“Get more conversions!” is often one of those phrases you’ll see on cheap banner ads across the web. And while the idea of these mythical “conversions” is tantalizing, most are left in the dark when it comes time to devise their own conversion rate optimization strategies. Between e-commerce, B2B, and B2C companies, everyone has some form of natural customer funnel they want their website visitors to complete; that process of a visitor completing a desired action is defined as a conversion.
There are many types of conversions depending on your business type. From buying products to signing up for newsletters, any goal can be viewed as a conversion if it requires a visitor to complete an action. So how can you as a business increase conversions on your site? It all starts with CRO.
What is CRO
CRO, also known as conversion rate optimization, in a nutshell, is the process of assessing and then improving your website in the pursuit of driving more conversions than you are currently seeing. Seems simple enough in explanation, but the execution can be tricky. You may think that CRO sounds an awful lot like SEO (search engine optimization), seeing as they both use the word “optimization,” but that’s not exactly the case. At its core, CRO improves a site for human behavior whereas SEO improves a site for search engine behavior.
As we said above, a conversion can be defined as any desired action, so the execution of a successful CRO campaign largely relies on having well-defined conversion goals. For B2B clients, we typically see companies wishing to target smaller conversions such as button clicks, newsletter sign-ups, or form submissions. For B2C clients, ideal conversions typically include purchases, registration, or subscriptions. Neither conversion is better than the other; it’s up to the company and its CRO experts to identify their most valuable conversions and pinpoint where those conversion processes are having troubles.
How to Evaluate Your Website’s Conversion Rate
The most important guiding principles when it comes to CRO is having data-backed reasoning and utilizing UX/UI best practices. There are many situations in business where intuition and gut feelings can be valuable, but CRO isn’t one. You’ll need to put yourself in the mind of your consumers and run tests and perform audits to determine your site’s current conversion rate metrics. If you are currently implementing UX/UI best practices on your site targeted toward your audience, adding in CRO tactics will only serve to make your website more successful.
There are many free, online resources that you can turn to when it comes to testing your site’s conversion rate. Below we’ve outlined a few of our favorites; some are comprehensive tools while others will help you to analyze individual pieces of your site’s data.
The natural first step to take while assessing your site’s conversion rate is to look at its analytics. Your website’s analytics should allow you to see where are people going, how they are getting there, and what they are trying to get to. Think of analytics as a glorified treasure map. You follow the point along a predetermined course until you reach your end goal or treasure. But, if the road to your bounty is blocked by too many pitfalls, you’ll see that most of your visitors are giving up the hunt in order to switch to an easier to navigate adventure. And once you’ve identified your website’s rough patches, you’ll be ready to make some changes.
How to Positively Impact Your Website’s Conversion Rate
Positively changing your website’s conversion rate entails identifying your website’s current issues and finding user-friendly methods to resolve those rough spots. And this balance is harder to achieve than you think. Because if it were as simple as identifying and eliminating issues, all websites would only contain 1-2 pages and display nothing but a series or buttons, forms, and links. And while from a data perspective this would make sense, because your preferred course of action is clearly defined, it wouldn’t work from a user experience standpoint. Consumers want to connect with your brand both emotionally and intellectually before they commit to a conversion, so you’ll need to allow for that need in your website’s design hierarchy.
Here are a few “easy” ways that you can snag your consumer’s attention and increase your website’s conversion rate.
Define your company’s unique value proposition
Also known as a unique selling proposition, this is the statement or concept that clearly describes the benefits and value of your brand. It explains how your products or services solve a consumer’s problems and why your brand is superior to all other on the market.
Utilize engaging copy
Writing copy for your website can seem like a chore, but without compelling copy, your visitors won’t feel the need to further interact with your products or services. Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all model when it comes to web copy. Make sure to do your research, or call your local digital agency, to figure out the perfect algorithm for your website’s content.
Always be prompting visitors to action
Beautiful imagery and video are great, but if there isn’t an obvious way for your visitors to move on to the next step of their buyer’s journey, then you’ll lose them. Avoid over-used copy like “buy now” or “call us today” when crafting your call-to-actions. Consumers want to feel like they’re interacting with you, not a robot.
Use today’s UX/UI best practices
One of the most important changes you can make on your site to increase conversions is to use today’s UX/UI best practices. Visitors will convert when they feel like they’re being catered towards and when they emotionally connect with your website. Make sure that you site is targeted towards your ideal audience and demographic in every way possible.
Generate More Conversions with Snap
Restructuring your site to increase conversions doesn’t need to be an overwhelming feat. At Snap, our CRO experts can help you through every step of the process. If your website is bleeding money or your product pages leave your consumers wanting, then it’s time to bring in the experts. We’ll help you to create clear brand messaging that will capture a visitor’s attention and connect emotionally with anyone who visits your site. Just getting more traffic isn’t enough, you need those visitors to buy, subscribe, click, or sign up for your products and services. If you’re tired of your website underperforming, it’s time to make a change.