When potential customers land on your website, you want them to be inspired to convert. But, sometimes, that might be tricky to accomplish.
First-time web visitors often won’t convert for many reasons. For instance, they may not be familiar enough with your brand or might be considering other options. In fact, according to SWEOR, it takes first-time website visitors 50 milliseconds to form an opinion of your website. This means you have less than one second to capture their attention and persuade them to take the next steps with your company.
With such a short window of opportunity, you’ll need to be smart about your approach. Let’s look at five strategies you can use to convert first-time website visitors into loyal customers.
Photo by Carlos Muza on Unsplash
1. Reach out to prospective customers who were close to converting
Sometimes, visitors will get close to converting and quickly change their minds on their initial visit. For example, they might sign up to get a discount code but not use it, or they may fill their cart but abandon it right before making a purchase.
These will be hot leads that you may wish to target with some strategic marketing to push them towards a purchase. You can do this with a reminder or even a special incentive. There are different ways you can do this, such as with:
- Abandoned cart follow-up messages: Remind visitors to complete their order with abandoned cart recovery messages. Emotive is an excellent platform for this because they offer SMS reminders that typically have a 99 percent open rate, which is stellar compared to the 20 percent open rate on reminder emails. This service also allows you to track abandoned cart performance, giving you critical insights into consumer behavior and how to adjust your marketing approach.
- Emails offering a first purchase discount: Sometimes, customers just need a little incentive, and offering a discount for their first purchase could be enough to get them to complete the transaction. Send them an email with a discount on their initial purchase. This is an excellent motivator for first-time visitors who were on the fence about buying from your site.
- Ad retargeting: Pushing out targeted ads to customers who left your website without converting is a great way to remind them what they are missing out on. This is a great way to engage past customers who visited your site but did not complete the purchase to drive more revenue.
You need to time your approach right to get the best results from these strategies. You’ll want to remind customers about your products or services within 48 hours to ensure they are still in the buying mood. All of these are great ways to reach out to prospective customers who were close to purchasing from your site and turning first-time visitors into paying customers.
2. Make it incredibly easy for them to convert
Convenience and clarity are two huge factors when it comes to converting. You must provide a great customer experience that makes converting super simple. Otherwise, you risk losing out on first-time visitors. You can use strong call to action (CTA) buttons on all of your pages to drive traffic through your sales process, and you can also use easy-to-use and straightforward forms at the bottom of pages to capture your visitor information.
For inspiration, let’s look at a company that uses this tactic to turn first-time visitors into customers.
Bizango, a web design firm, has a minimalist homepage design that provides all the essential information above the fold, so their visitors understand what they do and the benefits of their services without reading a lot of content. They also have a simple form at the bottom of the homepage that only provides fields for essential information, so their visitors are more likely to reach out to the brand for help. Try to keep your contact forms simple and limit the fields to eight or fewer, as this will reduce the risk of your audience clicking away without taking the next step.
You can use the same strategy on your website to turn first-time visitors into customers by making it easy for them to engage with you. Forms like this can help visitors to contact your customer representatives with minimal effort and help you close more sales!
3. Provide social proof that will earn their trust
Many first-time visitors to your website won’t convert because they aren’t sure whether or not they can trust you. So, you need to take steps to prove that you run a credible brand.
Social proof offers an excellent way to help combat any doubts your audience may be having because it shows new users that real people have tried and enjoyed your products and services. There are many different forms of social proof you can incorporate into your web design, including:
- Reviews and testimonials that can help potential customers see the value of your products or services based on the thoughts of past clients.
- Media mentions from established and reputable sources that show potential customers that you are known and trusted in your industry.
- Awards that show potential customers you have the training and knowledge needed to provide a great product or service.
Display your social proof on pages where visitors will quickly notice it, like your homepage or product pages. You could even create a dedicated reviews page to showcase your collection of top testimonials. Additionally, you can display star ratings beneath product listings to help new visitors quickly identify your most popular items.
4. Help customers to find exactly what they’re looking for
If you can help people new to your website find what they’re looking for quickly and easily, they will be more likely to buy from you.
Make it simple for new users to find the products and services they need by taking steps to streamline your website with an intuitive navigation menu that lays out precisely what you offer. If you stock lots of different items, you can also add a filter system that your audience will easily understand how to use to find what they need.
Let’s look at a company that uses effective filters to help first-time visitors convert on their website.
DontPayFull, an online coupon-finding website, helps their audience find the information they need with a quick and easy-to-use filter system.
This filter helps first-time visitors find the exact coupon and discount they need, instead of requiring them to read through lots of content or click on multiple pages. This is likely to establish the site as a trusted source of information and, because they provide such a convenient customer experience, they’re likely to attract loyal clients that will recommend their services.
You can use the same technique by adding a filtering system to your website, so visitors can input specific information to drive them to the right products or services. Try to add as few fields as possible to ensure customers fill out the form, and this could really help first-time visitors turn into customers because they will find the correct information or items they require without too much effort.
5. Provide the answers to questions customers might have
When customers shop with you for the first time, they may have questions about your products or services. You’ll need to ensure they can get the answers quickly and easily, or you may lose out on a sale.
Offer the answers to common questions before new clients even have to ask them. There are several ways you can do this. For example, you could:
- Display your contact details prominently so they can get in touch with you right away.
- Create a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page to answer common queries. Be sure to check with your sales representatives and customer service team to see what questions are often asked so you can help first-time visitors find the information they need.
- Place a chatbot on your site so customers can talk with your sales team when they have quick questions. This can help them find the answers they need and drive more sales without requiring customers to call or email you.
First-time visitors to your site are looking for products and services to address their needs, and you can provide answers to their questions to help drive them to convert with you. Be sure to try out some of the tips above to provide information that is sure to secure more paying customers for your business!
Summary
Ensure your website offers everything first-time visitors need to get a positive first impression of your business, so they’re more inclined to move forward in their shopping journey with you. Before long, you’ll see a spike in your conversion rate and an increase in revenue as new users become valued customers.
