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Increase Your Site's Conversion Rate Dramatically by Changing Its "Look"

First impressions almost always affect your customer's buying behavior. In less than five seconds, your customer will unconsciously decide if your site is trust-worthy and if he will stay and make a purchase.

In one study, a site owner increased the site's conversion rate by almost 13% simply by changing the logo and color-scheme to make the site look more "official". He replaced his cartoon character logo with one that looked like an official government seal. And, since he is in the US, he added an American flag in the background and utilized a red, white and blue color scheme.

Now I am not saying you need to go out and hire a graphic designer and spend thousands of dollars re-branding your entire business. But I'm sure there are a few simple ways you can use this technique on your own site.

For instance, I am US government certified in handicapped accessible web site design. - but I do not mention this critical fact anywhere on my site! I do have a certificate and seal that I can use, and you can bet I will be adding that to my site before the week is up.

Do you have any certifications you can use? Think outside the box... Maybe it's just your college diploma. Or the seal from the local Chamber of Commerce. What about the Better Business Bureau - but be careful with this one; they have made some strict changes to the rules governing the use of their logo. Test any third-party "endorsement" you can think of.

What about your color scheme? A client of mine was using colors that reminded me of a very popular children's cartoon. This might work great for some, but it was definitely not the impression he wanted to give off.

Spend a few minutes reviewing your site through your customer's eyes (I know, easier said than done). You might need a friend to help you on this one.

Time to implement this Successful Site Secret: If you are using CSS on your site, you should be able to make site-wide changes in less than 30 minutes. (If you are not using CSS, this offers you a great opportunity to start!)