11 Ways to Improve Blog Conversion Rate

December 22, 2014

Growing your blog traffic and increasing your blog conversion rate can be staggering tasks. There are dozens of strategies out there with hundreds of articles explaining each of them. How do you know where to start?

The following details 11 ways to improve your blog conversion rate, enabling you to begin making some notable changes to your blog without having to spend hours reading articles.

1. Establish ideal frequency and timing. There is no set amount of posting, perfect time of the day, or perfect days of the week that are going to improve blog conversion rate for every company. You must experiment with different frequency and timing to determine what works best for your audience.
2. Find a balance in types of published content. One of the best ways to keep readers coming back week after week is to mix up the content. You don’t want your posting routine to grow stale, but you also don’t want it to be so random that readers don’t know what to expect. Figure out what types of content resonate with them and provide a healthy mix.
3. Keep the layout simple and streamlined. Readers should be able to focus on the content at hand. The fewer distractions that you have on your blog, the better. Look for product information, links, and anything else that is not necessary for the readers. For example, consider getting rid of large headers and irrelevant images.
4. Cut out the jargon. You want your blog to be industry specific without a lot of generic content, but you also want it to be reader friendly. A blog is not a scientific journal. People of average intelligence who take an interest in your products or services should be able to read your posts without looking up every other word.
5. Be honest about customer objections. In any industry, it is inevitable that customers will have complaints or other negative feedback about your products or services. In an age where consumers have direct relationships with brands via social media, the more that you can do to address these objections publicly, the better.
6. Keep promotional content to a minimum. The general rule for social media posting is that it should be 20 percent promotional. This rule applies to business blogs as well. If you have a website, basic information about your products and services should already be readily available online. Posting an occasional update about a new product or a special deal is fine, but these posts should not be the bulk of your blog content.
7. Build trust. A blog is just one section of your online presence that you can use to build credibility and trust with customers. Your blog should have a professional layout with clear details about your organisation, including your expertise and the type of content and services that you provide.
8. Offer proof. As you consider varying types of content to include on your blog, think about options that offer proof for your customers. These options may include, but are not limited to, testimonials, case studies, third party reviews, scientific tests and studies, social proof (i.e. social media statistics), and demonstrations.
9. Have fun. Many business blog authors write posts from the perspective of “we” or “our” or they use a third person detached voice, neither of which are very conducive to blog posts. Think about using a second person conversational tone or even writing from the first person to make your content more personal yet still professional.
10. Include a call to action in each post. You should always have a call to action (CTA) in a blog post that tells readers what to do next. A CTA can be as simple as asking people to leave comments to as complex as having them sign up for a 12 week workshop. There are a number of formats for a call to action including standard end of the post, embedded full conversion form, and slide-in side scroll.
11. Pitch to subscribers within blog posts. Traditional forms of advertising and list building have become so commonplace that many readers ignore them completely. To get people’s attention, promote your email list within the content. For example, if you’re mentioning a free ebook that is available to newsletter subscribers, why not include a newsletter sign-up box right there in the post?

Are you overwhelmed after reading all of these methods for improving blog conversion rates? Keep in mind that you don’t have to implement all of them at once. Focus on areas of need and then build from there as you can.