For any marketing strategy, converting your target audience into customers will be your end goal. You may put so much effort into driving traffic and generating quality leads for your websites. But the conversion determines the success rate of any campaigns.
The conversion rate is the number that determines how many people have taken a specific action on your website. It may be a purchase, download, sign-up, etc.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) helps you get more out of your existing traffic and leads and turn them into customers. This article describes in detail what conversion rate optimization is and how you can use it to grow your business.
What Is Conversion Rate Optimization?
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the process of enhancing the performance of your website or landing pages to increase the percentage of conversions.
An improved website results in an increase in leads, which means an increased number of conversions. CRO can give you highly-qualified leads, generate revenue, and lower acquisition costs.
Before we go into conversion rate optimization, let’s first look at what conversion rate is. Conversion rate is the percentage of people who take a particular action on your website.Â
The action is different for each business. For some, it may be a purchase. For others, it may be a sign-up, a download, a subscription, or filling up a form.Â
The main objective of CRO is to rectify the issues that stop visitors from taking that particular action. Some areas that can benefit from CRO strategies are
- home pages,
- landing pages,
- product pages,
- category pages, andÂ
- checkout experience.
Conversions are very important for any business since they impact several aspects of its future performance.
To increase the conversion rates of your business, you must constantly test and optimize your website and enhance user experience.
How Do You Calculate Conversion Rates?
CRO can be calculated by dividing the number of conversions by the total number of visitors for a website and multiplying the result by 100 to get a percentage.Â
Conversion Rate = No. of conversions / No. of visitors Ă— 100 |
Example
You can easily calculate your conversion rate if you know what action you want your visitors to take. For example, consider visitors filling up a form as conversion.Â
If 1000 people visit your website and 200 people fill-up the form, your conversion rate is 20%. That is, 200 / 1000 Ă— 100 = 20%.
Advantages of Conversion Rate Optimization
Conversion Rate Optimization helps add more value to your customers (potential and existing). It lowers costs per acquisition and generates revenue for your business.
By implementing CRO strategies in your sites, you can acquire more customers and grow your business. Below are some of the advantages of optimizing your sites for better conversions.
You understand your customers better
To get better leads and increase your conversion rates, you should first optimize your sites according to your target audience’s needs. You should find a solution to their pain points and give them what they need.Â
CRO strategies help you get a full understanding of your target audience. Conducting research and creating personas for your audience can let you understand what they want from your products.Â
Decrease acquisition costs
The more effort you put into optimizing your website’s user experience, the less expensive it will be to acquire new customers. Conversion rates are highly dependent upon user experience and satisfaction.
If the users have a good experience navigating your website, they will be more inclined to convert into customers.
Increase current customer lifetime value
CRO can help you not only gain new customers but also retain your old customers (i.e) increases the existing customer’s lifetime value.
By conducting customer research, you can find out which customer journeys were successful and focus on those customers.
By optimizing your content and focusing on customers who have already bought your products, you can convert them into loyal customers for your brand.
Boost your SEO efforts
It is a well-known fact that Google or any other search engine takes user experience as one of the major ranking factors.
By optimizing your websites and landing pages that suit your audience’s needs, you can rank higher on the search results page.
So, optimizing your web pages not only helps with increasing conversions but also helps with ranking your websites higher in the search results. This will lead to more website traffic.
Where Can You Implement CRO Strategies?
Your websites can greatly benefit from conversion rate optimization strategies. Here are some areas/pages where you can implement them for better leads and conversions.
Homepage
Homepage is the page your audience first sees once they enter your website. It is the page that gives your viewers their first impression of your brand.
You can optimize your home page by adding links to your products, creating call-to-action buttons, or even using chatbots that visitors can use to solve their queries whenever they visit your website.
Landing pages
Landing pages are where most viewers convert into customers by taking the required action (purchase, sign-up, etc.).
The landing pages should provide the necessary information that appeals to the viewers and makes them want to buy your products.
Blogs
A blog post is a great opportunity to get leads for your website. By providing people-first, helpful content for your readers, you can build authority in your industry and convert them into leads for your website.
You can add a call-to-action or your website link at the end of the blogs and invite your readers to visit your website.
You can also invite your readers to know more about your products and services by making them submit their personal details or subscribe to your newsletters.
Apart from the above pages, there are many pages where you can optimize and make changes to enhance user experience and increase conversions.
Tips to Optimize Conversion Rate Optimization
Now that you know what CRO is and how it can benefit your business, here are some optimization tips you can follow to increase the conversion rates of your websites.
Do A/B Tests
A/B testing, also called Split testing, is an experimentation process where two or more versions of the same thing (website, landing page, etc.) are shown to different groups of visitors simultaneously to determine which version makes the most impact and which has the most conversion rates.Â
There are several elements of a web page you can do split tests on. Some of them are
- headlines,
- button placements (left, right, and center),
- colors of design elements (buttons, page borders, etc.),
- page layout (sidebar vs. no sidebar),
- call-to-action (buy now, shop now, or try now),
- media elements (images, texts, or videos), and
- copies (the way you describe your products and services).
Use site search on your website
Site search is a feature that enables visitors to search and find what they are looking for on your website. This will make it easier for them to navigate your website quickly and efficiently.
The main benefit of using site search on your websites is to enhance user experience.
Visitors are more likely to convert when they find what they are looking for quickly instead of having to go through several pages to find them.Â
Also, the data you collect from these search results can give valuable insights into what your audience is searching for on your websites. You can use this data to create personalized content that caters to your audience’s needs.
Simplicity is key
Simplicity is key to attracting your audience. Your visitors take less than a minute to decide whether to exit or continue browsing your website. So, it is important to make this minute count and do everything to create a good first impression on your visitors.Â
- Don’t overwhelm your visitors with too much information (it may be images, videos, or text).Â
- Convey your message with a simple, appealing design or text.
- Keep your copy simple and straight to the point.Â
- Provide a clear CTA that compels your visitors to take action.
Add testimonials to build trust
People won’t convert just because you provide compelling content and do the required SEO. They must believe that you are a genuine brand and give them the results they are looking for in your products.
Trust is a major factor in getting your visitors to turn into customers. Using testimonials or reviews on your web pages can add credibility to your brand and convince users to buy your products.
Make website navigation easier
If you are an e-commerce site, you should make navigating your website easy and simple for your visitors.
If you have several products under your brand, don’t separate them into too many categories. This can become confusing for your visitors.
It is better to have five or six major categories and have sub-categories within each. Better do SEO for category pages and organize your most popular category at the top of the navigation bar for easy access.Â
Make form-filling easier
Website forms have many purposes. They are one of the major sources of collecting customer information. The forms can be newsletter sign-up forms, product/service inquiry forms, or subscription forms.
There are some concerns people have over filling out forms. Below are some of them.
- Security concerns over providing personal information
- Lack of mobile usability
- Upselling that annoys users
- Unnecessary advertisements
- Lengthy form
You can optimize the above factors and make it easier for visitors to fill out forms on your website. Make form-filling as simple and easy as possible.
Use high-quality product images
Visually appealing and relevant images are very important to attract your visitor’s attention. If you are adding images of your products, try to include images taken from every angle and accurately show what your product is.Â
You can also add product videos depicting what your product is and how to use it. This will make it easier for users to understand what your product is and how they are used.
Be clear about price, delivery date, and out-of-stock products
Being unclear about the price and other important details about your products is one of the major reasons for cart abandonment.
Having to pay more than expected and getting products delivered at a later date can cause a negative impression on your customers.Â
So, always be clear about these important details. Don’t be afraid to inform your customers about the pricing, delivery date, or out-of-stock products.
If you sell quality products and have your customers’ trust, they won’t mind paying a little more or waiting a little longer for delivery.
Pre-fill customer information for repeat customers
Pre-filling information about your current customers can make it easier for them to make repeated purchases. No one wishes to enter the same information repeatedly.
Having your customer’s billing and shipping information auto-filled when they are buying products can enhance user experience and make the process easier.
Optimize your website’s loading speed
Your website speed determines how long visitors will stay on your website. If your pages take too long to load, the customers may get frustrated and leave your site.Â
Always remember that your website’s loading speed not only enhances user experience but can also decrease bounce rates.
Having lower bounce rates shows search engines that you have a credible and worthy site and can lead to ranking higher in search results.
You can use Google’s PageSpeed Insights Tool to check how long it takes for your website’s pages to load.
While optimizing your website’s loading speed can be a complex process, it can be very beneficial for your business.
Conclusion
- When it comes to optimization, there is no end to how much you can optimize your websites.
- There will always be trends or customer preferences that will change and require you to adapt them accordingly.
- So keep an eye out for your customers’ likes and dislikes and optimize your content according to their needs.
- Always remember that a great user experience is the key to getting more conversions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the process of enhancing the performance of your website or landing pages to increase the percentage of conversions.
An improved website results in an increase in leads, which means an increased number of conversions. CRO can give you highly-qualified leads, generate revenue, and lower acquisition costs.
CRO can be calculated by dividing the number of conversions by the total number of visitors for a website and multiplying the result by 100 to get a percentage.Â
Conversion Rate = No. of conversions / No. of visitors Ă— 100
SEO refers to the process of optimizing your content to boost website traffic and generate leads through search engines like Google.
CRO, on the other hand, refers to constantly analyzing website performance and optimizing it to get more conversions.