Page Rank versus Conversion

Too often I have potential customers calling up and asking can we build them a website with a high page rank? People seem to be obsessed with being on the top 10 of a search engine or ranked number one. My first question to them is would you rather have a high page rank or a site that converts to phone calls or internet sales? Just because your website makes it to the top 10 or even number one for your targeted keyword does not mean anything if sales do not happen or the phone doesn't ring with customers wanting to know more about your product or service. Most websites on the internet are selling some type of tangible good or service. Getting customers to your site is very important, getting them to buy what you are selling is even more important.

Selling Page Rank is not where it's at.

When discussing page rank with anyone it is important to remember that as important as page rank is, the sole focus of where you rank among the search engines can actually hinder your conversion rate. Trying to outrank competitors for their top spots may not be the end-all-be-all nowadays and sometimes shortcuts are taken or pages are changed to suit the search engines and not the people viewing them. I cant tell you how many websites rank number one for their keywords and yet the guy on page 4 has more business than he knows what to do with. Why does this happen? There are several reasons as to why a high ranking site does not convert to a sale. With the onslaught of banner advertising, Google Adwords and back-linking consumers very quickly get lost on a web page and end up quickly exiting and searching for pages that are less busy and straight to the point. Web pages need to have consumer experience in mind and not built with such emphasis on how the site will rank. If you build the site correctly following all internet standards and guidelines, producing a number one page rank worthy website is not a difficult task. Getting a website converting with a top rank should be the order and focus to produce websites with fast ROI which benefits the developer and the client.

What is Conversion and how to get a website to convert?

Conversion simply stated is the rate of measure of the number of potential customers that access your website and continue through to a sale. In regards to your website, it is usually the percentage of visitors that make a purchase versus those that leave. Many website owners employ grandeous efforts to drive traffic or visitors to their site when often times a few strategic adjustments to their web pages, if done correctly, would have a huge impact on their conversion rate thus improving their site's overall bottom line at minimal expense. Here are a few changes that might make a drastic difference to your customers finding what they want and following through to a purchase.

• Make sure your website displays immediately what you offer so there is no confusion as to what you do.
• Chart a path and drive traffic where you want them to go. This is done by walking consumers through the steps to a purchase or phone call.
• Provide plenty of media via images or videos. We live in a "see" and "touch" culture. People want to see what they are buying.
• Your value proposition must be that or better than your competitors. Offering discounts, reasons to buy, reasons to come back are very important to capture sales and bring people back to your site.
• Creating an place that consumers feel safe, one broken image link or text link can send your potential consumers looking for another vendor. Overall perception of your business is very important.
  

The above mentioned items are just a few things you can do to increase your conversion rate.

Tieing Page Rank in with Conversion

At the end of the day an overall S.E.O. strategy is key to any web campaign. Producing a website to rank among its competitors can be a time consuming task but when executed correctly will have a huge effect on your page rank as well as conversion. You cant convert to a sale if know one can find you and if everyone can find you yet you are not coverting those viewers then its all for nothing. Some website do not sell any type of service or product but converting viewers has to be at the utmost importance or a website would not be necessary. When a website is built that follows all validation rules, loads fast, indexes correctly and its copy or page content at a minimum matches that of your competitors, the rate of conversion in and of itself will drive traffic to your site not just through repeat visits and referrals but though backlinks as well thus boosting your page rank.

When you have two website equally ranked, with equal product offerings and services with the exact same value proposition, then the last determining factor will be the the look and feel and overall customer experience. You don't have to sacrifice page rank and those seemingly useful tricks to get more visitors to your site. SEO Specialists might tell you its all about page rank, its all about how many visitors you get to your site and that is fine, I am more interested in not the amount of visitors as I am in the quality of those visits.

For more articles or to contact a webmaster you can find us at The Turn Group.