subject: The Power of the Conversion Rate: Part Two [print this page] The Power of the Conversion Rate: Part Two
In my previous article I discussed the importance of a good conversion rate and the difficulties internet marketers face trying to convert visitors into buyers. In this article I will be discussing the various factors that impact on your conversion rate and how to construct your online campaigns to attract the highest possible conversion rates.
The most basic factor that determines the profitability of your site is the niche you work within. Some niches convert better than others, just due to the nature of what you're promoting, the cost of the products, the number of people and the type of people interested in that particular niche. All of these factors need to be considered before you even begin to build your site - otherwise you could be wasting a lot of time on a niche that just won't convert well, no matter how much traffic you drive to your site. However, profitable niches also tend to be the most competitive, so it can still be hard to make sales, when you're up against lots of competing sites. Finding a niche you can make work is a fine balancing act and it can be time consuming, but it's well worth putting the effort in to find a good topic for your site.
Once you have identified a good niche the second factor that will affect your conversion rate is the keywords and phrases you use to drive traffic to your site. It's a well known fact that some keyword searches will lead to a higher conversion rate than others - keyword phrases that include "buying" keywords tend to convert much more strongly than more general search terms; buy; cheap; review are just some examples of the sorts of words to look for and equally longer search terms also tend to indicate a stronger buying intent - more focused searches like these tend to show that searchers know what they're looking for and simply need the final push to make a purchase.
It can take a lot of time to find highly converting niches and keywords - you can go down a lot of wrong paths before you finally discover a combination that will work, but it's well worth putting this groundwork in, in the early stages because it will save you a lot of time in the long run. There is some great software available to take the hard work out of identifying the best niches and keywords, like Conversion Prophet 2 and really speed up the process for you and if you're serious about earning money online it's well worth the investment.
Beyond these basic factors, the copy you write and the formating of your website is the final stage in converting your visitors to buyers. Hopefully if you've done quality research by the time a visitor reaches you they're serious about making a purchase, and have reached your site with a focused search term and everything on your web page should then encourage them to take the final step. Everything, from the font you choose to the careful placement of links impacts on a visitors decision-making process so with clever design and copy-writing you can hopefully persuade the maximum number of visitors to buy from you.
