OK, there's nothing the regular SEOmoz reader won't know here but this is actually an (under 400 words) article for a local UK Chamber of Commerce magazine that they were happy to run with for their March 2007 issue - so it's my attempt at raising awareness of the subject locally to my ideal potetial client base whilst garnering a bit of decent PR.

I was hoping you guys might be able to judge this piece for what it's intended to do rather than what it teaches you. Is it basic enough or too simple? It started out at 1500 words and getting down to under 400 without losing the message was quite tricky.

And - it gives me an excuse to try out the amazing YOUmoz!

Here we go... 

Surely higher search engine rankings lead to more sales or sales leads from your website - right? In relative terms maybe, but how many of your visitors are actually converting to sales or sales leads?

FACT: It costs more to increase traffic to your website than to convert existing traffic into profit.

Forget high search engine rankings, what you need to be thinking about are conversion rates. Find out the percentage of visitors who buy something and work on increasing that number.

Here are 5 tips for improving the conversion rate of your website that you can do right now:

1: An effective homepage tells people immediately 'What you do' and 'What they should do next'. Ensure that yours offers an answer to the question they arrive with. There are far too many confusing homepages out there and confused visitors will not convert, they will leave.

2: Keep the copy 'skimmable'. When people visit a web page they scan it for clues that indicate answers to their questions. Use bullet points and bold type to highlight important parts and always keep it brief. Eliminate unnecessary words.

3: When writing about products and services keep it 'benefit' based rather than 'feature' focused. People buy based on an emotional decision so describe how your product can benefit them in a specific environment or situation they can relate to.

4: Keep contact forms brief. Don't ask for more information than is reasonable for the purpose of their enquiry. Provide a link to your privacy policy that states your intention to behave with their data.

5: Your 'call to action' (Buy now, Click here to.. etc) should be obvious and easy to find – Preferably a button. Remember – convention works so use conventional methods to make it easier for your visitor to understand how to proceed.

The most effective method for improving conversion rates is measuring the behavior of visitors and testing the effect of changes against your conversion rate. There is no more cost effective way of getting the most out of your website in terms of sales and sales lead generation.

Then, when you've mastered all that – You can go back to worrying about search engine rankings...