Websites work a bit like shops. If you are a store manager, you are aware that many people will pop by just to have a look at what you sell, and then leave. The number of persons actually buying something will always be smaller than those visiting your store. The same goes for your website.

Only a small percentage of visitors will be “converted”, that is, end up performing an action, such as purchasing your product or subscribing to your newsletter. This may be due to a number of reasons: the prices might be too high, the goods on sale unattractive, or there might be some sort of technical flaw in the shopping cart, preventing visitors from checking out. If your goal is to have people subscribe to your newsletter, there might be a problem with the content being uninteresting or the subscribe button being difficult to locate.

When we are tasked to analyze the conversion rate of a website, we employ a tool called the conversion funnel. This system allow us to establish how many customers have actually performed an action, providing us with useful data about the usability of a website, and allowing our clients to carry out the necessary corrections in order to reach their objectives. The bottom line to improve a website’s usability, is to always keep the number of steps needed in order to complete an action to a bare minimum.