Mie Bilberg | 21/04/2021
How to optimize a small business website for conversion
In 2021, a website is one of the most important points of contact between a small business and its customers. Whether your small business customer objective is to have customers purchasing from your e-commerce site, signing up for online booking, or generating more leads - from emails, calls, or other types of customer reach-outs - every website should be optimized for conversion.
A website has two main goals:
1: Build trust,
2: Drive conversions.
We’ve covered how you can build a trustworthy small business website here. So how do you optimize your small business website and get customers to convert? We’ve come up with some tips and tricks for ways in which your small business can make it easier for your customers to take action on your site.
6 steps for a conversion-optimized website
1: Call-to-action buttons
A key feature for a conversion-optimized website is the call-to-action button or CTA. The name is fairly self-explanatory: CTAs serve as a call, or invitation, for a user to take a desired action.
When designing a small business website, the web designer should ask: What are the business objectives here? And is the website optimized to convert on these particular business objectives?
For example, if the business objective is to generate leads, then the web designer needs to know how the business owner would like to receive the leads: By phone? Email? Or an automated meeting booking?
If the business objective is online sales, then the website needs to be set up with e-commerce so the small business can sell its products and/or services online. Interested in enabling e-commerce for your small business? Learn more about Mono e-commerce here.
A conversion could also be a signup for a webinar or a newsletter. Want to see an example? See our sign up page for the Mono Newsletter.
There are three questions you should ask yourself when designing, or reviewing, your small business website:
A: Does this website have a clear call-to-action?
B: Does this website have enough call-to-actions?
C: Are the call-to-action buttons placed in the right locations on the site and do they supplement the user’s journey?
An example of a website with clear call-to-action buttons - and made by our German partner, Websmart - can be seen here: https://www.gartenwerk.ruhr/
2: Soft & hard conversions
Conversions come in many different ways. Ideally, a website should include both hard conversions (online sales or online booking) and soft conversions (“sign up for our newsletter,” “follow us on social media,” or “read more here”) on the site. Soft conversions are important for the customers who are interested, but not fully set on their course of action - yet. In regards to your small business website, you should ask: Is there an option where the user can read more about your products or services, sign up for the company newsletter or follow your business on social media?
Idium, a Norwegian digital agency and Mono Solutions partner, designed a small business website which makes good use out of both hard and soft conversions. See it here: https://corpushelse.no/
Idium was also the winner of our 2021 Best Website Competition. Find the winning website here.
3: The Headline
Headlines are very important, as they should make the user curious to read more as well as help the user navigate the page. For example, the homepage of a webshop could be segmented into the main banner showing current campaigns, different sections of product recommendations, a section showing the most popular brands, and a follow us on social media section.
Or, a homepage could be segmented into an area for online booking, an overview of the various services the company provides, and general and acute ways for the user to get in touch with the business. There are many ways in which a webpage can be structured, but clear headlines are key. A great example of a website making use of clear headlines is this small business website from Norway: https://corpushelse.no/
4: Value proposition
What is a value proposition? This is a statement where your small business proposes, or presents, its value to consumers and tries to convince potential customers as to why they should do business with your small business instead of your competitors.
The value proposition is often one of the first things a visitor will see at the top of your webpage: The hero image. A great value proposition is specific and pain-focused; and clarity beats creativity.
Here you can see an example from Mono Solutions: The future-proof website builder.
Another great example is shown on this small business website from Germany: https://www.coachingnachhilfe.de/
This website was created by Websmart, a German digital agency and Mono Solutions partner.
5: Product listing
How and where you list your products is important. People visit websites in order to get an overview of the product catalogue or to search for specific information about a product. Therefore, it should be easy to find the products and there should be well-written product descriptions.
Want to see a great example of an easy-to-find product listing? See this small business website from Sweden: https://www.hotellerikslund.se/
This website was created by Torget Updated, a Swedish digital agency and Mono Solutions partner.
Read also: How to build a high converting landing page
6: Incentives
Incentives are great conversion drivers, as a website that uses incentives will convert more.
Incentives are often campaign-specific eg. “this week's offer” or “holiday sales” ect. However, incentives can also be “Sign up for our newsletter” and “Get our latest eBook for free.”
We recommend the use of incentives. And remember: an incentive does not have to be a discount to be valuable. It can be a good piece of advice found in a newsletter.
So if you want to check to see if you are about to launch a new, high converting small business website, the question you must ask is: Are there incentives in use? If not, could you add one?
Want to create a high converting website? And do you want to learn more about the Mono website builder platform - where you can build and launch thousands of websites under your brand? Then read more here; or book a demo and meet a Mono team member.
About Mono
Mono Solutions is founded on the belief that small businesses - despite smaller budgets - deserve the same level of online presence and performance as larger companies.
Part of SME services at Bauer Media Group, Mono Solutions delivers award-winning white label marketing technology for websites to digital service providers at scale.
Mono Solutions offers different service models and revenue streams: Do-It-Yourself, Do-It-With-Me and Do-It-For-Me.
We prioritize creating future-proof technology, with a best-in-class customer experience. Our technologies include guidance and support to ensure the success of the re-sellers and small business owners.
