Conversion rate help please!

[livetutor]

Hi all,

I'm new to this site, but after spending the day reading posts on here, I'm pretty sure I'll be a full member soon!

Anyway, I've launched a new website which provides online, real-time education services for primary and secondary school kids. I've been using various techniques to drive traffic to my site (including adwords), but want to try and improve my conversion rate.

I would appreciate any feedback on the site: livetutor.co.uk and advice on improving site traffic without spending the earth, and improving conversions.

Thank you!

 

[XanderMarketing]

Hi,

Just had a quick look at the website and it looks good.

If you want to increase conversions why don't you try Google Website Optimiser. Do a search and you'll find it.

People will give you valid, but subjective opinions; this will give you the facts.

I used this on a website recently and achieved an 85% increase in conversions from making a simple change.

Alex

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Hi,

Just had a quick look at the website and it looks good.

If you want to increase conversions why don't you try Google Website Optimiser. Do a search and you'll find it.

People will give you valid, but subjective opinions; this will give you the facts.

I used this on a website recently and achieved an 85% increase in conversions from making a simple change.

Alex

A piece of software isn't going to give you any meaningful advice on sales psychology and copywriting. The basics are pretty factual anyway as opposed to just opinions.

Hi all,

I'm new to this site, but after spending the day reading posts on here, I'm pretty sure I'll be a full member soon!

Anyway, I've launched a new website which provides online, real-time education services for primary and secondary school kids. I've been using various techniques to drive traffic to my site (including adwords), but want to try and improve my conversion rate.

I would appreciate any feedback on the site: livetutor.co.uk and advice on improving site traffic without spending the earth, and improving conversions.

Thank you!

You seem to be afraid of putting too much copy on the front page. Put on as much as required to explain exactly what you do, how it works, why visitors should use it (benefits) and why they should use you.

Your front page needs a large, attention grabbing headline, and then needs to hit the reader with benefits of using your service. Explain the results to them. That large animated thing also serves barely any purpose and won't influence sales. It takes up space which would be much better used for compelling copy.

Your how it works page will be actively used, but it doesn't really explain simple terms how it works until later on. The first part of the text explains things which would be more suited for the front page. Keep it simple. When someone clicks 'how it works' they want to know how it works immediately.

Good idea though. There's plenty of opportunity to make that site work very well with the right sales copy and quality traffic.

 

[XanderMarketing]

A piece of software isn't going to give you any meaningful advice on sales psychology and copywriting. The basics are pretty factual anyway as opposed to just opinions.

OK, so if the OP has a split test A with the current setup and split test B with your heavy content set up and gets more enquiries from split test B then surely the changes have worked?

Of course you need to know design, copywriting, psychology etc to give you an idea of what you're going to split test but if you don't measure how do you know what's working best?

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

OK, so if the OP has a split test A with the current setup and split test B with your heavy content set up and gets more enquiries from split test B then surely the changes have worked?

Of course you need to know design, copywriting, psychology etc to give you an idea of what you're going to split test but if you don't measure how do you know what's working best?

Nevermind! I thought you meant basic suggestions offered by Google and the optimiser.

I agree. Using the actual split test function is a great way of improving the sales conversion rate. It is of course important to have some knowledge in-place to make changes in the direction of improvement. You do also need a foundation of sales/quality traffic in-place to receive measurable results which can be worked on.

Personally I'd only ever use the Google optimiser to polish and tweak an existing piece of copy which has the right factors in place.

 

[livetutor]

Thank you both - I'm going to give your ideas a whirl!

 

[fisicx]

I'm an actual tutor (Maths and Science) and get dozoens of enquiries every week. Closer to Exam time it goes crazy.

The company who look after me have got it the right - the focus is on the lessons/subjects rather than the tutors. If a parent applies for tutoring the see a list of subjects, enter their details and receive an email with a list of suitable candidates.

Your system is just so complicated and when I did get to the 'available dates' page there were no vacancies. No available sessions = no conversions.

Change the focus of the site, get rid of the horrible dropdowns, reduce the number of clicks and make sure you have sessions available!

 

[livetutor]

I'm an actual tutor (Maths and Science) and get dozoens of enquiries every week. Closer to Exam time it goes crazy.

The company who look after me have got it the right - the focus is on the lessons/subjects...!

I appreciate your honest advice

 

[Astaroth]

Split testing is always a good way of optimising a site.

You dont say where the majority of your traffic is coming from? If it is coming from Adwords or Affiliates then you need to create specialist landing pages for these and the content and layout should be specific to the keyword search (for adwords) or the type of affiliate. PPC people are typically hot leads and so they should go through a much tigher funnel to the buying stage than a general listing search engine result or long tail keywords. If you are targeting "Maths Tutor" make sure they land on the maths section with a minimal amount of other links to distract them away (eg the careers section)

 

[livetutor]

You seem to be afraid of putting too much copy on the front page. Put on as much as required to explain exactly what you do, how it works, why visitors should use it (benefits) and why they should use you.

Your front page needs a large, attention grabbing headline, and then needs to hit the reader with benefits of using your service. Explain the results to them. That large animated thing also serves barely any purpose and won't influence sales. It takes up space which would be much better used for compelling copy.

Your how it works page will be actively used, but it doesn't really explain simple terms how it works until later on. The first part of the text explains things which would be more suited for the front page. Keep it simple. When someone clicks 'how it works' they want to know how it works immediately.

Scott - I've thrown together a mockup for a new home page based on your comments - am I on the right track now?

livetutor.co.uk/index.php?page=content&id=34

 

[livetutor]

You seem to be afraid of putting too much copy on the front page. Put on as much as required to explain exactly what you do, how it works, why visitors should use it (benefits) and why they should use you.

Your front page needs a large, attention grabbing headline, and then needs to hit the reader with benefits of using your service. Explain the results to them. That large animated thing also serves barely any purpose and won't influence sales. It takes up space which would be much better used for compelling copy.

Your how it works page will be actively used, but it doesn't really explain simple terms how it works until later on. The first part of the text explains things which would be more suited for the front page. Keep it simple. When someone clicks 'how it works' they want to know how it works immediately.

Scott - I've thrown together a mockup for a new home page based on your comments - am I on the right track now?

livetutor.co.uk/index.php?page=content&id=34

 

[fisicx]

Agree with Astaroth, there is too much flannel on the site, it might look pretty but the actual interface and information flow is poor.

For example, if you have to have a page expalining how the system works then you have already lost a large percentage of your visitors.

You need a lot more sessions as well, I saw a total of 5 across all subjects all quite late in the evening. an 10 year old isn't going to be in a fit state for 11+ tutoring at 8.15 in the evening. so that's more potential clients you have lost.

Another great stumbling block is the need for registration - I want to see a list of the topics but was told I needed to register. That's another big chunk of visitors you have lost.

The point is that you are making it so difficult to actually get tutoring.

Not sure about your prices either, there are two national organisations charging about the same for a real tutor.

 

[livetutor]

Agree with Astaroth, there is too much flannel on the site, it might look pretty but the actual interface and information flow is poor.

For example, if you have to have a page expalining how the system works then you have already lost a large percentage of your visitors.

You need a lot more sessions as well, I saw a total of 5 across all subjects all quite late in the evening. an 10 year old isn't going to be in a fit state for 11+ tutoring at 8.15 in the evening. so that's more potential clients you have lost.

Another great stumbling block is the need for registration - I want to see a list of the topics but was told I needed to register. That's another big chunk of visitors you have lost.

OK - I'll take this on board

Not sure about your prices either, there are two national organisations charging about the same for a real tutor.

Not sure I agree here - these are qualified teachers teaching for us, you can get a first year undergraduate to teach you for £8 per hour, but it doesn't mean all parents will go to them for tutoring.

Also - I don't know many tutors that will travel to you to give you a 30min lesson, as is one of the options we offer.

I appreciate your comments though

 

[fisicx]

Also - I don't know many tutors that will travel to you to give you a 30min lesson, as is one of the options we offer.

I do. In fact all of the local tutors do this. Fees range from £16 to £35 for 1 hour depending on subject and level. Most parent don't have a problem with paying these fees - it's not the money, it's the one to one they want, the actual sitting down with the student and working through the problem areas. And I get a cup of tea and a biccie.

The point I'm trying to make is your service isn't what parents really want. The don't want they child to sit in front of a computer, they want someone to sit with their offspring and work with them.

I'm sure you get a decent amount of work but you would get even more if you offered house calls. To give an example, If I took up every offer (all within 10 miles of home) I would be doing over 30 sessions a week!

 

[livetutor]

I do. In fact all of the local tutors do this. Fees range from £16 to £35 for 1 hour depending on subject and level. Most parent don't have a problem with paying these fees - it's not the money, it's the one to one they want, the actual sitting down with the student and working through the problem areas. And I get a cup of tea and a biccie.

The point I'm trying to make is your service isn't what parents really want. The don't want they child to sit in front of a computer, they want someone to sit with their offspring and work with them.

I'm sure you get a decent amount of work but you would get even more if you offered house calls. To give an example, If I took up every offer (all within 10 miles of home) I would be doing over 30 sessions a week!

Thanks for the business advice, but I've actually been running a traditional tutoring company for the last 20 years, so am well aware of rates and what students ask for. The idea isn't to try and compete with face-to-face tutoring, it's to offer another alternative. Not every parent fancies a complete stranger in their house - especially ones that have no qualifications or ability to teach.

The idea of the site is that students can speak to qualified teachers, and get help fairly quickly without having to interview/vet tutors from some directory to find one they like.

 

[fisicx]

Sorry didn't mean to teach you your business!

I do understand what you are offering it's just the website that is putting up so many many barriers to getting conversions.

 

[Astaroth]

Just to clarify my own point.... you need to understand that different people come to your site for different reasons...

Some know what they want and simply want to buy and should have a very straight forward process to buy and links off to other areas are simply a distraction

Some think they need something but not sure what, these need more reassurance and have additional information there to educate them but still need to be pulled back into the buying process.

Some are looking only for information and not to buy in which case hard sales tactics would put them off.

The key part is to identify which catagory a visitor is in and direct them down the right path. People who come in on narrow keyword PPC are frequently in Cat 1 and so should go to a bespoke landing page for their keyword terms that simply gets them through the sales process.

 

[phil0s0pher]

Looks like a great website, just keep a blog and write excellent content - try to give away as many tips as possible for free. Get people interested that way.

 

[Ali-v-8]

Hi,

I agree with Graham about the website.
But i would like to know more about your traffic.
Where is it coming from?
What terms are you targeting?
conversions can depend on source.

 

[Ali-v-8]

just to add. fantastic idea.

 

[livetutor]

Hi,

I agree with Graham about the website.
But i would like to know more about your traffic.
Where is it coming from?
What terms are you targeting?
conversions can depend on source.

Hi Ali-v-8,

Traffic is coming from a variety of sources, including paid clicks, social networking followers, direct from printed marketing etc.

I'm going to take the advice given to me so far on the thread and shorten the amount of clicks from home page to booking, add a bit more sales text to the home page, shorten the text in How it Works section, and generally make it easier to book.

Any other ideas would be welcomed.

Thanks

 

[Ali-v-8]

First address your titles.
Live Tutor - Private Tuition for 11+, GCSE and A-Level
This is reads like a sentance.
I suggest removing "and" from title and using whole phrases instead that involve variations.
eg 11+ tutor |gcse tuition | one to one A level tuition

this is just a rough idea to give you the heads up.

 

[micatap]

great tool to drive traffic to your web is youtube videos... Give some tips what you ofer, place a link of your site in the video and description beside it...