As an experienced webmaster, I know that an effective sales funnel is crucial for converting website traffic into paying customers and revenue.
In fact, statistics show that companies with sales funnels generate 78% more leads than those without.
But building a high-converting WordPress sales funnel takes strategic planning and optimization.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll draw upon 15+ years of webmaster experience to walk through how to create an effective WordPress sales funnel from start to finish.
Contents
What Exactly is a Sales Funnel?
Let‘s start with the basics…
A sales funnel represents the customer journey from initial awareness of your product to becoming a paying customer. It consists of the key steps users go through before making a purchase.
For online businesses, this includes the specific web pages visitors may land on and interact with.
Here is an example of a typical ecommerce sales funnel:
- Blog Post or Ad → Product Page → Cart Page → Checkout → Thank You Page
By optimizing each step of your sales funnel, you can reduce friction in the buying process. This results in higher conversion rates and more revenue for your business.
Let‘s dive into how to create each stage of an effective sales funnel using WordPress and proven conversion optimization tactics.
5 Expert Ways to Create a High Converting Sales Funnel in WordPress
Here are 5 key steps I recommend for making a sales funnel that converts visitors into buyers:
1. Build High-Impact Landing Pages to Attract Qualified Visitors
The first step of any sales funnel is driving qualified traffic to your website.
Your landing pages are the first touchpoint visitors have with your brand. You only have a few seconds to capture their attention!
According to statistics from Unbounce, nearly 2/3 of visitors will leave your website in 10-20 seconds if they don‘t find what they need.
To prevent this, you need high-converting landing pages that convince visitors to take action.
Here are some tips for creating landing pages that convert:
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Use a drag and drop page builder like SeedProd to easily create custom landing pages optimized for conversions.
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Focus on a single call-to-action – don‘t distract visitors with too many options.
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Highlight benefits and value propositions – don‘t just state features. Communicate how your offer will solve problems for the visitor.
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Use trust factors like testimonials, guarantees, and security badges. This builds credibility and trust.
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Limit distractions by using high-quality photos, minimalist design, and clear calls-to-action.
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Match page content to your target audience – speak directly to their needs and interests.
By putting effort into your landing pages, you can grab visitors‘ attention, build trust, and intrigue them to move further down the sales funnel.
2. Use Popups and Tools to Reduce Abandonment
Even with a great landing page, many visitors will leave your website without converting.
In fact, the average shopping cart abandonment rate is 69.57% according to Baymard Institute.
This is where conversion optimization tools like OptinMonster come in.
OptinMonster allows you to add popups, announcement bars, and other campaigns to re-engage visitors who are about to leave.
Some types of campaigns that are effective for reducing abandonment include:
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Exit-intent popups – Detect when someone is about to leave your page and show a targeted offer.
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Scroll-triggered popups – Display a popup after a visitor scrolls past a certain point on your page.
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Time-based popups – Set a popup to appear after a visitor has spent X seconds on your page.
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Cart abandonment popups – Target visitors who have added items to their cart but not checked out yet.
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Bar announcements – Use a fixed bar at the top/bottom to provide notifications and offers.
Implementing even one of these techniques on strategically important pages can reduce abandoning of your sales funnel.
3. Capture Leads with Forms
Not every visitor who lands on your site will be ready to make a purchase right away. This is especially true for higher-priced products and services.
Lead generation forms allow you to collect contact information like name, email, and phone number from prospects who aren‘t ready to buy yet.
According to statistics from WordStream, over 70% of visitors leaving your website aren‘t ready to purchase on the first visit.
Lead gen forms allow you to continue nurturing those visitors through future email and marketing. This increases the chances that they‘ll eventually convert.
Here are some tips for using forms to capture more leads:
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Offer something of value in exchange for a visitor‘s email address, like a coupon, downloadable content, or free trial. This increases form conversion rates.
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Embed forms on strategically important pages using a plugin like WPForms. For example, on your pricing page, blog posts, resource pages, etc.
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Follow up with a series of automated emails after someone submits a lead gen form. Send them tips, offers, and content relevant to their interests.
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Integrate your WordPress forms with marketing automation tools like Mailchimp using Zapier. This allows you to segment and nurture leads for sales.
With smart lead form placement and follow-up, you continue engaging the 70% of visitors who don‘t convert on the first visit.
4. Upsell Products Throughout the Funnel
On their path to checkout, you want to display relevant upsell offers to customers.
This increases order value by selling additional products and services.
According to a feature by BigCommerce, upsells can result in a 20-30% average order value increase.
There are two types of upsells to include in your sales funnel:
One-click upsells – Offer add-on products on cart and checkout pages that customers can instantly add with one click.
Order bumps – Right before completing a purchase, present a targeted offer with a checkbox to add it to their order.
For example, if someone is buying a WordPress theme, you may upsell them on premium plugins that extend the theme‘s functionality.
Make it easy for them to add these complementary products without having to restart the checkout process.
Tools like FunnelKit make it simple to add upsells and order bumps in WordPress. Take advantage of these built-in features.
5. Continuously Analyze and Optimize Your Funnel
To maximize the performance of your WordPress sales funnel, you need to monitor metrics and run tests.
Google Analytics gives you in-depth data on things like:
- Traffic sources
- Top landing pages
- Bounce rates
- Conversion rates
- Average order value
- Ecommerce metrics
- And more
Review your analytics dashboard regularly to identify weak points in your funnel. Look for pages with high exit rates or low conversion rates.
Then use A/B testing tools like Google Optimize to test improvements on those pages. Try different headlines, page layouts, images, or calls-to-action.
According to Google‘s research, A/B testing can increase revenue by an average of 14%.
Continuous optimization ensures your sales funnel converts as many visitors into customers as possible. Don‘t leave money on the table!
Conclusion
Building an effective sales funnel takes strategic planning, data-driven decisions, and constant optimization.
But the effort pays off in the form of higher conversions, increased order values, and greater revenues over the long-term.
By following the steps in this guide, you can leverage WordPress and proven plugins like SeedProd, OptinMonster, WPForms, and MonsterInsights to create a high-converting sales funnel.
Focus on providing an excellent user experience throughout each touchpoint in the buyer‘s journey. Use compelling offers and design to guide visitors closer to a purchase at each stage.
Then relentlessly analyze funnel metrics and run A/B tests to fix weak points. This multi-step process will maximize sales from your website traffic.
Let me know if you have any other questions! I‘m always happy to help fellow webmasters.
