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The concept itself is a bit broad. After all, most of psychology can be divided into two camps: one that states that experience alone influences thinking and development, and one that holds that thinking and development are ultimately internal. Still, the Law of Past Experience has been proven true in many studies. A 2008 study, for example, found that children who were shown a Santa Claus cap were more likely to share candy with other children than those who did not see the cap. Why? Because at a young age, many children are taught that Santa Claus represents gift-giving and goodwill. The children associated the cap with sharing and, as a result, shared their candy with the children around them.
 

This concept is definitely applicable to (much older) Internet users. Website conversion often relies on images, videos, and designs that specifically evoke a message or feeling that best represents the company. A business that sells health care products, for example, should choose images that evoke the concept of healing and growth. Including images just for the sake of it does little to attract customers. In fact, meaningless images may do more harm than good. After all, how naive do you think Internet users are? Stock images flood the Internet. Users want something more when they are looking for a product to buy or a company to do business with.
 

Freedom of Choice Can Be a Bad Thing -- One area of behavior psychology, a topic covered by everyone from Aristotle to B.F. Skinner, is the idea of 'freedom of choice'. That is, are we really free in choosing what we do or think, or are there psychological factors that bind us? There is no easy answer -- there are no easy answers in psychology -- but some in the field notice that being presented with too many choices can be as detrimental as being presented with not enough. The 'Paradox of Choice', a concept coined by preeminent psychologist Barry Schwatz, argues that the more choices a consumer has, the less likely he or she will actually pick one. Having too many choices can lead to fears of buyer's remorse, anxiety, and confusion.
 

'Choice paralysis' can be overcomed in website conversion by limiting the choices offered as well as suggesting what to choose. Highlighting a certain product or service in a group, for example, can lead to more conversions and, consequently, sales.
 

If You Got It, Flaunt It -- This may seem obvious, but showing your actual product or service will lead to more sales. Amazingly, there are quite a few websites that don't bother displaying images of what they sell or offer. A company that sells plumbing supplies, for example, should features images (detailed images, not stock ones) of pipes, wrenches, filters, and other supplies. Just like customers in a grocery store want to actually see or feel the food they are buying, online customers want to get a sense, a visual sense, of what they might purchase.
 

For software companies, including an image of what the application looks like is incredibly important. Buying a user interface is a big decision for small businesses. If they don't like the appearance, even if the interface itself is top-notch, they are less likely to buy it. The 'aesthetic-usability effect', for better or worse, is paramount in business and website conversion.
 

Samples, Please -- The best ice cream shops are those that give out samples. No one wants to be stuck with an ice cream flavor they don't like. It's remarkably similar in business, especially when dealing with thousands of dollars! When dealing with such sophisticated, expensive products and services, customers want to be sure they are choosing the right one. One way to get those website conversions up and running is by offering samples of your services. The more time a customer spends working with a sample, the more likely he or she will choose it (again, direct experience).
 

'Freemium' service, for example, is a business model in which a company offers a limited service for free. It is not a trial; the customer has the option of using the freemium service indefinitely. Many music streaming companies such as Spotify and Pandora, for example, offer freemium services with great success. The idea behind it is simple: draw customers in, have them use the product, and if your product is good enough, customers will more than likely choose the full, paid services. And if they don't, it might be time to retool the services they used.
 

AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire and Action) -- It may not the most pleasant-sounding of acronyms but it is quite important for web conversion and, for that matter, marketing. The concept is simple enough. Attention refers to initially drawing a customer in; interest means getting that customer genuinely interested ('intrigued' might be a better word) in the product or service; desire takes interest a step further in that it makes the customer feel he or she will benefit from choosing the service; and action is the final step of making the customer buy the product.
 

Of course, going about designing an AIDA strategy is easier said (and written) than done. The last two steps, desire and action, are particularly challenging. Having a customer feel desire for a product, so much so that he or she will act on it, is the ultimate goal of any website conversion strategy. One way to go about building desire is to highlight the benefits of the product or services. How will this product benefit me? Answer that for the customer and you are well on your way. Making a customer act on a product is tricky but in general, offering limited time offers, stressing the limited stock or availability, and otherwise emphasizing urgency tends to work. In addition, make sure that customers who want to buy the product can do so immediately. Have a link that will lead them to a purchasing page, or a call-to-action such as 'Contact us today'.
 

Know Your ABCs -- In business, 'ABC' refers to the idea of 'always be closing'. That is, every step in the web designing process should always have, either directly or indirectly, the intent of locking in a new customer. The best way to follow the ABC principle is to make the website as clear as possible. Have easy to use tabs and links that will allow a user to find out everything they would want to know about a product or service. And once they are ready to sign up, be sure the website has a clear section for the user to do so.
 

Also, avoid dead ends at all cost! Dead ends -- pages that do not lead to somewhere else or even suggest somewhere else on the website -- can deter a potential customer pretty quickly.