Getting traffic to your website is the first step, but if that traffic doesn’t convert, it’s almost useless. In online marketing, a conversion rate is the ratio of total visitors to visitors who perform desired actions. Internet businesses measure successful conversions differently based on the nature of their business and their goals.

An online publisher might consider submitting a form on a subscription page a successful conversion; whereas an online retailer might measure their conversion rate by number of clicks to the “Add to Cart” button. Internet businesses in every industry employ many methods to improve conversion rates because higher conversion rates typically translate to greater return on investment.

This article outlines five tips to easily improve your conversion rates.

1. Focus Your “Call To Action”

A “Call To Action” refers to a button or link that directs visitors to take a certain action like “Add to Cart” or “Register Now.” One way to improve conversion rates is to experiment with different calls to action, this can be done by varying the position on the page, text and icon. Conversion rates are seen to increase if the “Call To Action” performs better if action words are used.

2. Experiment with Layout, Content, Style and Functionality on Landing Pages

Landing pages need to give enough information to motivate users to want to convert and gently guide them in that direction. Your content, layout, style and functionality are all a part of this and for example if your page has too much content, it may confuse customers and they may leave as they’ve become frustrated.

3. Fast Load Times

Your page load times have a dramatic affect on your website conversions—even the difference of a second or two can make or break your website conversion rate. Make sure your pages load as quickly as possible for optimal website conversion rates.

4. Easy Navigation

Make sure that your website is easily to navigate and clean as visitors need to be able to get to where they want to go with the greatest amount of ease.

5. Use Testimonials

Testimonials reduce risk and provide social proof to potential customers. Both video and text testimonials work well, but video testimonials are favoured as they are more credible and create an emotional connection between the customers. Use them on product landing pages to entice customers.