13 Secret Ways to Subtly Influence Conversion Rates

 

Are you doing everything you can to take advantage of the traffic your website receives each day?

Maybe you already have tried all the obvious ways to influence conversion rates. You can contrast the color of key page elements or vary the size of your call-to-action, but when you’ve exhausted the basic tricks it’s time to get creative.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is integral to succeeding in an online marketplace, no matter what product or service you are selling.

Here are a baker’s dozen of subtle changes – backed by a bit of science, no less – that are sure to improve your odds of getting what you want out of your site’s visitors.

1. Lower the Number of Form Fields

Less is more, especially when it comes to convincing people to fill in their information.

One case study showed that even as little as a single additional field to fill in can cost you conversions, in the ballpark of an 11% decrease.

When seconds are valuable and a moment’s decision makes or breaks your conversion effort, facing your visitor with as little upfront work as possible is a great start to improving your website’s odds.

But what should you do when you want more than the bare minimum from your users?

2. Use Multi-Step Forms

These fields don’t necessarily need to all disappear!

Once a guest has already made their decision to provide you with their email, it is much easier to secure a name and other necessary information in subsequent forms that are initially hidden.

This plays into a stubborn tendency of the human brain known as the “sunk cost fallacy.” We are all more likely to see a menial task through once we’ve started, even if it exceeds what we would have originally considered reasonable.

This is a powerful tool, with one case study showing as much as a 743% increase in CRO from the use of multi-step forms.

With this trick, tackle new forms and revise old ones with a new type of “divide and conquer” philosophy in mind!

3. Add Real-Time Form Validation

Nobody wants to slog backwards through a form they’ve worked to fill out, only to find that some minor error needs to be corrected.

We’ve all seen real-time for validation in action, rejecting passwords we’d easily remember in favor of ones we need to reset every time we log in.

There is something to say for real-time validation’s efficacy, though, with a 22% increase in conversion rates, and get this – a 22% decrease in errors made – in one case study.

Like many items on this list, this is easy to implement, too. Make sure all emails follow the correct format and all passwords match as soon as they’re entered, and everyone involved will appreciate the reassurance.

4. Make the Phone Field Optional

Sometimes you have to lose a little to gain a lot, and that is certainly the case when requesting your visitors’ phone numbers.

One study revealed that providing some agency to the individual filling out a form yields massive gains: making the phone field optional more than doubled conversion rates overall, while costing only 37% of phone numbers.

These are the sorts of decisions you need to make when you add a form of any kind to your site.

Maybe next time you revisit your form design strategy, consider leaving more up to those on the other end. You’ll be surprised how much they’ll appreciate the option to skip a question.

5. Remove Captchas

This article sums it up nicely: A captcha frustrates your human users in exchange for very little true protection from automated spam.

For a long time they had been standard place on the Internet, but many have opted out of including captchas in recent years, and the benefits are clear.

A 33% increase in conversion rates is nothing to scoff at, and to make it even better, you can have the benefit of a captcha at the same time you benefit from not having it.

How? Try trapping spambots with a hidden field, known as a “honeypot” captcha. This is a hidden field that goes unseen by your users, but will be filled unerringly by robotic pests, putting you back in control again when you discard their rubbish information.

6. Create Scarcity

Don’t be afraid to put some pressure on your customer and add a sense of urgency to their decision to place that order.

Sites such as eBay and Amazon do this well, harnessing a person’s desire to act in a way that keeps them in control.

There’s nothing like a “Only 4 left in stock!” or “Want your order by ___? Order within ___ hours” to get people’s attention and drive an impulse purchase home.

The web often doesn’t feel time-sensitive, but adding something as simple as a statement like this can lock a user firmly into a clock of your creation, where they run the risk of missing out – unless they do what you want them to.

7. Remove Distracting Page Elements

You’ve worked hard, and you want your users to see what you are about and what you’ve got to offer.

However, when you are trying to hone your conversion rate, all page elements that do not directly contribute to that goal can be done without.

This study shows how removing something as essential as a navigation bar was able to drive up a site’s conversion rate by over 100%.

If you want to see similar results, consider whether your landing page is being overly-diluted by these elements, and A/B test the page without them.

8. Use a Single Column Layout

Humans are simple creatures, and we like simple layouts. Utilizing a single column to hold all of your landing page’s vital content, CTA, and forms gives it a natural flow as the user scrolls down the page, all while removing all those distracting elements I just mentioned.

Don’t take my word for it, though. This study’s results speak for themselves, and a 681% increase in conversions makes this one of the most promising secrets in this post.

Definitely make the single column layout a central tenet of your design philosophy for landing pages moving forward.

9. Denote a “Most Popular” Tier

When a user has to pick between the free trial, a standard edition, and the mega-deluxe package, it is clear that slapping an eye-catching badge on a central option reels in extra conversions.

Software suites have taken advantage of this tactic for years, removing the paralysis of choice that people tend to get locked into and encouraging a “bandwagon effect” – after all, it is the most popular choice, so it can’t be that bad.

In the example above from Crazy Egg, you can see how impactful the highlight and “Most popular” denotation are in action.

You can read more about this phenomenon here, along with a few other psychological tricks for increasing the conversion power of your pricing tables.

10. Take Advantage of the “Left Digit Effect”

Using the “left digit effect” is a tactic everyone is familiar with.

That doesn’t render it any less useful, though; studies have shown time and time again that a product priced at $19.99 will always outperform one priced at $20 flat.

As negligible as a single cent is, it holds all the sway in the world when it comes to this pricing strategy.

Always follow the 99-cent rule when you are deciding what your customers will pay, and their frugal minds will drive them to spend more than they ever have before.

11. Use Content Upgrades

People like to feel as though they are getting something in return for their time invested, and more than that, they want to feel elevated above their peers.

Content upgrades are a somewhat recent trend wherein a blog post will feature a link to some form of bonus content. If you want that bonus content, all you have to do is sign up for an email newsletter.

Ironically, when the conversion is presented as a minor aside to a meaningful upgrade of some sort, it is much easier to secure – 781% easier, according to this study by Brian Dean.

Creating something unique only to keep it behind lock and key may seem counterintuitive, but it could be one of the most effective CRO tactics you ever implement.

12. Use Humor

This may seem obvious, and it is. The effect of light-hearted writing is minor, but few changes are easier to implement.

Let your hair down, loosen your tie, and laugh with your visitors, and you can enjoy a 17.9% boost to your CRO.

Not every brand needs to be linked to clinical professionalism, and you may even enjoy producing your content more without it.

13. Offer a Free Shipping Threshold

Finally, a well-known tool on Amazon’s belt, and it is a heavy-hitter in promoting sales.

High shipping costs and no way around them is one of the chief causes of abandoned shopping carts.

Setting a reasonable spending limit that must be passed to do away with those costs dramatically increases the number of sales.

This study showed a 90% increase in orders placed, and a 7.23% increase in the average value of these orders, and those are not numbers to leave untapped.

Be sure to work a free shipping threshold into your eCommerce website, because our brains are wired for it. The fact is that many customers will happily spend an extra $20 to get out of that $4 shipping and handling fee.

Wrapping Up

You made it! That was a lot of conversion rate advice in one brief post, so here is the quick list of concepts to take home:

1. Lower the Number of Form Fields
2. Use Multi-Step Forms
3. Add Real-Time Validation to Your Forms
4. Make the Phone Field Optional
5. Remove Captchas
6. Create Scarcity
7. Remove Distracting Page Elements
8. Use a Single Column Layout
9. Label One Service Tier “Most Popular”
10. Take Advantage of the “Left Digit Effect”
11. Use Content Upgrades
12. Use Humor
13. Offer a Free Shipping Threshold

So there you have it: 13 secret strategies to subtly increase conversion rates. Even better, most of these are very quick and easy to implement.

Do you have any other tips to share? Speak your mind in the comments below!

10 Compelling & Engaging About Us Page That Will Inspire You

ADRIENNE WOLTER | 16 JUN 2016

 

Your ‘About Us’ page. It is the face of your business, the explanation of who you are and what you stand for.

It is probably one of the most-trafficked pages on your entire website. And, all too often, it is neglected, outdated, and unloved.

You could have a boring corporate ‘About Us’ with a few paragraphs about your business… or you could have an ‘About Us’ that stops people in their tracks and makes them go “whoa.”

Which would you rather have?

All things considered, your ‘About Us’ page is about more than what your product or service is.

It’s your chance to showcase your mission and values, your talented team, and what sets you apart from the crowd.

The following ten ‘About Us’ pages all go above and beyond, with compelling web design, engaging media pieces, and other features that any business can learn from.

Maybe they’ll inspire your next ‘About Us’ page redesign?

1. Use Original Photography

If ever there was a time to skimp on professional photos, it’s not now. This is the page that literally defines your brand… so don’t just send the intern around with a smartphone camera or, worse, download a few stock photos.

Instead, invest the capital into having a professional photographer wander around your office, snapping photos of your team at work.

With their engaged team and unique and beautiful office space, Bluecadet is a shining example of the power of original photography.

2. Show and Tell with a Timeline

If the journey to where you are today has been long and winding, a timeline is the perfect way to visually tell your company history.

It also gives you a great spot to humblebrag about your amazing accomplishments, and explain changes in direction that aren’t as easily understood through text.

Moz is an example of a company that has gone through many transitions over the years, from a name change to office moves to huge changes in their core business model. All of that is explained in a reverse timeline that takes you back and back as you scroll down the page, all the way down to 2004, when Rand Fishkin founded the Seattle SEO company with his mother.

3. Give Your Vital Stats

More likely than not, your business can be defined – if not explained – by a few key numbers.

How many sales have you made? How many subscribers are you supporting? How many countries do you do business in?

These numbers are by their very nature extremely visualizable, and give you the prime opportunity to turn part of your ‘About Us’ page into a sort of personalized infographic.

Airbnb highlights a few key stats on their ‘About Us’, perfectly color-coordinating a map, some logos, and the accompanying data. Alongside two short paragraphs, these visuals do all of the explaining, in a crisp and immediately understandable way.

4. Capture Imaginations with Sleek Illustrations

For some companies, capturing your customers’ imaginations and showing them the true potential of your product is the key to growth.

Illustrations are a great way to do this with style, sending visual cues about what your company does and what you stand for.

Uber, the app that is reinventing the taxi industry, uses their ‘About Us’ to showcase the fact that their service is key to building the cities of the future.

The sleek, modern design in cool blues and greys imparts the message that a network of transportation options to anywhere is available at the push of a button.

5. Showcase Your Customers

If your business exists to support your customers, why not devote your ‘About Us’ to them, too? This is a strategy especially useful for B2B companies, but applicable to any brand that wants to sustain a strong sense of customer loyalty. Celebrate your clients’ accomplishments and they will celebrate you.

A company that is doing just this is Hover. Hover sells hassle-free domain names and is always looking to inspire its users to take the first step towards making their ideas a reality: registering the domain name.

On their ‘About Us’ page, they highlight some of their favorite projects from across their customer base.

6. Tell Your Story Over Video

Sometimes you just can’t beat a video for how quickly and succinctly it can get across what you do and why you do it. Background video is a very popular web design trend, and using it on your ‘About Us’ can give it an atmosphere that you just can’t give it any other way.

Yellow Leaf Hammocks does this beautifully, with a colorful background video showing how their products are produced by hand, the lives of the people who make them, and what they look like in use. As the text at the top of the page says, they look ridiculously comfy – and more than any picture could do, the video demonstrates this. I want a hammock now!

7. Create a Conversion Funnel

Why not put your ‘About Us’ to work for you? In some cases, the ‘About Us’ might be the page that determines whether your visitors are going to convert or stay lurkers.

If that’s the case, it might be a good idea to push them towards something – such as subscribing to your newsletter, for instance.

One example of an ‘About Us’ doing just that is over at Blog Tyrant. While it gives a strong introduction to the blog and the blogger, it also gives some very compelling reasons why you should join his mailing list.

Another feature of this page I really like is the “About You” section – giving details about what this blog can do for you, and how much the community is a part of the full package when you subscribe to this blog. And you can’t miss that ringing endorsement from Rand Fishkin at the bottom: “I really like your about page.”

8. Show Off Your Interface

If your business involves an online app or service, the ‘About Us’ is a great way to give people a taste of it without signing up.
Screenshots, videos, and animations are all great ways to show off how easy and fun your tool is to use.

Canva’s ‘About Us’ does a great job introducing users to their app and how to use it, with animated interfaces, testimonials, and a call to action at the end.

9. Lead With Your “About” Page

Who says your ‘About Us’ needs to live on a ‘About Us’ page?

If who you are, what you do, and how you do it are a hugely compelling part of your business, why not put it front and center on your homepage?

Cultivated Wit is a group that brings together comedians and developers for Comedy Hack Days, so it makes sense that they would showcase their unique selling proposition right on the main page. They do so artfully, with a sparse amount of copy alongside colorized background videos.

10. Introduce Your Team in a New Way

If your people are your best asset, devote your ‘About Us’ to them.

Many brands have found unique and creative ways to show off their people, from using illustrated versions of them to headshots that switch to an amusing image when you roll over them.

Cornett took another unique route, asking each of their employees to bring in some objects that are meaningful to them for a top-down photo.

The effect turns the ‘About Us’ into a fun sort of eye spy game where visitors can pore over the photos picking out surprising items from the rest.

Wrapping Up

As you are deciding how to approach your own ‘About Us’, you can use the type of information you plan to include as a guide. Do you want to showcase your team? Your company culture? Your story? Based on that decision, you can create or curate assets like photographs, illustrations, and videos that suit your brand.

Your ‘About Us’ doesn’t need to be bland and corporate – make it shine using one or more of the strategies above!

We would love to see your favorite ‘About Us’ pages (or even your own) – share them in the comments below!

 3 Super Easy Hacks to Make Your Pinterest Images Stand Out

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Stand out from the crowd on Pinterest and use these 3 super easy hacks to drive traffic to your website.

Are you using Pinterest to drive traffic to your website?

Growing faster than any other independent website in history, Pinterest burst into the social media scene a few years ago to gather a massive 47 million users this year.

Pinterest now drives more traffic to websites than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined.

That’s a huge opportunity to use Pinterest to drive traffic to your website.

But with so many other pins to compete with, what’s the best way for your images to stand out from the crowd?

In this post, I share 3 little-known but super easy hacks that will make your Pinterest images stand out.

 

1. Give It Plenty of White Space

Sometimes less is more, and one of the easiest hacks to get your Pinterest images to stand out is by using plenty of white space on your images.

 

 

Another way to give your images space is to use rounded corners or circles instead of the standard squares or rectangles.

 

 

 

2. Add A Compelling Call To Action

Adding a call to action to your Pinterest image helps convert pinners and increases engagement.

It works in the same way as adding call-to-actions on your website helps focus visitors and encourages clicks.

 

 

 

3. Go Long

Long, tall, skinny images take center stage on Pinterest and command some valuable visual real estate.

 

 

 

I hope this gives you a few new ideas to turbocharge your Pinterest content and give them an extra boost. Have you got any easy hacks that’s been working for you? Share your tips in the comments below.

 How To Use Images to Increase Conversions

MARCH 18, 2015

 

The images on your website draw a lot of attention. Choosing the right images will increase conversions. Here are some proven ways to help you make the best image selection to boost your conversions.

 

1. Use Images To Convey Core Product Benefits

Always use high quality images

Rule #1 for any e-commerce shops selling a physical product is to always use high quality product images.

Don’t use the manufacturer’s images if the quality isn’t high. Learn how to take your own, and invest in a professional to help you with editing the images to get them looking right.

Compare the pair: The trendy Grant Featherson replica contour lounge chair is a popular piece that’s sold everywhere.

Take a look at how two different furniture shops make use of their product image. Which one draws your attention in more?

 

 

The quality and size of product images matters. Use high quality images to help boost your conversions.

 

Multiple angles & detailed views to show off your product

Show off your product in as many ways as possible with images taken from different angles.

Give me reasons to be confident product quality with zoom and detailed views.

This will all help reduce the gap between offline and online shopping experience.

Compare the pair: Moleskin sells notebooks. Typo also sells notebooks. Which one gives you enough confidence, trust and visual information to hit that buy button?

 

 

 

 

Moleskin’s given thought to how they present their product, and this goes towards enhancing the shopping experience and making it as close to the real thing.

Show The Product In Context

Don’t just show the product, show it in its context. Let me imagine using it.

Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite has a unique selling point: “No screen glare in bright sunlight”. No better way to communicate this than with a contextual image.

2. Never Use Images For Decoration

Choose your images carefully. Make sure they are relevant to your product or service, and useful for your visitor.

Because when you have the wrong image, people either ignore it or become confused.

Example: It makes sense for visitors to Pottery Barn to see bookcases placed in context of their surrounding. It shows how the product will look in its natural environment, and gives it visual context.

 

It doesn’t make as much sense, however, for Amazon to display images of television screens. Televisions all look pretty much the same.

 

What is important to someone looking to buy a television are the technical details and description. The product image? Not so important.

This eye-tracking study shows the difference in visitor behavior when browsing bookcases versus televisions.

 

 

3. Use Images To Direct Attention To Your Product Or Copy

People can’t help but to follow the direction in which we are guided.

We just can’t seem to resist certain instinctive urges, and using directional cues are a great way to direct attention to important elements of a page that leads to a conversion.

Call-to-action buttons, headlines, lead generation forms, and powerful testimonials are the main elements that you should use visual cues to draw visitors’ attention.

People can’t resist following the gaze of other people

In this eye-tracking study, the heat-maps produced by testing with real customers show how where the model looks changes customer behavior.

 

 

People can’t resist following where an arrow points

Visual cues such as arrows or line of sight objects are also effective tools in creating a directional cue.

Example: Basecamp prefers to use something less aggressive than an arrow, but this illustration of a person pointing to the sign-up form works just as well as an arrow in directing a visitor’s line of sight.

 

4. Emotions Rule

Ever bought something on sale impulsively, just because the sale is about to end and you don’t want to miss out?

Though we’ll all like to think that we make rational decisions, the truth is we make decisions when our emotions are triggered.

Our brains are designed to follow our emotions as opposed to intellect, so every decision to convert is actually an emotional based decision.

Connecting with your visitors using images that convey strong feelings such as happiness, empathy, or even anxiety and guilt will help to drive them to take action.

Example: Chubbie Shorts sells Hawaiian print shirts. They’re a dime a dozen and you can buy one from hundreds of places.

Chubbie Shorts realizes this, so instead of a product page that talks about thread counts accompanied by images of the shirt, they sell the experience and the emotions of what wearing the shirt could bring.

 

 

5. Use Images To Add Trust And Credibility To Your Site

Show validation

90% of customers say their buying decisions were influenced by online reviews.

72% of customers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations

People want a third opinion. They want to feel safe and they want to be convinced they’re making the right decision.

Example: Rimadyl sells osteoarthritis medication for dogs with arthritis. There’s no better way to convince visitors to convert than a powerful testimonial from a beneficiary of the product, placed above the fold on the homepage.

 

 

Use a real picture of you and your team

Websites can feel quite disconnected with the real world. Connect with your visitors by including pictures of real people and real faces.

You should always include a picture of yourself and your team on your website. It shows the human face of your business, and creates trust with your visitors.

Example: Lateral’s About Us page takes the static picture of the team a little further by having a little bit of fun and flair.

 

 

Do you have any specific tips on using images that helped you improve your website’s conversion rate? Please share them in the comments, we’d love to hear from you!