If you’re like many small businesses, you want to squeeze every last drop of value out of your website and online marketing activities.  But do you know which initiatives are worth your time and money?  Do you know the mistakes to avoid? Here are five tips to help you focus on where to put your efforts if you want to improve web conversion rates in the New Year:

1. Use Landing Pages
   Landing pages steer web visitors toward taking the action you want them to take, such as signing up for a newsletter, joining a mailing list, or making a purchase.  To improve conversions, make sure you use landing pages with a single purpose or offer, include a very clear call to action, and use a simplified design with the most important information above the fold.  Simply linking to your web site’s home page (or products page) is too overwhelming for users – don’t make them guess what to do or where to click.

    

2. Simplify or Update Your Web Design
   Let’s face it – old, outdated websites that don’t meet the needs or expectations of today’s users are a waste of everyone’s time.  If you haven’t updated the design, content, and/or functionality of your website in a while, you’re taking a risk with your business. The longer you let an old site represent your business online, the faster potential customers will form an opinion and move on.  Don’t drive visitors into the arms (or websites) of your competitors – re-design your website if it’s time.

    

3. Integrate Marketing Channels
   Many small businesses do not have the staff or resources to devote to website updates, social media posts, email marketing campaigns, mobile advertising, or the other online marketing efforts necessary to reach their target markets.  The good news is that by integrating marketing channels, you can cut the time and work needed to maintain an effective strategy and make it manageable.  Automate your channels so that Facebook posts are published on your website, blog posts are tweeted on Twitter, and everything is mobile enabled so users can find, follow, or figure out how to get what they need using whatever method they choose.  If you don’t have the time or knowledge to do this, hire someone to help.

    

4. Gotta Go Mobile
   Estimates say that today in the U.S., more than 50% of adults have smart phones, but 74% of small businesses don’t have a mobile website. This provides you with an enormous opportunity to get a jump on the competition and differentiate yourself to customers and potential customers.  The mobile trend is not going away – it is growing rapidly and your business will need to get on board at some point.

    

5. Create and Post High-Quality Content
   If your website and social channels contain only basic, descriptive information about your business, you’re not providing much value to visitors or giving them reasons to work with you.  Consider adding content such as free downloads (articles, presentations, etc.), how-to videos, and other value-add content that demonstrates your expertise and commitment to customers.  Then, make sure you update and post information to all your marketing channels on a regular basis.  Being consistent with updates will not only help engage visitors and improve conversion rates, but will also help with your search engine rankings and social visibility.

   With limited time and resources, it’s important that small businesses focus on initiatives that can really make a difference to their bottom line.  By implementing these tips (or even one or two), you can get substantially better results from your online marketing efforts, better engage web visitors, and ultimately convert more online browsers into happy buyers.