When you operate a website, such as a financial services website, the main goal is to make money. In order to be able to do that, you need to first make the conversions. There are various methods you can use to draw in more traffic and make the conversions you need, but you have to create a plan that is going to work for you. Not every conversion technique works for every website. It is a good idea to do a lot of A/B testing, until you come up with conversion tactics that work for your website. Here are some tips to get you started.

1. Safety is Paramount

The Internet can be a scary thing for a lot of people. There are so many instances of fraud and identity theft, many people are worried about providing any personal or credit card information on most websites. You need to be able to show people that your site is absolutely safe for them to use. Give them a secure HTTPS connection on all checkout pages. Show your security certificates, such as Verisign, Thawte, and Geotrust, so they know they can feel safe while using your website and partner with companies with strong security protocols in place.

2. Create Clear Calls to Action

If you don’t have a very clear and obvious call to action, you aren’t going to get the conversions you want. If it isn’t right out there as plain as day, a lot of people might not even notice your calls to action. Everything else must lead visitors to the calls to action, and then the conversion process can begin.

3. Buttons need Active Language

How you say things has a huge impact on how potential customers perceive a company. You can optimize your website’s calls to action by re-wording things. For instance, instead of having it say, “read more”, change it to “view product details”.

4. Ask for Less

Sometimes, customers might be interested in what you have to offer, but they aren’t quite ready to take the final step. Ask them for smaller commitments instead. For instance, offer some less expensive products. Take steps to make your request less intimidating for the customer. Many people need to take baby steps before actually making a purchase.

5. Expose Key Navigation

It always helps to have buttons that are easy for customers to understand. That way, there is not going to be any confusion about what they need to do in order to take advantage of your offer. For example, if you sell a variety of products, instead of having a drop-down menu of your items, display as many as possible in the main navigation.

6. Avoid Flash for Critical Content

Flash may be easy to see on most PC’s, but it is not something that is really working for mobile devices, at least not yet. In fact, iOS does not support flash at all. You need to cater to your mobile customers by creating a website that they can easily use. All critical calls to action should not have any flash, or you need to have another method for those who use mobile devices.

7. Speed Up Your Website

Everyone seems to be in a hurry these days, and most people don’t want to wait for slow websites to load. If your site isn’t loading quickly enough, potential customers are going to move on to your competition. If your site is slow, you need to take action now. Revamp your site so it is fast and responsive, so customers will be more likely to stick around for a while.