You’ve got a great website with all the bells and whistles in place to draw attention of the search engines. You’ve got a plethora of great back-links to your site. Your company ranks on page 1 of Google. Your page views are increasing exponentially every day. From a digital marketing perspective, you should be making money. Problem is, you’re only seeing a trickle of sales coming in through your website instead of a flood. There is no business that can live on prospects alone. You need a strategy in place for converting leads to sales.

No matter how large the company or the market, basic sales still comes down to people selling to people. Web consumers come to your website seeking out your company and/or your specific services. Good SEO practices help get them to your website, but how do you turn site visitors into more customers?

Website shoppers have such a vast amount of information and businesses at their fingertips that they can afford to be very, very picky about what they buy and from whom. When viewing a new site, web surfers allow mere seconds to size up a site. How can you increase your potential of converting leads to sales?

• Site layout and viable, actionable content can make a sale from a fleeting glimpse. It’s about basic sales practices, but in a virtual world. Website shoppers have to include all the warmth and personality of a handshake and a smile, without the benefit of hands or a mouth.

Think about the last time you shopped in a new store. When you walked in, did you check out the decoration and the layout? Were your turned off by the color schemes or did you love the lighting? Were the salespeople pleasant and did they make you feel important? Were the products easy to find and nicely displayed? Web consumers want all these same amenities without having to leave their home. Remember the adage – “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”? That first impression is the means to a successful web business.

Like any other store, your web company has to have an appealing layout to draw the customers through your door. Keep your page layout easy to navigate and keep the readers eye drawn to your sales copy with strategically placed graphics. The longer a consumer is on your site, the better chance you have of making the sale.

• Good content can make your would-be buyer feel “right at home” while on your site. The right keywords can show them that you have what they seek and can appeal to their specific needs. Great content can express, in just a few sentences, why your wares are better than rest and move a buyer towards a purchase.

Remember, ABC – Always Be Closing. Engaging and easy to navigate website layout helps beckon consumers to come in, sit down and stay awhile while concise, actionable content works on your website, converting leads to sales.