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2. How to Design
Your Blog for
Optimal
Conversion Rates?

3. Throughout time the purpose of art
has evolved depending on the intent
of the artist and could include
anything from recording history, to
vanity portraits, or even ways to
communicate scientific progress
between medical or research
laboratories. One of the earliest
uses for art was in advertising,
something many consider to be
quite modern.

4. A lot of people would be surprised
to know that advertising dates back
to as early as 4000 B.C. when
natives used rock art to
communicate information to others.

5. In today’s world of computers and
various mobile devices that humans use
to connect to the internet, advertising is
more than just the writing on the wall.
Marketers advertise through the use of
email, banners on web pages, popups
that open ads in a whole new webpage,
word-of-mouth through social
networking sites like Facebook and
Twitter, video games, and even through
blogging.

6. The degree of success for many of the
ways that an online marketer chooses
to advertise is called the conversion
rate.

7. Conversion Rates Explained
Conversion rates are a type of
modern-day marketing statistic used
to gauge the success of a website.
How successful a conversion rate is
could be interpreted differently
depending on the point of view of the
person looking at it.

8. A marketer would see it differently
than a consumer. In order to get an
accurate conversion rate, one must
consider the amount of visitors to the
site and the number of goal
achievements. For instance, if a
webpage has 100 visitors but only 2
of those people contribute to the
number of goal achievements, then
the page has a 2% conversion rate.

9. However, if a webpage has 200
visitors and 20 of those people
contribute to the number of goal
achievements, then the webpage has
a 10% conversion rate.

10. When I first heard about conversion
rates, I was like fellow blogger Tammy
Morales. In an online interview with
James Martell, an affiliate marketing
guru who hosts the longest running
podcast dedicated to the topic,

11. Tammy talked about some of the
things she’d done wrong and as I
listened, it was hearing her describe
some of my own blogging blunders.
Here are a few useful tips she had for
other bloggers looking to boost their
own conversion rates.

12. Know exactly what you’re
supposed to do
Follow through on instructions, tips,
and hints for raising your conversion
rate before looking at results. Trust
me when I say that otherwise, you’re
just asking for disappointment. From
what Tammy had to say in the
interview, I think she’d agree.

13. Don’t overwhelm visitors
with things you have to offer
Strip away those extras! When
Tammy did this, her conversion rates
soared from 1% to 10% within the
first 48 hours and have been as high
as 20% depending on the date.

14. Tell your audience what to do
to move forward
One of the best pieces of advice
James received was from Mark
Schoenrock who said, “If you only
want them to do one thing, only give
them one thing to do.”

15. Distracting them with unnecessary
elements at this point only draws your
audience’s attention away from the
purpose of your site.

16. Finally, look at your landing
page through the eyes of your
audience
Imagine being there for the first time.
Tammy’s new website offered two
things – sign up for the newsletter, or
click the link saying “I’ve already
signed up” before taking users to the
landing page.

17. Arranging the
Elements on
Your Webpage

18. The late architect and furniture
designer Charles Eames once said,
“Design is a plan for arranging the
elements in such a way as best to
accomplish a particular purpose.”
Graphics can add to a website, but
when used incorrectly can detract
from what it has to offer.

19. For instance, borders, headers, and
even background graphics can help
lead the viewer’s eye to the most
important copy on the page and
create a sales pitch that’s so cleverly
designed that the viewer won’t
immediately think, “I need to exit
out before they trap me into
spending money!”

20. Effectively used, graphics can be as
powerful as the text on your
webpage if not more influential
when it comes to raising conversion
rates. I’ve found it helpful when
designing the aesthetics of a site to
outsource the work through a
company such as Elance,

21. where freelance artists and
students from game design
schools often produce work that
rivals big-name design companies
for a fraction of the cost. However,
without effective sales copy to go
with them, the pretty graphics are
just that…something nice to look at
online.

22. Freelance author Ashley Monroe loves writing
and during her career has covered about a
broad range of topics, from pediatric dentistry
to distance learning for video game designers
and writing for www.animationarena.com. The
parents of two young girls, she and her husband
enjoy spending time together as a family,
whether it’s visiting the local playground or
taking off for a weekend of camping. When
she’s not working, Ashley enjoys knitting, yoga,
and taking brisk strolls around the block with
her walking buddy, the family’s golden retriever.