Digital Basics Part 2: What Makes a Website Convert

Right, let's start with that word.

Convert.

You'll hear marketing people say it all the time.

We need to improve conversions.

What's the conversion rate? It sounds technical, but it's really simple.

A conversion is just someone doing the thing you want them to do on your website.

Calling you, filling in a form, booking online, buying something.

And your conversion rate is just a percentage.

Out of everyone who visits, how many do that thing? So let's say 100 people visit your website this month.

Two of them get in touch.

That's a 2% conversion rate.

Two out of 100.

Now here's why I want you to care about this number.

Most business owners, when they want more inquiries, think the answer is more visitors, more traffic, more ads, more SEO.

And sometimes that's true.

But think about this.

If you could get that same hundred people to produce four inquiries instead of two, you've doubled your inquiries without a single extra visitor, without spending another dollar on ads.

That's the magic of working on conversion.

Every improvement you make keeps paying you back every month on every visitor you'll ever get.

And it makes everything else you spend on marketing work harder because you're not pouring traffic into a leaky bucket.

I want to add one thing here.

Not every conversion is a sale.

Someone who downloads your price guide or signs up to your email list or saves your number hasn't bought anything yet but they've taken a step closer.

I like to think of those as little yeses on the way to the big yes.

And for a lot of businesses, especially if you sell something expensive or considered, like a renovation, legal advice, or a big piece of equipment, those little yeses matter.