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What if you could increase the number of people that visit your site, or the number of customers who purchase your product or service by 1 percent? What would a 1 percent increase in sales conversion mean to your bottom line?

Increasing conversions is all about increasing profit. Before you spend money on advertising, be sure to maximize the conversion rate for the web traffic you already have. If you are unsure of where to begin, or nervous about spending money on advertising, consider running a test. If you are interested in buying banner ads, ask if there are any inexpensive options to allow you to test the results. For keywords, set a low budget and monitor the results. For direct mail, consider sending out a small sample mailing to test the effectiveness. In any situation, the test sampling needs to be large enough that the results will be meaningful and realistic, but small enough that you are not risking a significant amount of money in the process.

Target, Target, And Measure

Targeted advertising will convert at a much higher rate than non-targeted advertising. It is critical that advertising be targeted, so you can maximize your conversion rate and increase your ROI (Return On Investment). As a webmaster, you have a whole host of tools available that will allow you to track the actions that your visitors take. Use these tools to analyze their actions and test theories that relate to conversions. When determining areas of low conversion, evaluate web logs. Look at the abandon rate by viewing single access web pages. Use cookies to track the actions that visitors take on the website; do they leave but then return and purchase at a later date? Track both long-term and short-term actions of website visitors by using cookies.

Landing Pages

Unique URLs or special landing pages can be instrumental in tracking the success of an advertising campaign. They are also helpful when you conduct split-testing: randomly sending users to different web pages, and then tracking and comparing the actions that result from each page. When designing the landing page, think about the action you want, emphasize it, and remove all other distractions from the webpage.

Keyword Advertising

In order to increase the conversions from keyword advertising, create continuity between your keyword and your landing page. Use the same words in the ad as you use in the landing page. Keep in mind that landing pages do not have to be part of a website's normal navigation. Webmasters can customize landing pages to cater to a specific audience, advertisement, or search term.

Why pay for terms that are not converting? Pay particular attention to what keywords result in traffic only, and what keywords generate traffic that actually results in sales. Anyone can purchase traffic with the keyword phrase "free money", but how many of those who click are going to translate into the desired action on your webpage?

By using qualifiers and very targeted terms, you will reduce the number of visitors you are paying for. But if the correct terms and phrases are used, the resulting visitors will have a genuine interest in your software, thus more likely to purchase your software.

Evaluation

When evaluating advertising campaigns, consider whether the results will be long-term or short-term. Long-term results from a short-term expense could involve a website design. Short-term results are generally things like ezine advertisements, that result in sharp sales spikes, but generally don't last very long. Consider whether the money spent is a one-time cost or an ongoing expense. Equally important: determine whether you can reliably track and measure the results of the advertising campaign. Can the results be reproduced by spending more money?

Any time you spend money on advertising, you are taking a risk that it might not increase sales. Regardless of the type of advertising that is being undertaken, the conversion ratio should be optimized prior to purchasing any advertising. Ultimately, developers who spend money intelligently will make more profit.

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