If we break down the field of web development, one of the most interesting parts of the field is the world of conversions. How one small action we take can significantly increase the number of inquiries we get on the website, and sometimes even double the number of inquiries. Every course or process of learning web development is supposed to include the topic of conversions, and unfortunately, this does not actually happen in the real world. That is why in the following article we will deal practically with some of the most effective ways that will allow you to increase the number of inquiries and leads you receive from your website. All the methods presented here work from experience.
I have prepared a list of several actions, each of which can significantly improve the amount of inquiries from your website:
Phone number in the top menu
The simple truth is that people are becoming increasingly lazy. The easier and faster it is to get in touch, the greater the chance you will receive a phone call, and the fastest way to allow a customer to get in touch is via a phone number in the top menu. This will work particularly well when you are ranked on Google, and sometimes a visitor will enter after searching for a term related to the service you offer and pick up the phone immediately, sometimes without even reading what is written on the page (you can see a significant increase in this metric from mobile visits).
If you want to take it to the next level, a sticky navigation menu will allow the visitor to see your phone number at every single point on the page, and you can also highlight the phone number with a high-contrast background color so the number catches the eye.
Mobile contact bar
One of the most effective ways I have seen to improve conversions on mobile is by adding a contact bar containing both the option to contact via WhatsApp and the ability to make a phone call with the click of a button. Some people prefer to speak over the phone and some on WhatsApp, and we want to allow them to get in touch in the way that is most convenient for them. Some people will also send you a WhatsApp message at 11 PM (this is a lead you would normally miss), and the ability to get in touch very easily from mobile will very significantly increase the number of inquiries you receive.
This method will most likely increase the number of inquiries most significantly out of all the methods presented here, especially on sites that receive at least 50% of their traffic from mobile.
For those who want to learn how to add a contact bar for free on a WordPress site, here is a free plugin and a tutorial on its installation – Mobile Contact Line
Adding a WhatsApp button
WhatsApp has become a leading platform for contacting and communicating with clients. In the past, you could only use WhatsApp on a phone, but today, through WhatsApp Web and the WhatsApp desktop app, many people can also get in touch from a computer. It is highly recommended to add a quick WhatsApp button to the site that will allow contact from both mobile phones and computers in order to increase the number of inquiries you receive.
Another advanced tip is to make sure that the WhatsApp phone number also appears on the WhatsApp button on desktop, since not everyone knows how to use WhatsApp Web, and by displaying the phone number, older people and users without a technical background can also get in touch on WhatsApp by adding the number to their phone and reaching out. It is also very important for the button to be sticky so that it follows the visitor and allows them to make contact from any area of the page; using a WhatsApp icon is also a good and effective idea.
For those who want to learn how to add a contact bar for free on a WordPress site, here is a free plugin and a tutorial on its installation – Fast Chat Button
Contact forms at the top of the page
If you have service pages on your website that primarily present your business services and an outline of what you offer, it is recommended to place a contact form at the top of these pages right after the headline and initial description. By adding a contact form at the top of the page, you will be able to see the number of inquiries increase significantly. Here too, if you are well-ranked on Google, you will see that some users who enter the site do not spend much time reading what you offer and prefer to get a phone call instead with details about what you offer. The easier you make it for them to contact you, the greater the chance that you will receive the inquiry and the client’s details.
It is important to note that when it comes to a service page, the longer it is, the more recommended it is to insert the contact form multiple times throughout the page. On especially long pages, it is recommended to place a contact form at the top of the page, in the middle of the page, and at the bottom of the page. You can see on landing pages that inserting several contact forms significantly improves conversions, and if you track this, you will see that each inquiry comes from a different form (the lower the form, the more serious the inquiry). This is also probably related to the laziness of users, and the easier it is to get in touch, the more inquiries increase. This is especially true on mobile, where it is harder to reach out, and an additional form in the middle and at the bottom of the page can help improve conversions.
Contact forms on blog pages
On websites promoted on Google, a significant part of the traffic comes from blog pages, and therefore blog pages should also include a call to action and the ability to get in touch, especially when blog pages present content related to the services you offer. Try going into Google Analytics right now and looking at the blog pages that receive the largest amount of traffic on the site, then go to these pages and significantly improve them. Add a video, images, maybe even more content showcasing your services, and make sure to add a contact form at the top of the page and perhaps also in the middle.
If your traffic volume is large enough, you will start seeing that you are getting inquiries from blog pages as well. It is important to note that for every inquiry you receive, you must know which page the inquiry came from in order to perform conversion tracking. Another important point to note is that this method will work mainly when your blog pages are relevant to the services you offer. If you also present content unrelated to the services you offer and you add contact forms there, a large portion of the inquiries will be irrelevant to the business.
Using Popups
Another way to improve website conversions is the ability to use popups. For those who don’t know what this is, it is a window that opens in the middle of the screen and covers a large part of the screen while the rest of the content becomes partially dimmed, so the entire focus of the page is on the popup you create. You can create a popup the moment the user decides to leave the page, you can trigger it after a certain duration on the page, and you can open it as soon as the user enters the page. In a popup, you can try to get the user to sign up for a mailing list, leave details in a contact form, inform them about a product or service you offer, and more…
It is advisable to use this technique carefully because a popup can be a bit annoying, and we don’t want to annoy the user too much and cause them to leave the page.
What is the drawback of all these methods?
If you have a website that receives a lot of visits (at least a few thousand a month) and you are going to properly implement the tips that appear here in the article, you are definitely going to increase the number of inquiries you receive. The problem is that you will also increase the amount of low-quality inquiries. The easier it is to contact you, the lower the quality of leads you receive becomes. Some of the methods listed here will allow people to contact you without even knowing what you offer, and you will see that the quality of the inquiries you receive decreases.
This will work well for businesses whose main activity is in sales and for businesses whose service prices are not much higher than market prices. Once your price is significantly higher than competitors, the quality of inquiries you receive may not be good enough for you, and the next thing you’ll need to learn is how to improve lead quality and filter out less serious leads.
About the Author
Yochai Yirmiyahu has been working in the field of web development and graphic design for over 15 years and is the owner of YYDevelopment. A WordPress ninja expert, custom plugin and theme developer, and lecturer in the Expert WordPress Course Web Development Course, the most comprehensive course in Israel for learning web development with WordPress.
