Nigel Ravenhill, Scanaler, and Bryan Eisenberg, Future Now, provided an entertaining look into “Converting Visitors Into Buyers” at SES San Jose 2007.

Here are a few notes from the session:

• The key to conversion is to remove the friction, the true force that causes people to leave your web site.
• Build trust and establish credibility with logos, verification systems, contact information, security and privacy statements.
• Make products easy to find, provide FAQ for popular topics, link your address to a live map, and be sure to make your 800# very easy to find.
• If you want people to convert, figure out what their motivations are and make sure your web site or landing page addresses this.
• People usually visit a web site to solve a problem. Ask yourself, are you solving their problem? On average, 98% of web sites don’t as only 2% of visitors convert. Don’t make people think when they come to your site, make it easy.
• Traffic Generation vs Acquisition….spend more money on what people do once they are on the site. Companies spend less than 10% of their budget once people get to the site.
• Easy steps to follow - Step 1 - Define Your Profiles; Step 2 - Define Conversion Goals; Step 3 - Do the Creative

There were lots of ideas about how to improve on conversions. I will be back later with more session notes.