Converting Web Traffic into Sales

So, you can have alot of people going though your website, but turning those people, those potential customers into actual paying customers isn't as simple as having a product and displaying it.
You have to make your website work for you, which is something that i have been working on for a while now...
Thought i would make a thread where people could post there ideas and talk about what helps and whats wrong with sites that they have seen or that they own themselves.

 

Well, it is an axiom of solution selling that people buy benefits, not features. Of course, features are the "proof in the pudding" in making the case for said benefits.

I do see a lot of sites that only showcase features and do not discuss the benefits. I also have seen sites that sell the benefits, but do not back up the claims with the features that cause the benefits.

Let me use an example to illustrate:

Life Insurance

Benefit: Peace of Mind at a Reasonable Cost. (The prospect buying life insurance is really trying to buy peace of mind in knowing that his or her beneficiaries will have enough funds to survive once the prospect is gone. Getting it at a reasonable price enhances the benefit, of course.)

Feature: Full Life Coverage for $XXX Program. (This explains why the prospect will actually get the benefit and enhances the credibility of your Benefit claims.)

Websites that employ this 40,000-foot rule, generally should do better than ones that do not. Note that there are all kinds of benefits and features and how they are presented is very important and can vary quite a bit in any selling medium, but having the "benefit proved by feature" structure right from the beginning is the only way to go.

 

Basically conversion depends on the quality of content and how convincing the info are on the site. Also, if the if the site has a live rep to assist the visitors, his knowledge on the site's offerings and the way he handles the conversation may boost the conversion rate.

 

Thanks for the feedback, though I do know the basic principles. I don't think i have seen it written so eloquently jrbiz. It has honestly made me look and think about the structure of my site and whether it needs to be altered to show people exactly what our "benefits" and "features" are and why they should choose my site and not someone else’s. The structure of my website has already been altered from the original setup that i once had... From the home page i find you need to show people small parts of your sites through 'comments' then give them a link to find our more directing them further into the website showing them more features, deals and the prices of services.
Feel free to go to my page and maybe give me pointers.
Thanks again guys

 

Try giving quality samples (freebies) as teasers with the rest of the information after the visitor gives you their email address and becomes part of your list.

 

How about popads? you can get real conversions and it wouldn't be a problem for you.

 

One of the biggest factors is funneling and then conversion optimizing. You have to lead in traffic and make sure they remain engaged with what you are providing them.

 

From business to business each website has it's own CTA (Call-to-Action) which makes the traffic to convert. One thing leads to another and what's more important is to keep your traffic inside but to make that give you the final click. People often confuse the conversion with traffic and they think that if they have traffic they should have sales too. Wrong. Each business needs to have it's own specific and well structured design in order to make the client to give the final click. No matter what, headlines, context, content and forms are very important to keep focus the visitor and make him to convert.

 

Testimonials are always a great addition to help in the sales of your product or service. Testimonials should be specific and talk about they benefits they gained instead of just being like this is awesome!! Focusing on the benefits in general is always a positive way to go -- details only grab so much attention -- You need to solve problems

 

The best way to capture the lead when sending paid traffic is to have an optin form to get their name and email (and other information if needed). Make sure that you can speak their emotional language. Know their demographics, concerns, goals and desires.

You can even do some pre-selling with a landing page. Always good to test.

Afterwards the sales are made through email follow ups. Most of the money will be made in the back end. Highlights the benefits of your product and relate to your customer.

Making sure you have a good converting sales page is also vital to conversions.