Sales Funnel Optimization

The end of the sales funnel is the final click to accomplish business goals and objectives. To do this, web sites must first assist visitors to navigate through the sales funnel. Have you had a close look at your sales funnels? It is easy to define the end, but where does the funnel begin and what lays between entering and leaving the funnel.

First Contact

The web page where your visitor enters your site is not necessarily first contact. The number of touch points where your company comes into contact with potential customers and clients is endless. Name any of the hundreds of ways to market your business, it is likely any one of these initiatives could have encouraged someone to visit your web site.

the first touch point may be an email, a Search Marketing Ad, a Social Media discussion, a link from the Search Engine Results Pages, a web site address on the back of a truck. These are all likely to be the first step into your companies Sales Funnel.

What lays in between entering and exiting the sales funnel must encourage successful conversions. To do this, a review from beginning to end is necessary.

Develop some conversion scenarios to determine required processes, investigate the competitive environment to review other opportunities available to your audience. As you are well aware, we are all inundated with an endless array of information on a daily basis. And when it comes down to it, all these have the potential to distract your web site visitor from accomplishing your business objectives.

The Competition

The competition is everywhere you can see it in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), dDiscussions on Social Networks and the subway advertisement all leading your customers astray. Analyzing your competitors efforts is always a good place to start. Review their first contact messages and follow your way down their funnels. Now take a trip down your own Sales funnel?

Once you begin to see advantages through observation, determine where your first contact messages can be improved.

Optimizing the funnel

The sales funnel often consists of a series of web pages which lead web site visitors through the sales and checkout process. It is very easy to place road blocks into the conversion funnel. Common road blocks include:

• Each additional click provides opportunities for web site visitor to exit the funnel
• Asking for too much personal information
• Failing to provide the required information or process when required
• Failing to encourage action
• Attempting to up-sell interrupts the current purchase process

Identifying the road blocks enables you to discover the tripping points in the sales funnel and begin improvements. Review your funnel and for each page determine:

• What information and process is required? What personal information is required?
• Reduce the mental load, ensure the purpose of the page is immediately apparent
• Clearly identify where you are in the conversion process.
• Ask "Is this page necessary?"
• Is the call to action visible above the fold? Does the call to action encourage urgency

Making the funnel changes

Once you have analyzed your sales funnel you will have discovered various elements you want to improve. If you discovered your sales funnel needed to be overhauled, the new sales funnel will require development. Once the funnel has been developed or where an existing funnel only needs minor revisions, testing becomes necessary to truly drill down and maximize the sales funnel performance.

Sales Funnel testing needs to be done on one page element at a time, measure the results and repeat. The results of various revisions are measured to select the right funnel for the required conversion. Although not always possible good web site traffic volumes provide more accurate testing results. If you're not achieving reasonable traffic volumes to test your funnels, develop a Pay per Click program initiating traffic to the desired pages.

The last Word

The objectives of most web sites involves a web site visitor conversion of one type or another, and the efficiency of the Sales Funnel is at the heart of achieving business web site objectives.

There are many types of funnels, you're unlikely to develop a one funnel fits all. The first contact points, the products and services offered, even new and returning web site visitors need to be catered for. Review your web site, discover where revisions are needed, revise and test, revise and test.

So, are your Sales Funnels working? Review your site, what were you doing to place roadblocks in front of your web site visitors?