Most people don’t buy products as soon as they learn about them. On the contrary, the modern buyer’s journey is complex and lengthy, with consumers doing more pre-purchase research than ever.

In fact, Deloitte’s latest survey found that 58% of consumers are more careful with their spending this year than in 2024, while 54% consciously cut down on luxuries and treats.

With this in mind, the only genuinely effective method of converting new customers is to optimize your entire sales funnel.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t turn first-time web visitors into buyers — especially if you’ve built a trustworthy brand identity that makes shoppers feel safe when interacting with your business.

All you have to do to convert awareness-stage buyers into customers is know how to trigger action and overcome common conversion obstacles.

So, if you’re looking for conversion tips that will help shorten the sales cycle and maximize sales, here are the best strategies to funnel first-time web visitors into buyers.

Use Newsletter Sign-Up Incentives

One of the best tips for converting more first-time web visitors into customers is to forget about sales.

Buying decisions can’t all be instantaneous. Yes, some resources claim that 40% of all money spent on ecommerce is attributed to impulse purchases. Nevertheless, focusing on turning awareness-stage consumers into followers (and then loyal customers) is much more effective than trying to maximize quick sales.

The easiest way to do this? Find effective ways to generate quality leads with a high purchase intent.

By focusing your attention on converting potential customers who want to buy but require that extra nudge, you put yourself in a hugely beneficial position.

On the one hand, if you manage to convince them to buy, you’ve just converted a customer with a minimum amount of brand touches. On the other hand, if all they do is sign up for a newsletter, you still have an easy, budget-friendly method of nurturing them into buyers with a well-thought-out email marketing campaign.

The easiest way to accomplish these goals is to offer incentives for signing up for your newsletter. Something simple, like the “Claim 10% off” button on the Sewing Parts Online homepage is more than enough to attract web visitors’ attention and convince them to convert. Yet, the ROI can be exceptional.

Source: sewingpartsonline.com

Of course, you don’t have to offer discounts. High-quality downloadables, ebooks, and resources are all equally effective at generating leads.

What matters is that you identify the one perk your prospects want the most and give it to them in return for committing to future engagements with your brand.

Highlight Limited Deals

Another excellent method to shorten the journey from awareness to purchase is to create a sense of urgency.

Using FOMO in your marketing messaging isn’t necessarily the best way to build trust. In fact, if you take it too far, it can come off as manipulative and lower your chances of converting new customers.

Nevertheless, if your web visitors need that little extra push to convert, calling their attention to a splendid limited deal can effectively shorten the sales cycle.

Think, for example, of limited-time deal banners — like the one on OrthoBracing. Yes, this marketing tactic employs urgency to funnel first-time visitors into buyers. But it also offers a genuine benefit for the buyers — up to 75% off on products that are otherwise high-ticket purchases, yet genuinely improve the users’ quality of life.

Source: orthobracing.com

Of course, there are other ways to accomplish the same goal with user-oriented urgency. You could: 

• offer free shipping for orders over a specified amount
• advertise time-limited buy-one-get-one-free offers
• advertise any other attractive perk that aligns with what your target audience looks for when making purchase decisions

Make Product Discovery Ultra Simple with Filters and Search

Because the buyer’s journey is so complex nowadays, it shouldn’t surprise you that some consumers skip entire stages of the funnel.

In fact, your best chance of converting first-time web visitors into buyers is by appealing to those prospects who know what they want and aren’t afraid to take immediate action. To do this, you need to make the product discovery process extremely straightforward.

One of the best methods to speed up the buyer’s journey in this regard is to enhance your site’s search option.

Seeing that people often treat retail websites as search engines (and that 69% of consumers go straight for the search bar when landing on a website), it’s super important to create a pleasant search experience for first-time web visitors.

In addition to paying attention to UI design and functionality, explore additional ways to get people from the search bar to their carts more quickly.

For example, including filters in this website element can make product discovery more pleasant. Or, you could do something similar to Ruggable. This brand includes specific product suggestions as web visitors fill out the search bar, complete with pricing and direct product links for a more seamless shopping experience.

Source: ruggable.com

Create Quizzes to Supercharge the Buyer’s Journey

If you’re looking to take the previous conversion-boosting hack to the next level, you could also invest in interactive content meant to speed up the shopping journey.

Again, the goal when funneling first-time web visitors into buyers is to present them with the best possible solution to their pain points. And what better way to accomplish this goal than to ask them a few quick questions, and then provide personalized product suggestions?

After all, research suggests that today’s consumers crave hyper-relevant brand interactions. More importantly, they become disappointed when businesses fail to deliver.

So, if you’re looking for effective ways to shorten the sales cycle, perhaps it’s time to consider the benefits of personalization.

Interactive product discovery quizzes, like the K18 Hair Quiz, are an effective and budget-friendly way to accomplish this goal. Firstly, they make web visitors feel seen and heard. But more than that, they act as a personalized guide through the sales funnel and as a lead-capture mechanism. This guarantees the highest chances of a first-time web visit resulting in a sale (whether immediately or in the near future).

Source: k18hair.com

Educate First-Time Web Visitors to Elevate Purchase Intent

One of the biggest conversion obstacles for awareness-stage consumers is their lack of experience with a specific category of products — especially when they’re shopping for expensive or niche items.

And while you may feel like a bit of mystery could help you close more deals, the opposite is true.

Insufficient product understanding almost always results in a failure to convert. Whether that’s due to decision paralysis or something else is irrelevant. What matters is that you explore ways to maximize product understanding, optimize your website messaging to ensure accessibility, and always communicate value propositions from a user-centric POV.

By taking these easy actions, you won’t just guarantee that first-time web visitors comprehend what you’re offering. More importantly, you’ll ensure that they understand how that matters to their personal experience and their pain points.

The good news is that you can use a variety of marketing strategies to educate first-time web visitors and funnel them into buyers.

For instance, you could dedicate a section of your homepage to user benefits, which is what Bentobox does below.

Source: getbento.com

Alternatively, you could use your homepage to distribute unique and highly valuable educational content that answers visitors’ niche questions and guides them in the right direction toward making a good buying decision.

The Golf Cart Tire Supply video on lithium battery conversion is a marvelous example of this tactic. It shows just how easy it can be to add educational content to your website, while still presenting your audience with value that is relevant to their experience and that can act as a nudge toward the lower stages of the sales funnel.

Source: golfcarttiresupply.com

Remove Conversion Obstacles Early On

If you’re thinking about ways to convert more awareness-stage consumers into customers, you have to comprehend what it is that makes people not go through with their purchases.

According to the Baymard Institute, some of the most common reasons buyers abandon their shopping carts include high delivery costs, slow shipping times, lack of website trust, a clunky checkout process, a bad return policy, and lack of transparency.

And sure, you may not be able to provide free shipping for all purchases on your website. Nevertheless, you can work on making shopping with your brand more attractive by highlighting the benefits you offer. This is precisely what Macy’s does, pointing out that anyone can opt for the Fast & Free Store Pickup option that gets them their items quickly, at no additional cost.

Source: macys.com

Furthermore, if you know that your industry suffers from a lack of trust, something as elementary as enriching your website with relevant trust badges and social proof could be more than enough to get more first-time visitors to click the “Buy” button.

Let Visitors Try On Your Products

Lastly, to funnel more first-time web visitors into buyers, keep in mind that the biggest drawback of online shopping is that it doesn’t allow consumers to interact with products before buying. Yet, physical touch and real-world interaction are crucial for shoppers making purchase decisions.

Fortunately, web design and technology are advanced enough to allow you to overcome this obstacle and create enjoyable digital experiences that can convince web visitors to invest in your solutions.

So, if you’re looking for effective tips for shortening the sales cycle, consider using your website in a way that lets your visitors try out your products.

This can be a “How it works” web app that introduces your products’ core functionality to people who haven’t had a chance to try it out yet. It’s what Kroolo does with its Summarizer, which allows web visitors to get immediate value from the brand’s product.

Source: kroolo.com

Or, you could do something similar to Clinique, a brand whose “Try It On” button allows shoppers to use their webcam to check if a particular lipstick shade matches their coloring.

Source: clinique.com

Final Thoughts

Converting first-time web visitors into customers is not easy. But it’s not impossible either. The conversion tips discussed in this guide can allow you to funnel more awareness-stage consumers into buyers.

To get the best possible results, do your best to get to know your target audience. Find out what benefits/perks they want, what purchase factors they prioritize, and what makes them tick. That way, you’ll be able to present them with conversion incentives relevant to their experience, elevating their purchase intent and boosting their chances of becoming satisfied customers of your brand.