How website functionality increases conversion rates and online sales

The functionality of a website is very important and has a huge effect on user experience and therefore conversion rates. Getting users to your site is only one aspect of a successful online campaign, the other aspect is getting these potential customers to convert into sales or sales leads. Once you have succeeded in bringing potential customers to your site, you have to convert these visitors into sales. To increase your chances of this happening, your site must be fully functional and user friendly. If your website is difficult to use, you increase the likelihood of users ‘bouncing’ to competitors websites. For example; if you have an e-commerce site selling cameras with a lengthy and complicated registration form, you risk users bouncing. Typically, the longer the registration form, the less people that will will it in.

How do I know if my website’s functionality is effecting conversion rates?

In an ideal world, your site will go through a thorough testing process. This however is not always possible and even when it is, websites can always be improved. You therefore need to track users to see which pages are performing well and which need improving. You can analyse pages effectiveness with most analysis software. Google analytics is particularly good as it allows you to set up a filter system to track the progression of visitors towards your conversion measure. If you find that a large percentage of users are ‘bouncing’ at a particular stage in the filter, you can modify the page and analyse the difference.