Achieving a high conversion rate — and securing new customers — is essential for ensuring your brand’s uninterrupted growth and long-term success. Yet, research shows that most businesses don’t do so well when it comes to converting website visitors. Statistical data indicates that the average website conversion rate in 2024 falls at 2.35%, while ecommerce performed slightly worse with a 1.5% CR. But what does that mean in the real world? Well, it shows that most businesses only turn a small portion of website visitors into customers. And the remaining 97% (or more) never convert. So, if you want to boost your brand’s success potential and capture leads without spending unnecessary resources on elaborate marketing campaigns, here are the best strategies for improving website conversion rates.

Define Specific Goals

Before implementing conversion-boosting strategies to your website, you need to specify your goals.

Yes, some of the best ways for improving website conversion rates will benefit your business regardless of your desired outcomes. Nonetheless, your approach will vary depending on whether you want to convert more leads, encourage free trial sign-ups, boost ecommerce sales, or maximize newsletter subscriptions.

With this in mind, one of the most impactful things you can do is to define your conversion goals. 

A good rule of thumb is to set SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound), as this will help you see what you need to do to get where you want to be. It will also give you a few indicators for achieving your desired outcomes.

Make Your Website Look and Perform Splendidly

One of the best things you can do to improve website conversions is to pay attention to your website’s design.

Research into web user behavior shows that people prefer interacting with web pages that look good and perform well.

A 2021 scientific study discovered that aesthetically pleasing websites were more successful in earning consumer trust and encouraging purchases. Furthermore, a 2019 research study analyzing the relationship between website aesthetics and purchase intention revealed that beautiful websites awoke positive feelings among visitors, leading to higher satisfaction rates and increased conversion potential.

But, of course, mere aesthetic appeal isn’t enough to significantly improve conversion rates (though it can help). 

Instead, to maximize the chances of visits turning into purchases, do your best to deliver a positive browsing experience through UX design.

Site speed, navigation simplicity, and user-friendly conversion elements can all help encourage web visitors to turn into leads or customers. 

So don’t hesitate to invest in these elements — especially as they may mean the difference between having a web visitor bounce or becoming a loyal customer of your business.

Create Attractive Offers, No Matter Your Conversion Goals

If you look at how people make buying decisions, you’ll find two types of shoppers.

On the one hand, some consumers go through a detailed evaluation process, studying every single feature of a solution before committing to a purchase. On the other hand, the vast majority of people buy on impulse. (In fact, data suggests that approximately 84% of people have engaged in impulse buying behavior).

With this in mind, it’s a good idea to look for opportunities to make your offer irresistible — especially to web visitors in the lower stages of the buyer’s journey who don’t mind making an instant buying decision.

The great thing is that you can do this in many ways. 

For example, you can use price anchoring to highlight the savings shoppers make by purchasing right away. You can employ “Limited” or similar badges to create FOMO. You can emphasize CX benefits like free shipping or returns to push people toward a conversion. 

Showcase Relevant Social Proof to Encourage Brand Trust

Even though, sometimes, making the right promise at the right moment can inspire conversions, there’s one prerequisite to achieving satisfactory website conversion rates. 

You absolutely must earn your potential customers’ trust first.

According to Edelman’s research from 2023, 88% of consumers say that brand trust is an important consideration when making purchasing decisions (preceded in importance only by value for money and quality solutions).

Fortunately, there are several effective strategies for building brand trust you can employ for improving website conversion rates.

For example, something as simple as showcasing relevant and authentic social proof can be a marvelous way to demonstrate your brand’s credibility and competence in removing your target audience’s pain points. That’s exactly what Classical Guitar Shed did in the example below.

You could also try more elaborate trust-building web design techniques, such as: 

• showing off media mentions
• embedding UGC sourced from social media
• displaying live purchase notifications to show web visitors other people are shopping with your business at the same time they are

Delight and Engage Web Visitors with Beautiful Visuals

Investing in high-quality, engaging formats can be an exceptionally effective way to boost website conversions. And that’s not just because people naturally respond better to images than text. It’s also because as many as 75% of all shoppers rely on product photography to make purchasing decisions.

So, if you’re looking to maximize sales on your site, perhaps it’s time you reevaluate the visuals you employ to inspire purchases.

For one, if you’re trying to delight potential customers — especially people who are likely to invest in your solutions due to aspirational motivators — populate key landing pages with high-quality visuals. 

Check out how WholeWoodPlayhouses does it on its homepage, using a variety of photos to showcase the idyllic, fairytale-like playing environment its products can create for buyers.

Secondly, as you attempt to communicate the unique value your solutions offer, consider whether supplementing copy with images or illustrations may help get your point across better. 

If you check out EXT Cabinets, you’ll see that the brand uses images to illustrate core product features, knowing that a visual can be valuable in helping non-expert buyers comprehend concepts like Lockjoint Technology.

Finally, if you want to boost conversion rates, don’t hesitate to invest in video. This multimedia format is exceptionally effective at driving product understanding. It’s also a great way to inspire conversions, with 82% of people saying they were convinced to purchase a product by watching a video.

Help Web Visitors Understand the Value You Offer

We already mentioned that consumers must comprehend a solution’s value before investing in a product. But the truth is, this can be tricky in situations where the products or services you sell aren’t universally understood.

In these cases, a crucial thing you need to do to improve your website conversion rates is to help your visitors understand the value (and uniqueness) of your offer.

There are multiple ways to do this. For example, something as simple as composing landing page value propositions that directly address your target audience’s pain points can be a great way to point out that you have a solution to your prospects’ needs. Check out how Noom does it with the “Learn to eat mindfully” unique sales proposition on its homepage.

Alternatively, if you know that you offer a solution that requires some level of expertise to understand, it’s a good idea to explore methods of making it more approachable to non-expert shoppers.

Pinch does it beautifully on its Microneedling Treatments page, where it uses clear and simple copy to help web visitors understand the effects and benefits of the procedure.

Final Thoughts

There you go — some of the best strategies for improving website conversion rates. Whether you decide to implement one or all of the tactics mentioned in this article is entirely up to you. To ensure impressive results, don’t forget to align your website’s design with your target audience’s needs and behavior.

That way, you will show that you understand what your prospects need. You’ll also establish your brand’s reputation as a credible entity, which will be key in attracting new leads, who you can then slowly nurture into loyal customers.