If you are looking at your website and wondering why it's just not working, why it's just not bringing in the leads/sales that you believe it should be, then take a look at our list of reasons for low conversion rates below.

Be brutally honest with yourself, perhaps call in help from a friend or family member that you trust to be honest with you for a second opinion, and go through each element and page on your website. If any of the following reasons ring a bell, then you will be on the first step towards correcting the reason and improving your website.

Four Common Reasons for Low Conversion Rate

Slow Loading Times

When you open up your website, does it load within 3-5 seconds? Or does it take 10, 20, 30 seconds, or more, to load in full?

Slow loading sites are one of the biggest reasons for high bounce rates on a website which ultimately means that individuals can’t even get to your website to have a chance of converting.

What is a bounce rate?
A bounce rate is the number of individuals who land on your website and then immediately leave/exit the site. Whether it's because of a slow loading site or due to the landing page being immediately not relevant to them, they 'bounce off’ your website and head back to the search results to look for another site that meets their needs.

A high bounce rate is bad.

What is considered to be a low bounce rate?
This depends on your industry. Typically it will be anywhere between 20% and 50% but can be higher in certain industries.

If you want to see confirmation of what your bounce rate is across all of your website visitors, then head to Google Analytics where it will show your bounce rate by date period and by channel.

Should your site be slow to load then look at why this may be.

  • Is it a poor website structure?
  • Is your website built on a chunky and outdated platform?
  • Are the images on your site huge?

There are a number of reasons why a site may be slow to load, but a good website developer (like us) will be able to assist.

Bad User Interface

When you land on your website’s home page, can you navigate around with ease? Can you click and move through the website menu with ease?

Can you click on what is meant to be ‘clickable’ items on your home page and inner pages with ease Can you complete forms quickly and efficiently? Are things in a logical position?

Anything that isn’t in the right place, or doesn’t function as it should do, are all signs of a bad user interface.

Fixes for a bad user interface could be…

  • A better website design
  • A clearer and friendlier menu
  • Better graphics to click on to help point users to where they want to go
  • Functional forms

Lack of Trust, Assurance, or Credibility

When someone lands on your website do they feel safe on your website? Do they feel like they can use your website and purchase from you?

If the answer is no then the reason for this will be because your website does not portray trust, it does not give them the assurance they need, and/or it does not look like a credible website.

The design of your website will be a key feature in showcasing that website visitors can trust you.

  • If your website design is outdated, then people may not perceive you as a legitimate business.
  • If it's cluttered or poorly managed (i.e. has banners up showing an offer that expired months ago, or perhaps is showing a Halloween banner in March) then individuals may not realise that you are still operational.
  • And if it doesn’t provide an easy way of getting in touch with your company/organisation then people may not receive the assurance that they need to part with their hard-earned cash. Individuals want to know that if they have a question about their order or the product/service that they have purchased that they can contact you via x, y, and z methods.

There are visual components that website users are now accustomed to seeing and believing. They can be…

  • a simple padlock icon - conversion rates go up when there is a padlock next to payment options.
  • showcasing the logos of business and payment systems that your business may use such as Trust Pilot, Sage Pay, PayPal, and Amazon Pay.
  • Legitimate testimonials from previous and current customers raving about your business, product, and or service.

If your site doesn’t have these visual components, then you should discuss this with your website developer to implement them where suitable.

Lack of Products and/or Product Information

If you are selling a product via your website it can be the lack of products or the lack of product information/descriptions for said products that can hinder your conversion rate.

The same can apply to services, if you are selling a service via your website then it can be the fact that the service the individual perceives your selling isn’t on your website or that there isn’t enough information for them to make an informed discussion about enquiring further.

The worst thing is when you do sell the product/services that the individual is looking for, but your website makes it too difficult for them to find it and so they just give up and go elsewhere.  So, check your website and make sure that everything you sell is there.

If you can’t sell a certain product online but you do sell it in your brick and mortar store then make sure that it's on your website but state on the product that it has to be purchased in person.

When it comes to the product/service page, make sure you have all the necessary information there and more.

If you were a clothing store and you were selling a bright pink dress then make sure on that product page you have the following as the absolute minimum…

  • The product name
  • The price of the product
  • Images of the product
  • Images of the product in situ
  • Sizes of the product (and a size guide if appropriate)
  • Information on material and care
  • A description of the product

On top of this, you may wish to go and step further and include….

  • Related products – either items that go with it, or alternative choices
  • Testimonials/reviews of the product
  • Videos of the dress so people can see its movement and how it can be worn
  • Highlights of any relevant offers/promos that the dress is involved in
  • Links to social media posts where the dress has been tagged

Anything that helps to present your dress to the world in the best but also the most truthful light. Breaking down that barrier between your website visitor sitting behind their computer or phone screen, and your business.

Arghh

If you are a little overwhelmed by just why your website isn’t converting as highly as you believe it should be then get in touch with the team here at Digital Nachos. We can meet up face to face or have a quick Zoom call to make it all much clearer for you.

After all, your website should be a functioning and hard-working member of your team.

Published: 6th Jul 2021

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