marketing tactic that helps your marketing message resonate strongly with

each segment.

4. Low Cost & Good ROI

Compared to other marketing channels, email marketing costs very little. For every $1 spent, $44.25 is the average return on email marketing investment.

5. Easy to Use

Setting-up an email campaign is relatively easy. There are many email marketing resources and software companies online that enable you to upload

subscribers’ information, segment your lists, use email templates and fill-in your content, and send emails to subscribers on a regular basis. Two of our

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

favorite email marketing service providers are Constant Contact and Mail Chimp. To really stand out, instead of using a pre-made template, having an email

template custom designed for your business that matches your company’s brand can be even more effective.

6. Easy to Measure

For each email sent, metrics and reports are provided that show open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and conversion rates. This information is key

to understanding what is working and what needs to be improved upon.

8 Tactics to Increase Traffic, Leads & Conversions on Your Website

About the Author

Aspire Internet Design is a Web design and Web marketing firm based in Denver, Colorado. Since 2002, we have helped

hundreds of small businesses succeed through the development of goal-driven online marketing strategies that enable

them to engage and build relationships with new and existing customers, promote brand awareness, and meet their

business objectives.

Connect with Aspire Internet Design:

Website: aspireid.com

Blog: aspireid.com/blog

Twitter: twitter.com/#!/aspireid

Facebook: facebook.com/AspireInternetDesign

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aspireid

Google+: plus.google.com/+aspireid

YouTube: youtube.com/user/aspireinternetdesign

Email: info@aspireid.com