You’ve invested much time and energy into writing and designing your nutrition website and are ready to offer your services. So why isn’t your email list growing? And why are the people booking discovery calls not the right clients for you?

The problem might be that your website isn’t strategically designed to sell to your audience. Here’s what all dietitians should know about website conversion, with tips to optimize your conversion rate so you can turn website visitors into your ideal clients.

What Is a Website Conversion Rate?

Website conversion means a visitor completes a desired action on your website. That action can vary depending on your business goals. You might want visitors to:

• Sign up for your upcoming program
• Schedule one-on-one appointments
• Buy your latest cookbook or meal plans

To achieve these money-making conversion goals, you need mini-conversion goals. These are steps visitors take along the way. Examples include signing up for a newsletter, downloading a lead magnet, or scheduling a free discovery call.

Your conversion rate is the number of people who took your desired action during a set period divided by the number of website visitors you had in that same period, multiplied by 100.

For example (27 conversions ÷ 1200 visitors last month) x 100 = 2.25% conversion rate.

Website conversion rates differ by industry, but most experts suggest that a 2-5% conversion rate is a sign that your website is doing its job. You can set up customized reports in Google Analytics to calculate and analyze your conversion goals or do it by hand.

How to Optimize Your Website Conversion Rate

If you’re getting traffic, but not many people sign up for your email list or schedule calls or appointments, it’s time to analyze your website’s effectiveness. Ask these questions and modify things as necessary.

Is your branding dialed into your ideal client?

You’ll have a much easier time converting website visitors if they know they’re in the right place, and you can give them exactly what they want. That starts with your branding and messaging. Every part of your branding, from your content to your logo and color palate to your photos and graphics, should engage visitors and build trust so they stick around to learn more.

Although it’s important to tell your story, a well-branded website is more about the audience you want to capture and less about you. Ask a colleague or friend to review your branding and content and tell you if it’s on target. If not, consider hiring an expert to help refine your branding.

Can visitors get what they need from your website in one or two seconds?

Most people form an opinion about a website in less than a second. If yours loads slowly or it’s unclear what you specialize in or whom you work with at first glance, a visitor will click away and look elsewhere.

It’s vital that your most important content — your website name and a sentence or tagline that summarizes who your ideal client is and how you help them, are at the top of your website, “above the fold,” meaning they don’t have to scroll or search. Once you’ve gotten their attention and made a connection, it should be easy for visitors to learn more and obvious how to connect with you.

Do you have a clear, enticing CTA (call to action)?

A CTA is a message that asks your visitor to do something and engage with you. You can ask them to schedule a call or book a session or class. However, many people like to get to know you before committing to work with you, so you should also have a CTA inviting them to download a free resource (known as a lead magnet) when signing up for your email list.

Your CTA should create a sense of urgency by using action words, addressing your client’s pain points, and speaking directly to them. Once they’ve trusted you with their email, send a welcome letter letting them know more about you, your services, and how you help clients like them. Remember that everyone who provides their email is a lead you can eventually convert, so keep them engaged by entering them into a sales funnel and sending periodic valuable information.

Do you need a better lead magnet?

Most people only give out an email address if there is something worthwhile in return. If very few people sign up for your lead magnet (a free offer or download), ask yourself if it’s compelling enough. Make sure it’s unique — not something readily available online, and it provides value to your visitor. If you’re offering a free discovery call, let visitors know what’s in it for them.

Is your navigation seamless?

You can probably navigate through your website in your sleep, but that doesn’t mean your visitors can. Ask someone unfamiliar with your website to test your links and various pages. Ensure your downloads and email funnel work as intended.

Consider using a heat mapping tool like Hotjar. It lets you visualize how users navigate your site, areas they might find frustrating, and where they drop off. Once you install it, it records how visitors scroll and navigate through your site. You can identify problem patterns or pages visitors tend to skip over and edit those pages to make them more appealing or user-friendly.

Seamless navigation is non-negotiable. If your website doesn’t work fast and smoothly, visitors will click away and find what they need elsewhere.

These are some of the most common website problems and easy fixes to improve your conversion rate. Make any necessary changes and use tools like Google Analytics, Hotjar, and your email subscriber and open reports to monitor the impact.

And don’t be afraid to contact a website expert for help if needed. It can save you valuable time and help you boost your conversion rate — and bottom line much faster.