ROCKS DIGITAL  BLOG

Lissa Duty

Take Your Website from Ew to Ah: An Effective Website that Converts

Take your website from ew to ah: an effective website that convertsWhat does your website say about you and your brand? How can you know for sure you have an effective website that converts? You can’t know 100%! However, you can make sure your website integrates the most important elements to increase the odds of a conversion.

In social media, I tell clients “I can drive traffic to your website all day long, but I can’t make them drink.” What I mean here is that I can get prospective clients to click links that take them to a page on your website marketing a particular product or services, but I can not make them take action and purchase from you.

Think of your website as the gateway and social media as the pipeline.

16 Elements of an Effective Website that Converts

Website Design

  • Easy on the eyes – A clean website that isn’t overcrowded to the point that the customer doesn’t know what you want them to do and where you want them to click. Use colors and design that draws in the eye instead of diverts.
  • Intuitive navigation – Ensure the navigation menu is organized and your customer can easily find and click what they are looking for on your website. (Don’t get so creative that they don’t know where or what to click.)
  • Take the visitor on a tour – Your website content should link to other places on the site for more information and resources. Ideally you would have a minimum of one link, two if possible to other pages or posts on the website on each page. (Search engines like links in your content going out to other websites. Make sure the links going off your website opens in a new window.)
  • Call to actions – Integration within the site content and sidebars that includes contacts us, call us, asks for a subscribe, a free download opt-in, follow on social media, etc.

Website Features

  • Email Opt-In – Include a way for your clients to join your list to email them from time to time with special offers, events, news, etc.
  • Contact Form – Form on your website so your future customer can email you quickly and easily. (Be sure to also include your email address and phone number written out, so in case they don’t want to use the form they can email you directly or call.)
  • Business Contact Information – This should include your business name, address, phone number, hours of operation, etc.
  • RSS Feed – Make sure this is setup properly and easy for the customer to subscribe to blog updates with the click of an icon. (It is recommended that you have it setup so they can subscribe to blog updates via email or RSS.)

Social Media Integration

  • Follow Icons – Ensure they are easily locatable on the website and working properly (some sites will have them mixed up and have share functionality linked to the follow icons).
  • Share Icons – Include WordPress plugins like “Share This” so the website visitors can quickly share your posts to Facebook, Twitter and even email to a friend. Also make sure to have the Like / Pin / +1 setup within the plugin.
  • Display Social Feeds – Another way to encourage your website visitor to follow you and interact with your brand on social media is to display your Facebook Page Feed, Twitterfeed and Google+ Feed in the sidebar.
  • Click to Tweet – This is a fun plugin that you can include through your website pages and posts, which when clicked will pop up Twitter with a pre-written tweet for the website visitor to share on with their Twitter followers. (Integrating plugins into your website to drive social media traffic is a win / win.)

The list of elements of an effective website could go on and on. I wanted to hit the most important items in this post.

It is important that you decide what items are important to you and make sure and include them within your website. I suggest visiting other websites of your competitors and documenting the elements they have within their websites that you like. Then get with your web designer and see what it takes to integrate them.

I can’t close out this post with out sharing some of the essential elements we make sure and include within each post and page on Rocks Digital, besides what I have listed above.

Optimized WordPress Posts and Pages

  • Each post / page title (H1) and subtitles (H2 and H3) are engaging and keyword rich
  • Posts and pages each include a unique image that fits with the content and the image name and description matches the target keyword
  • Usage of SEO Plugin (i.e. WordPress SEO by Yoast) that allows for quickly completion and displays a on-page SEO grading
  • Integration of Facebook and Google+ open graph for social sharing of pages and posts (WordPress SEO includes this functionality). This allows you to set the featured image, page title and description for each post and page that populates when someone shares the link on Facebook or Twitter.

As I mentioned above, we all have our preferences about what we like to see on a website. This list is the items I look for, recommend and focus on including in not only the Rocks Digital website, but the websites that I do social media maintenance for.

Don’t think because I didn’t mention mobile friendly or discuss creating content for your website that you should ignore them. They are both very important and needed their own unique blog post.

What is your favorite feature of a website? What would you add to my list? Each one of our businesses grows and succeeds because we help each other to learn. Let’s continue that process.

 

Learn more on this important topic at one of the largest digital marketing conferences for 2015!

Lissa Duty

Lissa Duty is Social Media Coach, Author, Speaker & Trainer. 20 years of marketing, administrative and management experience working to grow your business.

More Posts

Download Our SEO Guide

Created in a joint partnership with Advice Local, this guide — What You Need to Know About SEO — provides an introduction to SEO concepts, strategies and best practices for optimizing a website. Complete the form below and get instant access.

    ROCKING DIGITAL SERVICES

    Web Design & Development

    Your website needs to be aesthetically pleasing and functional. We build websites for desktop and mobile that are both.

    LOCAL SEARCH & SEO

    Your website needs to attract search engines and consumers. We are experts in local search and SEO, and can make that happen.

    CONTENT CREATION & MARKETING

    Anybody can write words on a page, but can they write content that integrates SEO best practices and converts? We can.

    PPC & Paid Search

    PPC & Paid Search

    Need more customers? We create paid campaigns to reach your target audience and increase sales.

    Tracking & Optimization

    You need a solid foundation for success online, and our tracking & optimization services get it done.

    Graphic Design Services

    Graphic Design Services

    From logo design to your business card, brochures – and everything in-between for print & web – we can help!

    Here’s What Our Client's Have to Say

    Their Local Business Websites Rock

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital knows how to build local business websites that convert prospects to customers. Not only do I recommend them to work on my reputation management client’s websites, but they work on the Reputation Sensei brand, too.
    - Chris Snellgrove

    They Customize Their Solutions

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital customizes to meet their client’s needs. We needed our existing website optimized for search. We are now placing for more industry keywords and continue to improve. They consult with our in-house team on content optimization, manage our GMB listing & more.
    - Greta Valenti

    Highly Recommend

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital manages not only the Association of Directory Publishers website, but our Trusted Local Directory. From helping us get our event information on the website to producing guides, blogs and new content, they have what it takes.
    - Cindi Aldrich

    Rocks Digital Is the Best Choice

    ★★★★★
    As a long-term client, when it was time to change the primary focus of my real estate business, and my website, I knew Rocks Digital was the way to go. They took my existing website, gave it a complete new look, and still managed to keep my existing content.
    - David Dorum

    Brought My Ideas to Fruition

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital came highly recommended. Once I started working with them I knew why. They took my ideas for a beautiful website and brought them to the screen. From the design phase to content creation, each component was thoughtfully considered and addressed.
    - Clay Adams

    Conversions Are on the Rise

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital manages two of my websites. They produce our blogs, our service pages and manage our paid search campaigns. Conversions are up and new patients are coming in the door. I highly recommend their digital marketing services.
    - Dr. Thomas Chacko

    Agency Services Are Top Notch

    ★★★★★
    We shifted to Rocks Digital agency services earlier in the year. We are so glad we did. Our website sessions are up, page views are up, and bounce rate is down. Now we can easily see how many form fills we have had at any given time through their real-time reporting.
    - Kristin Schafer

    Their Local Business Websites Rock

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital knows how to build local business websites that convert prospects to customers. Not only do I recommend them to work on my reputation management client’s websites, but they work on the Reputation Sensei brand, too.
    - Chris Snellgrove

    They Customize Their Solutions

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital customizes to meet their client’s needs. We needed our existing website optimized for search. We are now placing for more industry keywords and continue to improve. They consult with our in-house team on content optimization, manage our GMB listing & more.
    - Greta Valenti

    Highly Recommend

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital manages not only the Association of Directory Publishers website, but our Trusted Local Directory. From helping us get our event information on the website to producing guides, blogs and new content, they have what it takes.
    - Cindi Aldrich
    Name
    Email
    Review Title
    Rating
    Review Content

    LATEST BLOG POSTS

    Local SEO company strategies.

    What Does a Local SEO Company Do?

    Local SEO is a digital marketing strategy focused on boosting a business’ local search visibility within a particular area. With the successful implementation of proven

    Hire a digital marketing agency.

    Why Hire a Digital Marketing Agency

    Staying ahead of search engine updates and marketing trends is a constant challenge, so it’s no surprise that businesses frequently turn to digital marketing agencies.

    LOCAL VISIBILITY REPORT

    Is your Google My Business listing helping or hurting you? Is bad data causing consumers and search engines to lose trust in your business? This is information you simply must know.

    To get these answers right now, just enter your business name below to run our FREE
    visibility report.


    Need a facelift
    for your website? More search traffic? Need to blog, but don’t have time?

    Our Digital Services Could Be For You
    Get a Free Local Visibility Report Now