Website Trends That Improve Your ROI

Facebook is king when it comes to user engagement and return on investment. Brand engagement on the social networking site continues to grow, up 438 percent in 2012, notes Econsultancy. Along with having an engaging, consistent social presence, your business must catch up with website trends to boost your ROI.

These four website trends will not only improve the user experience, they will improve your ROI by making it easier for users to convert. They work best with a clean, fresh website design. If your website has a clunky or stale design, or it does not match your branding, start from scratch to have the best chance of increasing your return on investment. Implement these trends and use analytics to regularly track your progress and refine your approach.

Conversion optimization

Conversion optimization boosts your ROI by making it easier to convert the traffic your website already captures instead of focusing on driving more traffic to your website. Paid conversion optimization tools include Crazy Egg (which offers a 30-day free trial and plans from $9) or Optimizely (which offers a 30-day free trial and pricing plans from $17 per month). Google Analytics offers some free conversion optimization tools that can help you get started.

Bounce prevention

Similar to conversion optimization, this trend targets the traffic you already get. Bounce prevention measures intend to stop the user who visits your site from leaving and forgetting about you. They might include remarketing ads that target users who have left, or targeting users with a pop up offering a free ebook download or an opt-in newsletter option. You’ll get direct feedback on how effective many of your bounce prevention measures are by seeing how many users opt in.

Tell your story

Your website should tell your story in a clear and compelling manner to really engage the user. You can look for inspirations by looking at storybrand website examples to know how to portray your story in your site. Elements that help you tell your story include clear writing, crisp images, engaging videos, and a rich social media promotion strategy that continuously puts your message out there. You don’t have to be a professional photographer or videographer to do this. Take advantage of resources like Shutterstock, a stock photo database where you can purchase images for your website, and freelance marketplaces like Elance or oDesk to connect to freelance writers, videographers, or web marketers.

Focus on perceived value

Increasingly, it isn’t just about putting your product out there but about finding ways to demonstrate value. Blog regularly about ways to use your product (or service), create tutorial videos, or use targeted email marketing to show value. If you create shareable content that will demonstrate perceived value, you’ll also gain an organic traffic boost when users share your content. Social shares will continue to be an extremely important, relevant way to increase your return on investment. Getting out in front and being active in promoting your brand socially can benefit your ROI.