In a recent teleconference I contributed too I was asked a number of questions about specific problems people were having and what I would do if I were in their position. This is first article in a 3 part series which we'll publish over next few weeks answering those specific queries, in hope that it helps you to solve some of your issues.

Question 1. What do you mean by conversion? Getting someone to answer simplest call to action i.e. "read more here" or actually selling them product/service?

What you're talking about here is two different ways to measure your website. "Read More Here" is what I would call a variable effecting your conversion rate. I call these variables "Micro Conversions" because they are all small (microscopic even) steps toward a full conversion. A micro conversion is something which you should test and measure. "Read More Here" might be better clicked through as "Click here to find out how to win a months supply of vintage wine". So by improving this click through you get browser to take another small step toward your final website goal. By doing this you improve your overall conversion rate, which in this case is to get someone to register or subscribe to win a months supply of vintage wine. Micro conversions can be tracked by measuring click through of links, or read time for content, or bounce rate for headlines and copy. Full conversion is persuading your visitor to do what you want them to do, in my example it would be registering to win wine, but it could be subscription to a newsletter, downloading an audio file, buying a product, selling a service or whatever, but it should reflect what your websites business objective is.

Question 2. What strategies would you suggest when there is no "online" conversion possible? I need them to call me for more info, to learn more and to eventually give them a proposal.

There is no such thing as "no online conversion". You're looking for leads that will eventually ring you but visitor is one with power. If you don't give your visitor a reason to let you continue to have a dialog with them then they won't. Using opt in is one answer. If for instance you ask for a name, email address and telephone number from your visitor so that he can then get useful information from you in form of a free report or audio file you do two things. First you qualify visitor as someone whom is interested in your services and second you get permission to contact him/her again. You need to build into your website a powerful reason for your visitor to give you permission to email or talk to them rather than expect someone to pick up phone. In your case you say they need to ring you to learn more, put what they need to learn into some form which they can opt in to get, such as a white paper, report or audio file. Then you have a conversion rate which is amount of people who give you permission to continue dialog with them by giving you their email address or phone number so that they can learn more about your offering. People visit a website to get information, so give them means to get it.

Question 3. What if product you sell is also sold by several others on website, how do you get someone who is browsing internet to notice your site and want to order from you?

In offline marketing a successful tactic is differentiation. It's no different online. If you stand out from your competition then you get noticed. What makes you different (not necessarily better just different) from your competition? A USP makes an enormous difference to conversion rates. We improved subscriptions by 11% per month for six months by differentiating ourselves. The second point is that your site should be of use to your visitor. The one thing that everyone online has in common is that when they browse they are looking for information. So give your visitors what they want in form of education. If your potential customer becomes educated about your offer and takes away something useful from your website they will remember you over your competition.

Question 4.

Why is it so important to us to have an offer made which we already know we will reject?

It is important because we are aware that we are being judged. We talk about skills and experience and prior accomplishments but that has already been outlined in a resume. A face-to-face interview is for purpose of judging you as a person: Will you fit in? How do you express yourself? How do you look? Are you pleasant to have around? Are you likable?

If a job offer is made, we feel validated and worthwhile - they liked us. We never think "He really didn't like me but my skills are so great." We want to be liked, we want to be wanted, we want to be appreciated for what we are.