Conversion Optimization: Top 40 Tips to Improve Website Conversions
Welcome to your first Lesson of the Ultimate Dealership Marketing Guide.
You might be wondering why we decided to start with Conversion Optimization? Well let me ask you a question:
What would you rather have? 10,000 visitors per month with a 1% conversion (100 new leads) or 5,000 visitors per month with a 10% conversion (500 new leads)?
I don't know about you but I would take the less traffic and higher conversions. And there are added benefits as well. It will cost less and you will have a much higher ROI.
There is no point driving in traffic to a website if you are not converting. Conversion optimization is accomplished by making some changes to your site that will promote customer interaction.
If optimizing your website for improved conversions is new to you, then you are definitely reading the right article.
We have compiled a list of the top rated best practices of conversion optimization for you to implement on your website.
Regardless of if you are starting from scratch or looking to make minor tweaks, these best practices will help you to take a more in depth look at your dealership website to see if it is actually doing what it is supposed to do - CONVERT VISITORS TO CUSTOMERS! (was that subtle enough?)
Conversion Optimization Best Practices:
Remove Unnecessary Form Fields
How many fields do you have on your website’s lead generation form?
The more questions visitors have to answer to get what they want, the less likely they are to do it.
Only ask the questions you absolutely need to get the sale you want.
I don’t think you need to ask for their first name, last name, phone number AND email.
You need the basic information. Ask for a name so you know who to ask for and ask for one method to contact them. If you want to give them a choice, that’s fine, but don’t make them both mandatory.
Experiment with Color One of the most common conversion rate optimization best practices is to experiment with colors. One key method is to test different colors for your call to action buttons.
Obviously, the color of the button should contrast well with the rest of your website design but believe it or not, the color of your buttons can make a big difference in enticing a visitor to click on it or not.
There have been many studies that find that different shades convert better than others. This doesn’t mean, we want you to follow every single one of these studies, because every study will have different results depending on the industry.
Our suggestion would be to start with cool and inviting colors like greens and blues and then test it. Start with one color and then change it up a few months later and see which one yields higher results.
Use Appropriate Call-to-action Button Text The text on the call to action button should do more than just directing a visitor. For instance, tell the visitor what to expect after clicking the button rather than just saying ‘submit,’ or ‘sign-up.’
If you can, try to be more descriptive with the text you use on your call to action button.
A website was able to increase its conversion rate by 31% by telling customers to ‘Create Account & Get Started’ instead of just ‘Create Account.’
Many brands use this conversion optimization technique to test which text yields more clicks.
You have minimal space for text in the button, so get creative!
Place your CTA above-the-fold A long standing theory has been that you need to place your call-to-action (CTA) “above the fold” of your website.
(“Above the fold” is the portion of a website that is visible in a browser window when the web page first loads on a screen.)
Make the CTA immediately noticeable and (in theory) pick up quick fire clicks, removing the risk that the user will not miss it before scrolling down the page.
Make your Phone Number Visible Displaying your phone number in a visible location on your website like in the header of your home page is a good conversion optimization best practice.
This minor gesture from you shows your online visitors that you are approachable.
Everyone loves the idea of doing everything by email, but phone numbers convey a sense of permanence. It’s a way for customers to contact a person directly if something goes wrong, which in turn makes them more confident to make a purchase.
Identify the Traffic Source
Newsflash: websites can keep track of where their visitors are coming from. If you aren’t keeping track of this, than you need to start now!
More importantly, websites with proper analytics can tell not only where they came from, but why.
If someone types “Toronto Nissan Murano” into Google and clicks on a search engine result listing, the website is aware of that keyword that the visitor typed in.
With the right tools, a website can be dynamically generated to present the visitor with something that matches their search query. In other words, when someone types “Toronto Nissan Murano” into Google and clicks on your website, you can present them with exactly what they’re looking for—a big, shiny Murano on the front page or you can direct them to your inventory page for the visitor to browse through.
This is an amazing tool to use to a dealership’s advantage because now you have the ability to give your potential customers what they are asking for online.
Now you can target your online efforts even more effectively.
Different Sites for Different Searches General searches are for people who want to find a dealer for whatever reason: “Los Angeles Honda.” Long-tail searches are more specific and have less traffic, but higher conversions: “Los Angeles Honda Accord.”
Exact-match or near-match searches are done by people who know exactly what they want, have even lower volume, but very high conversion rates: “2010 Honda Accord EX Los Angeles.”
It is very important that dealers target different websites or pages for multiple variations and types of searches. A primary website home page should offer a broad range of options to appeal to the diversity of searchers.
A site or page targeting exact-match searches should be laser-focused on delivering on the two goals: the customer’s goal to find what he or she wants and the dealer’s goal to generate a lead. Everything else is just a distraction
Add a Video to the Landing Page Videos are an effective conversion rate optimization tool in helping to give your dealership life before a lead steps into your dealership.
Use videos to capture customer testimonials or to showcase new vehicles on the lot.
The popularity of sites like YouTube shows that people enjoy watching videos more than reading. Use this information to your advantage by incorporating simple, yet effective videos.
You don’t need to be Spielberg to put up videos either. They just need to be clear, audible and help in converting more leads to customers.
Videos are also 100% search engine accessible, which adds additional benefits to your site by means of video SEO. Statistics show that adding a video to your website can increase user responsiveness by almost 50% (not a bad statistic to help in increasing your overall website conversions).
Understand What Your Leads are Asking People tend to turn to technology to answer their questions, such as Google, Siri or Cortana. Since we can control how Google can help with website conversions, it is very important to understand what people are typing so you can incorporate that content on your website.
People are typing inquiries like “where is the closest Toyota dealership?” or “Is the Toyota Corolla better than a Honda Civic?”
By knowing this, you can start creating blogs, adjusting your vehicle detail pages or other content related to your leads questions. This will help in increasing your traffic, which then increases your search engine rankings and eventually leading to an increase in conversions because you are giving online visitors what they are asking for.
Test Multiple Step Forms There are many different types of ways to gather your website visitors information. And the only way to know which works best for your dealership is by testing to see which yields better results.
Previously we discussed narrowing down your form to include only the necessary fields. Now, we are telling you to test out a different type of form. Same rules apply - we are keeping it as simple as possible, but we are presenting it in a different method.
This other type of form we are referring to is called a Multiple Step Form.
Below is a good example. First they ask you for your email address.
Then ask for a ZIP or postal code.
Then they ask for the users favorite types of deals. (In Groupon’s case, this is smart because they need to cater their emails to people depending on the types of deals they are interested in).
By displaying the number of steps involved in the form, you are being transparent with your user to show them how many steps are remaining.
By separating the form into steps, from the users point of view - they see it as only a little bit of work to do because a user only sees one single step at a time. Once they start filling it in and moving to the next step, they figure they might as well just complete the form instead of leaving it undone.
However, it is vital to test and keep testing until you find the most favorable number of steps for each form and the number of fields within each step.
With testing, this is how you will learn what works best with your audience.
Try Using A Heat Map Heat maps are a great method to utilize on your website and landing pages to see where people’s eyes are moving when they land on the site. This will help you in modifying your website based on where visitors are eyes are moving and what they are attracted to. You might be shocked to find the result that no one is looking at that button you spent so much time optimizing. With all this data, you can test different layouts and designs to maximize conversions.
Line up Calls-To-Action with Incoming Keywords Conversion rate optimization is easier when you are bringing the right people to your site. The first step towards bringing the right people is targeting the right keywords. For example, if people are searching for the “conversion rate for money” and they land on a page about “conversion rate optimization”, that user will get annoyed.
To avoid this, make sure you are using proper keywords within your content that will help Google and other search engines.
There is a free tool that Google gives, called Google Keyword Tool and with the help of it you can type the keyword(s) you are trying to optimize for on your website. With this free tool, Google will show you related terms that people are searching for online.
By setting up the right keywords on every page of your website, you ensure that the effort you are putting into optimizing your website once visitors land there does not go to waste.
Test Several Ways to Build Trust Among Customers People take their privacy very seriously. If you are asking customers to share their contact information or other private details, they want to know and make sure it won’t be used for anything else other than what you have promised. This is the reason why you need to test multiple ways to build trust because there is no guarantee of what will actually work. For example, adding, “100% privacy – we will never spam you” resulted in 18.7% fewer signups than not including that text in a signup form at all. Different sites use different methods based on what they have found to work best.
Discover the Relationships between Micro And Macro Conversions You need to test the end result and return of both micro and macro conversions.
This allows you to identify which calls to action result in greater engagement over time.
The main goal or conversion on a website is called a “macro goal” or “macro conversion.” This could be a visitor making a specific vehicle inquiry through a lead generation form, booking an appointment for a test drive or selecting vehicles to their wishlist. It is all about your most important business goal.
The secondary goals of a website are called “micro goals.” Think about a visitor downloading a brochure or eBook, watching a video on your dealership website, or asking for more information on the new brands and vehicles. Most often, there is a direct relationship between your micro goals and your macro goals.
But it is also vital to differentiate between the two. Getting the two mixed up can be dangerous, so bear in mind to identify the relationship between the two and never lose sight of the actual macro conversions.
Utilize Test Groups Try user research groups to test your website to see its true effectiveness. You can try and do this with real people like asking friends, family, acquaintances or even your past loyal customers.
Another method is using free online tools such as fivesectiontest.com or usabilla.com. THere are also paid online focus group tools such as usertesting.com and even a session replay software called Clicktale or Tealeaf that you can try.
Sometimes user testing is the easiest way to get in your visitors’ head and find prospective customer pain points so you can make the necessary adjustments that you may not have even thought of.
Do not Put Lengthy Information in Your Headlines A little bit of mystery in no way hurt anyone. In fact, it can add interest and intrigue.
The same can be said about your headlines. Saying too much, too soon can be a bad move.
Use mystery and intrigue while writing headlines because it can pull people in and make them interested in what you have to offer.
Begin a Conversation With Your Visitors and Customers It may sound obvious, but why not ask your customers and prospects for feedback? While they may not be able to provide the level of specificity that an expert might offer, they do have a good opinion on your company and your industry. If you approach customers in the proper way, they can often help you identify areas of your website that need improvement or clarification. There are countless customer survey tools available, but make sure you have something in place to gather visitors’ opinions. If you can’t send out a survey, at least remember to make your contact information visible enough on your site so a visitor will be able to easily contact you.
Providing a Search Functionality on the Website Providing a search function that searches your web pages is a design strategy that offers users a way to find content or in your case to find the vehicle they are looking for.
Search functionality on your website is often a last-ditch attempt that prospects and clients use to find what they want. If you have a large site with a lot of pages or a large vehicle inventory, a search feature can help visitors find what they are looking for.
Use Testimonials on Your Website Most users are not going to automatically trust your website. You have to create trust. Adding testimonials is probably one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve your website.
A solid testimonial can generate more selling power than some of the best sales. Testimonials show users what other happy customer have to say about you.
Here are features of effective testimonials: â—?
Show pictures of the actual person. No stock photos.
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Feature the name of the person and two or three details about them, such as their position, company, location, etc. These are real people with real lives.
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Use testimonials of people that are in your target audience. Your testimonials should not all be of famous people. A compelling testimonial comes from someone who is just like a potential normal customer.
Font size Matters Try reading the text in the box given below. Which block of text is easier to read — the one on the left, or the one on the right? Incorporating small text on a web page is so unpleasant that it alone may cause a user to click off, especially if the user is older or is visually impaired.
Avoid small fonts for body text and navigation on your website.
Use Font Contrast to your Advantage When used in the right way, display fonts can make a big difference in creating a great looking and highly converting website design.
Contrast is achieved by the use of space and color. Additionally, a text shadow property lifts the headline off the page and dominates the visual hierarchy.
Dark text on a pale background is favorable for blogs and books because it provides the viewer a better reading experience for longer blocks of text. Colored type should be reserved for headlines and display text.
For body text, especially when it is too long or technical in nature, having the proper contrast is crucial. And, as the graphic below illustrates, dark text on a light background is much easier to read than the opposite.
Pay Attention to Line Height and Paragraph Spacing Similar to font size, the spacing between each line of text can have a big impact on how easy your content is to read. Learn to use letter and word spacing, text alignment, and line height in the right way.
Long paragraphs are visually frightening and discourage reading. A good method will be to limit paragraphs to five lines or fewer.
If a compromise is needed, start with shorter paragraphs that hit the high points, and place longer, more complex paragraphs below.
Quality of the Content Matters Creating high quality content should be on the top of your list because that is the only thing that you can do to hook viewers and please Google at the same time.
By producing quality content, you are expected to come up with something absolutely unique, valuable and interesting. To rank amongst the high quality pages and get rewarded by Google with a lot of organic traffic, focus on consistently posting relevant content that sparks interest amongst potential customers.
Interact With Customers Using Social Media Everyone knows that social media has become the wave of the future (and if you didn’t know that, you may want to get yourself out under that rock).
There have been many studies conducted, all showing different methods but all coming to the same conclusion - consumers are using social media. People are using social media for all different kinds of things, keeping in touch, reading business reviews, product comparisons and more.
But when it comes to the auto industry, it would be very important to know that car buyers are also turning to social media for advice before buying a car.
According to a 2012 report by Dealer.com (“The Rise of Loyalty, Advocacy and Influence�), 27% of car shoppers who use Facebook have used or will use it as a resource while shopping for their new vehicle.
And out of those who use social media, 58% of purchasers posted a comment or status update on Facebook about their new vehicle.
So how can we use this knowledge to our advantage? By being active on social media. Its one thing to create a Facebook page and gather a bunch of Likes, but it’s another to consistently post on and provide valuable content and information to your followers and friends.
A dealership may have thousands of likes, but if you are not posting content that interests customers, or if you do not post often enough, the level of engagement will drastically drop.
Try to post reviews of new cars in the market, dealership events, promotions of vehicles, car-care tips etc. The advantage of doing this is that it allows dealers to recognize when a customer has a problem, and to address the issue, either on Facebook or privately with that customer.
When other customers see how a problem has been addressed by your dealership, in a timely and professional manner, it speaks volumes about the level of service they can expect when doing business with that dealer. Dealerships that fail to engage customers run the risk of becoming irrelevant or ignored.
Designing Multi-Device Experiences Responsive design refers to a website that has been designed to be viewed across multiple devices and adapts to each size screen. With the growing significance of mobile, dealers are expressing a lot more interest in their mobile sites.
More and more car buyers are searching on their mobile devices so the last thing you want to do is lead a website visitor off your website because it doesn’t load properly on their phone or other device.
If you want your dealership to remain relevant to your audience today, it is very important that your website is mobile compatible and offers a good user experience.
Dealers should be focused on site speed and flexibility to deliver relevant mobile content and calls-toaction quickly and efficiently.
Consider Implementing a Loyalty Program A good way to retain customers and to keep your dealership top of mind is through some type of loyalty program.
You can reward customers with points in exchange for reviews, purchases, ratings or other actions that can help contribute to your website or dealership.
These points could be redeemed in exchange for oil changes, vehicle services or exclusive discounts.
Engaging with your customers on a level other than conducting that initial sale can be crucial for building a long-term relationship. Customer engagement could mean gaining a referral (which we all know is the best type of marketing).
Your loyalty program will help your dealership by transforming ordinary customers to card-carrying members (you do not literally need to create cards - just a figure of speech) that will positively influence customers to come back and/or give you a review or reference for your dealership.
Customers who have joined your rewards program will visit your service department more frequently than those who have not. And because they come back with a higher frequently they end up spending more. On a year basis a member will outspend a non-member by 35-45%.
Not to mention that customers who service their vehicles regularly at your dealership will have a better reason to purchase from you for their next vehicle. That likelihood is only increased when there is a member benefit or reward enticing the customer to do so. Your loyalty club members will make a secondary vehicle purchase at a rate that is four times higher than non-members.
There are proven psychological correlations between offering rewards and predictive customer behavior. Reward the purchase behavior you want to encourage at your dealership.
Dealers using this strategy to reach out and retain customers report that many of these customers go out of their way to thank the dealership for being proactive.
How to Use Pictures of People to Your Benefit It is very important to know how to use images properly to your benefit and not to your detriment.
Unfortunately, images have the power to work against you if not displayed properly.
How you ask?
It is common nature for people to look or concentrate on an image, especially when it has someone’s face on it. And sometimes this means that users miss your marketing message altogether.
Take a look at the eye-tracking image below.
Notice how the red area indicates that most of the visitor’s eye focus is given to the baby’s face and less attention is given to the actual text written to the right of the baby.
That is a real problem.
Now look at the image below using the same baby and the same copywriting. Here you will notice that this time, the attention is not only given to the baby but also to the line of sight in which the baby is looking. This is an example of how to use people effectively. People are not only naturally drawn to people’s faces; they are also extremely curious to see what other people are looking at. Use this information to your advantage. If you put your marketing message right in someone’s ‘line of sight’, they will be automatically drawn to it — and compelled to read it.
Place the form above the fold. Try to place the forms in your website above the fold where it is easily visible to everyone. It has been reported that the best converting spot lies in the upper right hand corner of the page, as people tend to look over there first. The rule of thumb is to make the form visible at first glance without scrolling.
Use smart CAPTCHA, or no CAPTCHA at all. These days there are a lot of spammers online that are submitting inquiries on online forms. In order to avoid this, you can add what’s called a CAPTCHA.
By installing a CAPTCHA, you are basically asking your lead the question, “are you a human?”
In some cases, CAPTCHAs can lead to a negative experience on your website. They frustrate users, damage conversion rates, and they are not particularly friendly to visually impaired users.
In order to make it as easy as possible and if you feel it is necessary to include a CAPTCHA, it would be best if you could include a very simple CAPTCHA form to avoid this negativity.
There are many different types of CAPTCHAs, so choose wisely.
And from there we have now moved to this:
Word Choice Matters Do not use the word ‘submit’ when you want someone to submit a form. Studies show that “click here” and “go” buttons score nearly 30% and 25% better, respectively.
Instead of using bland old “Submit”, try replacing it with “Submit Application” or “Register” with “Register Now.” You will get a whole lot more conversion love—up to two times more. Always try to understand about what action the form is asking from your visitor. Try including a little note below the button that states what will happen next, such as: After submitting this form, you will be taken to a page where your payment will be processed securely online. You will also have a chance to review your order once more before its final. This helps you avoid any disconnect between when the person submits the form, and what they see next.
Failing to Use Natural Language Forms have evolved a lot from standard grey buttons and text fields. They now more naturally blend with the site design and have interactive prompts. Search Engine Land carried an article stating that using natural language in a form could increase conversion rates by 25-40%.
Leverage CRM Data Optimizations take on new meaning (and better conversion) when you can target individuals based on CRM data. Consider segmentation based on customer groups or behavior such as lifetime value, customer tenure, likelihood to recommend or purchase history. Managing customer relationships is one of the keys to success in the auto industry.
Most customers purchase a vehicle every few years and that purchase is a significant portion of their budget, so customers are more cautious, do more research, and communicate differently with a dealership than other businesses. Luckily, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology has replaced the index cards of a few decades ago. The first CRM systems were just contact management systems to help dealers keep track of their customers. Now, CRM systems have evolved to handle the influx of new online technologies, big data, and communication channels that are essential to the survival of a twenty-first century auto dealership. Modern CRM systems touch every aspect of the dealership, from scheduling and social media to measuring the success of marketing campaigns and tracking leads. If you have this information available to you through your CRM, use it to your advantage and leverage it to target your customers and leads.
Failing to Track your Changes Try to test, measure and evaluate the manner in which changes affect your rate of conversion. Track how every form of change you make affects the page and entire site through using analytics. For instance, increasing the size of vehicle images may lead to loss of traffic due to longer loading time. What you get to lose in sheer traffic terms here, you gain also in conversions. You should use a simple Excel spreadsheet to help in identifying the 'testing chain' changes which resulted in overall conversion rate improvement.
Offer Product Comparisons Allow your customers to verify that they are making the right purchase by providing a comparison of vehicles to give your customers more information. According to a study conducted by McAfee, 37% of customers leave their shopping cart because they wanted to comparison shop. In your case, you won’t have an online shopping cart, but you are nudging your website visitors along the sales pipeline by giving them yet another reason to stay on your site. Allow direct feature comparisons of various models of cars and vehicles side by side, and also offer clear price comparisons. This gives customers nearly everything they need to make an informed decision, and it also helps reinforce their goals of going ahead and buying a vehicle. They are more likely to go through with a purchase if they are sure the product they have selected offers the best possible features and value.
Always Mark Optional Form Fields Not Required Ones Sometimes people do not want to share their personal details. Making every field required in your form may result in a decrease in your conversion rate. Better to keep it optional and let it be the user’s choice. By marking the optional fields, this form is easy for users to fill out. To improve user experience, try to avoid marking the required fields and only mark the optional fields. This is because users usually come to forms already expecting to fill everything out.
Conversion From Every Page Rather than showing your contact form on one particular page only, why not try to incorporate the form on every single page of your website. It increases the chances of interaction and gives your user the chance to get in touch with you no matter where they are on the website. A good place may be in your footer or as a tab on the side of your website to be accessible on every page.
Clearly Identify the Features of Each Vehicle One of the main reasons why website visitors land on your website is to browse through your vehicle inventory online. Customers want as much detail as possible about the potential vehicle they will be purchasing because to many, this is a large, long-term investment, so they need to make sure they are making the right choice. So it becomes your job to provide that detail and as much information as you can to your visitors. Don’t hold back when it comes to listing the vehicle features online. The more useful features you can list, the better it is for your website leads.
Include Subscriber or Social Media Follower Counts Displaying the number of social media friends and followers you have on your website can also help in conversions. Just like testimonials, this gives website visitors additional proof that your dealership is trustworthy.
Use a Chat Tool These days, almost every site you go to has some type of chat or support feature. Many people like this feature in case they do come across a question they want to ask you but don’t feel like picking up the phone. The live chat can help answer questions and alleviate any concerns potential customers may have. Integrating an online chat could help you start communicating with your potential customers early on in the sales cycle.
Create Urgency Creating a sense of urgency or shortage is an effective approach that can be implemented into your landing page. For example, “Limited Time Offer” forces visitors to take action quickly. For instance, if your call-to-action includes a free eBook or webinar in exchange for signing up for your email list, you can create a sense of urgency by saying that only the first 50 people to sign up will be given access to the free eBook. This provokes the visitor to act quickly and take your intended action. We have seen many dealerships make the mistake of using the “expires at the end of this month” tactic to create a sense of urgency. Unfortunately, it is hard to sell with urgency in the first part of the month when incentives are valid through the end of the month. Basically all you have done is told your customer that they can shop around for the best deal because they have all month to make a decision. If you are going to create urgency for selling cars you need to do it properly.
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