From the Wall Street Journal – Three Best Ways to Convert Web Traffic Into Sales:

These days, the tech-savvy small business is using search engine optimization to steer customers to its home page. But once those online visitors land, how do you get them to buy? Sure, you can pay a lot for site analytics that give you insights into those potential customers’ shopping habits. But small-business owners now have a variety of simple yet effective tools to tempt visitors into opening their wallets.

The article continues by listing the three techniques:

1. Install a click-to-call feature.
2. Chat with customers online.
3. Offer a try-before-you-buy program.

These are all excellent suggestions. However, they are only valid if the rest of your website is conversion ready. We would add the following criteria as must-haves for any conversion oriented website:

1. Call(s) to action on every page.
2. Website forms to capture necessary information
3. Your telephone number displayed prominently on all pages
4. Content that is designed to provide the necessary information for a user to make the decision to respond
5. Make sure your website is easy to navigate