When it comes to boosting your website conversion rate, there are a multitude of strategies and tips that can make a significant impact on your online success. From optimizing your website for speed and user experience to crafting compelling content and eye-catching visuals, every detail is crucial in turning visitors into customers.

In today's fast-paced digital world, where attention spans are shorter than ever, creating a seamless and engaging booking experience for your audience is essential. Implementing the right tactics and focusing on key elements will improve your website conversion rate and sales.  The average e-commerce conversion rate can vary by industry, according to BigCommmerce is between 2.5% - 3%

What is a Conversion Rate?

A conversion rate represents the percentage of website visits that lead to a desired action being taken. This metric is expressed as a percentage and can be calculated using a simple formula:

Conversion rate = (number of specific actions taken within a specific time frame) / (total number of website visits during the same time frame).  For example, if your conversion goal is to gain newsletter subscriptions, and you have 1,000 visits to your site with 100 newsletter sign-ups, your conversion rate would be 100 / 1,000 = 0.10, equivalent to 10%.

Steps to Improve Website Conversion Rate

What are some aspects of your website that will create a simple and relaxed booking experience for your customers? Here, we have put together for you the key items for a tour and attraction operator to convert an online shopper into a buyer.

Improving your website conversion rate by just one point

That's right, improving your website conversion rate by just one point could improve your conversion rate by 12% to 33%.  So how can I improve my website conversion rate?  Our customers are always wanting to improve sales.  We firmly believe that improving conversion is a great way to improve sales.  So we decided to compile some top tips to help you create a successful website. Here are a few key ingredients.

Make your website's unique value proposition clear

Visitors must be able to spot directly from your homepage because they should do business with you.

• What is their benefit from booking with you?

• How are you different from your competitors?

• What makes you unique?

Include high-quality pictures

Website visitors need a clear image of what they can expect to see when deciding to choose your business (2800 pixels wide recommended).

• Images of past customers enjoying their activity/tour are uplifting for prospective customers.

• Give them something to look forward to by allowing customers to see themselves participating in what you’re offering.

Give a concise, detailed description on your homepage, and for each tour, activity, or rental your offer

Customers should be able to instantly understand what it is that you offer at the very top of the page

• Your ‘About’ page should be well-developed with information that allows your customers to get to know you, along with details about how you differ from competitors.

• Think about all the aspects of the experience you would want to know before agreeing to book a tour, rental, or activity, and explain that quickly and clearly.

• The use of Artificial Intelligence, Open AI, sometimes referred to as ChatGPT, a powered language model, has benefited operators by saving time and being able to highly creative website content. 

Create a Contact Page

Contact pages lead to credibility and make it easier for customers to get in touch with you.

• Don’t hide your contact info!

• Sometimes people have questions to ask before booking or may not feel comfortable booking online.

• Make it easy for people to contact you.

Slow Load Time Increases Bounce Rate

The longer a page takes to load, the more likely shoppers are to abandon the website and seek one that loads faster: studies have found that for a five-second loading speed, the probability of bounce increases 90% compared to a page that loads in one second.  

According to research, when shoppers have a slow experience, particularly on mobile devices, the likelihood of them purchasing from your website again diminishes.  From a shopper’s perspective, it’s not worth waiting for one website to load when another (faster) website can deliver the same products and services. When browsing on mobile, for instance, more than half of the visits are abandoned if the page takes more than three seconds to load and right now more than 50% of consumers use mobile phones to buy. 

Check your desktop and mobile website load time for both free using Page Speed Insights  

Make sure your ‘Book Now’ buttons are easily found

Your main goal is for people to reach the ‘Book Now’ page to buy, so make it easy for them to do that.

• Color, size, and placement are key components to making this happen. Always place it above the top fold of the website.

• The process should be simple, fast, and easy.

• Once they have clicked your booking button, make the process as intuitive as possible.

In summary: simplicity. Step into your customer’s shoes for a minute and recognize that, as a consumer, you want the process to be easy. Many people will be booking adventures with you while already feeling stressed from the rest of their vacation planning. Be the breath of fresh air for them. When they arrive at your site, point them in the right direction, tell them who to ‘contact’ if they need assistance, and most importantly, find ways to influence your shopper to become a buyer.

^{By improving your website conversion rate by just 1 point, you could improve your website sales by 12% to 33%.}

At Indexic, we know how much effort goes into making your business a success—we’ve had to put in that demanding work, too! We are dedicated and passionate about simplifying online booking software so you can stop sweating the details and grow your business while focusing on what you love. This is why we always want to share what we are learning with you.