The title speaks for itself on this one. It is a common misconception that high website traffic is the holy grail of all websites and to be honest that is the way the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) bandits want to keep it… They will keep feeding you this dream because that’s what makes them the money.
They will keep on telling you that to be number one on Google is the answer to your business sales and they really don’t want me to share this with you… But, the biggest secret out there when it comes to website success is “traffic is vanity and conversions are sanity”.
Have you had several emails and phone calls from the bandits I speak about promising you that they can get you at the top of Google for the search terms you want? I have, and in a sick kind of way I look forward to these intrusive marketing techniques as it gives me another platform to put the website world to rights.
Now don’t get me wrong there can be a massive benefit from being at the top of Google search results (for the right search terms) and I will explore this later with you, but for now I want to convince you to concentrate your efforts on increasing your conversion rate as this is the key to filling up your sales book and increasing profitability
What is a conversion?
I class a conversion as any interaction with your site. An email, a sign up, data capture, a telephone call or even a sale. Most websites convert at less than 1% and have the very limited and expensive tactic of throwing as much website traffic at it as possible in the hope that something might stick.
I want to help you increase your conversion rate first and then we can talk about traffic and Google positions. With being more focused about what you want each web visitor to do, your conversion rates will increase.
TOP TIP: Put your web visitor first, not your own ego. What do they really want?
A common mistake on fitness websites is they are overloaded with loads of links, photographs, buttons, messages and options that many visitors are either unable to find what they want or more likely they feel overwhelmed they hit the back button and try your competitors site instead.
It’s for this reason a lot of super successful websites have simplified their home page to prominently feature just one or two calls to action.
Your Website Workout
What is your most desired response from your website? Be super critical about what you want to achieve (or what your web visitor wants to achieve) and then base your strategy around that.
A quick exercise for your website to get it working for you:
1. Decide what the single most important thing you want visitors to do when they arrive on the home page
- Buy (special offer for new customers)
- Enquire and request a sample or demo
- Subscribe (to regular help and advice)
2. Change your homepage to mainly (or even completely) be all about the one thing you want them to do
- Change the design of your home page so your offer stands out above all other elements on the page
- Shrink your logos and branding to make room for directing people to your offer
- Remove anything on the top fold that could distract the visitor from doing the one thing you want them to do
3. Finally make a schedule to track how many people respond to your most desired response as a percentage of the total new visitors to the website in a given period (analyse it on a weekly or biweekly basis)
A. Your website analytics service will tell you how many new unique visitors landed on the homepage
B. Count the number of responses (enquires/sales/subscriptions) in that period
C. Calculate your Conversion Rate (CR%) = B/A x 100
Example: If you have 100 new visitors landed on your homepage and 5 of them responded to your new simplified homepage’s offer then it has a 5/100 x 100 = 5% CR
Important Notes: This technique has the potential to transform how your website generates new leads and clients and increases sales and profits.
By taking this approach you will see conversions will improve way past 1%…and over time, you can see conversions creep past 10%… if you have online products and services then you should dedicate more time to this and make sure you have an even higher conversion rate (past 30%) before spending a penny on SEO.
Here comes the traffic
Now that we know that our website has a high conversion rate we can have the confidence that spending our hard earned cash on driving traffic to it will be worthwhile and you can be more certain that the campaign will bring you a return of investment.
But again don’t be fooled by those slippery SEO cowboys. Being number one on Google doesn’t mean that you will get the traffic.
Being highly ranked on Google for search terms no one searches for is so easy to achieve and quite frankly pointless.
Example: Being number on Google for “personal trainer central London” results in only 480 monthly local searches. Whereas “personal trainer London” results in 18,100 searches a massive x37 times more searches.
The first thing you need to do is find out what search terms people are using to find or enquire about your services. This can be done by visiting “Googles keyword tool” (pop that into your search engine)
This service is free of charge and can be used to get an idea what people search for.
Use the tool by putting in phrases you think people will already be using to find you and the tool will tell you how many people search for that phrase on a monthly basis (on a national and international stage) and more importantly the competition for that phrase. This is how many other websites are competing for that term as well. It then provides you with other related searches which may surprise you a little.
Decide on the best terms for your business and then design a campaign to drive traffic to your high converting website.
TOP TIP: Don’t just reply on traffic from search engines; use other online and offline avenues for a more robust marketing plan.
In conclusion, don’t spend a penny on search engine optimisation until you have a high conversion rate. If you do it the other way round you are quite literally throwing money and profit down the virtual plug hole. Your website should be a key component of marketing your business not a drain on your time and resources.
