Whether your website is simply a conduit for extra sales or the life and soul of your entire business, it’s important to remember there is always room for improvement when it comes to the layout and focus of each page. Conversion rate optimisation is a fairly new concept when compared to other, more established industries such as search engine optimisation; but that by no means detracts from the effectiveness of the practice.

The theory behind conversion rate optimisation is simple; (whilst the practice is considerably more technical) simply put, conversion rate optimisation is a practice intended to increase the amount of you website’s customers that buy, register or enquire (these desired actions are referred to as conversions).

By making certain changes to the website, you can increase the likelihood of increasing the percentage of visitors that convert (this percentage is our conversion rate). These changes could be as simple as rewording a page headline, or as technical as a complete page redesign, and it is only by adding, changing or taking away aspects of the page and then testing the results that we can begin to understand exactly what drives visitors to ‘convert’.

So, how is it done?

Unfortunately, these is no simple answer or guide to this question, only certain set principles and processes that can help us start the journey towards creating a more successful website. A conversion rate optimisation consultant much begin ever project anew; there is no ‘rehashing’ or replication of past work, as every industry, website, product and prospect is different. This is why there is no certain guide or rulebook to the process; only an understanding of the customer and extensive testing can produce certain results.

Great; so now what?

Fear not, although there are no direct lessons to take away so far, remember that it is the understanding of your prospect and how they view your site which is sure to lead to success. Although you may lack experience in advanced customer understanding and research, ask yourself these basic questions to get a good idea of where to start improving your website’s conversion rate.

Is my Value Proposition Clear?

It’s vital that your customer knows exactly why your product or service is beneficial to them as soon as they land on your site. If you offer a free resource, money saving discount code or are currently running a sale, they should know within the first 3 seconds of being on the page. Your headline and subheading are two great places to make this clear, and by making the conversion appealing as soon as they land on the page, their attention will likely stay on the page a little longer.

Is it Simple to Convert?

Making the conversion process complicated, long or confusing will certainly cause tons of your prospects to abandon the site. Whether your site features a multiple-page payment process or a contact form, you should be looking at it through your customer’s eyes.

Daniel Trvais – Brown is a conversion rate consutant at Web Vitality seo Manchester; find hime on Twitter @DanTravisBrown