We’re all subconsciously wired to seek to be a part of a group. If you have a sizable following, whether it be on social media or a general customer base, show it off. Knowing that there is a large group of people with whom your users share common goals and interests can add reassurance to their decision-making process. Publish your social media follower counts or even individual post “likes” and shares to your page — but be mindful that a lack of followers could also have the opposite effect! If you’re still building your social media following, try simply utilizing supportive calls to action. Think along the lines of McDonald’s “Billions and billions served”.
Address fears, doubts and uncertainties
Find out what fears, doubts and uncertainties your users have and address them. Consider what you’re asking of your users. What risks do your customers face by interacting with or making a purchase from your site? Does the reward outweigh the risks? Depending on your scenario, it could be as simple as adding things like an SSL security certificate, trust emblems, testimonials, or offering some kind of guarantee. You may also consider addressing any specific concerns directly through strategic page copy. If you need more insight into your users’ thought processes, there are a number of tools and usability testing software and services available, such as UserTesting.com, which offers some quick, free user testing services.
Provide sufficient information
About 50% of purchases are not completed due to lack of information. There’s a reason why wildly successful online merchants like Zappos dedicate a huge amount of time to photographing every product from every imaginable angle, and even shooting video of their products. Ever gone to a brick and mortar store to check out a product before making the purchase online? We like to be able to see the item, hold it, flip it around, read the box, maybe talk to a salesperson about it or even try it out before we’re sold. We like to see and know exactly what we’re getting. And the product’s monetary value usually plays a role in how much information we require. How big is the potential loss if the product doesn’t work out? The bigger the risk, the more research you can bet will be done before a decision is made.
Show some evidence to back up claims
Anyone can make a claim about themselves, their product or their business. But why should users believe your claim? Provide users with some kind of evidence, preferably from authoritative third parties. Your product is “the best”, but according to who? You? According to your customers? And what’s so great about it? Testimonials, ratings and other types of social confirmation are great ways to support your claims and have often been shown to be even more influential to customers than saving money.
Make contact and other identifying information easy to find
Don’t be too anonymous. Not publishing things like names, photos, phone numbers or physical addresses makes it seems like you’re trying to hide something. You wouldn’t trust just any old stranger off the street, so don’t expect your visitors to trust one either. Make contact and other identifying information easy to find. Include it in areas of the page where it’s most commonly found, such as header and/or footer areas to reduce user anxiety.
Use testimonials or reviews to boost credibility
User anxiety is one of the biggest conversion killers. Displaying customer testimonials or reviews is a great way to help eliminate some of the uncertainty and boost your credibility. People trust customer reviews 11 times more than they trust descriptions written by manufacturers! The more detailed they are, the better. Don’t just use generic responses. Specific statements are much more believable. So, if your conversion rate increased by 43.78%, don’t just say that it increased by “over 40%”…say that it increased 43.78%! And don’t neglect to reveal some specific details about the person doing the review as well. Including things like the person’s name, city, and even a photo can help to create a more personal connection with your potential customer.
Reiterate your ad copy or call to action
If you’re running ads on any kind of external site like Google, Bing, Facebook, etc., be sure to reiterate your ad copy on your landing page. If your ad reads, “Enter now to win a free iPad”, then “Enter now to win a free iPad” should be the first thing users see when they arrive at your landing page. People in the conversion rate optimization world sometimes refer to this as maintaining a good “scent” from the ad or incentive to the goal. You want your visitors to know immediately that they’re in the right place, so the less disconnect between the two touch-points, the better.
Use action verbs that convey value to your users
The implications behind certain action verbs can often affect users’ willingness to follow through. Pay special attention to what your buttons and calls to action might suggest. A phrase like “order now” could imply to some users that they will have to wait to get whatever it is that they’re looking for. Others, like “apply now” or “join now”, could suggest that something might be required of the user in order to be a part of whatever the group is that they’re joining. Rather than focusing on what the group’s requirements are of the user to join, focus on what the user requires of the group. How will they benefit? Try using gain-focused words (ex: get, view, enjoy, discover, see, play) over effort-focused (ex: submit, start, activate, learn, pay, go). If the user is interested in a free download that you’re offering in return for them joining your email list, instead of “Join now” (what you want them to do), maybe your button reads “Get my free download”.
Use positive reinforcement in your calls to action or button text
It rarely ever hurts to remind your users what’s in it for them. Form buttons are often the tipping point between your customers deciding to follow through with the process or turning around and bouncing. Your button text should positively reinforce the user’s behavior of completing the form by reminding them, “If you do action (A), you’ll get (B) in return”. Try using specific language in your button copy that reiterates whatever it is they are expecting in return. Example: “Get (B) now”.
Write a strong value proposition
One of the most important pieces of content you should write is a value proposition. A value proposition is part of your business strategy. It answers the question of, why should anyone choose you over your competition? Value propositions can apply to your business or organization as a whole, or be specific to a product or product line. How will customers benefit from choosing you or your product over a competitor’s? Is it cheaper? More reliable? What is it that makes it unique? And it always helps to support your claims by providing some kind of proof. An example of proof could be customer testimonials or some other kind of evidence that can support your claims. Your value proposition should be one of the first things, if not the first thing a user sees when they visit your website or landing page. It should answer questions like, what is it, who is it for and how is it useful? You’ll only have a matter of seconds to prove a point, so it should be short and easy to understand. Make sure users can immediately identify what results they can expect and how your offer differs from the competitors’. It’s often the determining factor as to whether a user will continue reading or go straight for the “back” button.