Top 8 Conversion Killers for Websites

Converting a visitor into a paying customer takes a lot of work! You’ll need to attract them to your website, and then nurture them through the sales process. Of course, you’ll want to avoid making these 8 “conversion-killing” mistakes.

1) Irrelevancy Between Search Keyword and Content

Relevancy between the keyword that a visitor searches for and the content on your website plays a direct role in conversions. If a visitor searches for “wedding rings,” only to discover your website sells men’s clothing, it’s doubtful they are going to make a purchase.

So when developing your website, make sure there’s strong relevancy between your target keywords and content. It’s not a bad idea to reevaluate your keyword strategy every so often, checking to see which keywords your site is ranking for and how they relate to the on-page content.

2) Be Mobile-Unfriendly

Is your website compatible with smart phones and tablets? Mobile compatibility is something webmasters and Internet marketers can no longer afford to overlook.

With users accessing the Internet on mobile devices, turning a blind eye to this element could prove disastrous for your conversions. There are several different configurations available for creating a mobile-friendly website.

You can use a separate mobile domain (e.g. mobile.yoursite.com), dynamically serving HTML based on user agent or a Responsive Web Design (Google’s recommended configuration).

3) Have Too Many Call-to-Actions

Call-to-Actions (CTA) are an essential component of an online sales page. As the name suggests, they are designed to entice visitors into taking action.

Whether it’s to purchase a product or service or simply to sign up for an email newsletter, you want to tell the visitor how to facilitate the conversion process. However, you should refrain from using too many CTAs, as this may have an adverse impact by confusing visitors.

So, how many CTAs is too many? It depends on the niche and objective, although some professional marketers would argue a single CTA is best. Keeping things simple by using just one CTA eliminates confusion while showing visitors exactly what they need to do.

If you are going to use multiple CTAs, split-test two or more versions of your webpage to see what works best. After all, there’s no better way to tell if a new format works than by testing it for yourself.

4) Use Stock Photos

The allure of purchasing professional stock photos to use on your website for just $1 or $2 bucks a piece may seem enticing, but it could backfire by hurting your site’s conversions. Stock photos tend to look cheesy and generic, which may discourage visitors from taking action.

So instead of using them, try taking your photos. Even if they look somewhat amateurish, or unprofessional, it will create greater transparency with your site’s visitors; thus, making them feel more comfortable taking action on your site.

5) Be Untrustworthy

You can’t expect visitors to submit their sensitive financial data into your website’s sales form unless you first gain trust. So, how do you gain a visitor’s trust and convince them you are the real deal? The answer is simple: include trust signals on your website.

Some of the different trust signals may include a Better Business Bureau (BBB) logo, Verisign logo, testimonials, customer reviews, etc. Place these trust signals in a highly visible area where everyone can see them.

If you’re going to use official logos like the BBB, make sure you meet the necessary criteria, as many of the organizations behind them have strict standards regarding the use of their logos and signs. Be sure to check out my previous post on the top 5 trust signals to include on your website.

6) Experience Server Downtime

Some elements are simply out of your control when running a website, one of which is server downtime. If the server that hosts your website goes down, visitors won’t be able to access your site, let alone purchase your product or service.

This situation is why it’s critical you select a reliable, reputable web host that’s backed by a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Also, set up networking monitoring alerts to notify you when your server goes offline.

Assuming you have a paid advertising campaign up and running, you can temporarily pause your campaign until the server is back online. This set up can save you big bucks since you won’t be sending paid traffic to a dead webpage.

7) Use Image Sliders

Some webmasters use image sliders on their websites thinking it’s a beneficial way to showcase more images in less space. However, studies have shown image sliders tend to have a negative impact on user engagement.

According to one study conducted by UnBounce, 1.96% of a website’s visitors clicked on the CTA when presented with an image slider, whereas 43.03% of visitors clicked on the CTA when presented with a traditional, static image.

That’s a whopping 2095% increase in conversions!  The bottom line is you should skip the image sliders to reap the benefits of more conversions and greater user satisfaction.

8) Have Broken Links

Of course, sometimes the biggest conversion killers are the simple ones, such as broken links. If you accidentally include the wrong URL in your website’s CTA, for instance, it may send visitors to a 404 error page instead of the intended sales page.

Before making your website live, check the links to ensure they are functioning. If your website has dozens or even hundreds of links, you may want to use a third-party tool like www.brokenlinkcheck.com/.

Have anything else you would like to add? Let us know in the comments section below!