6 Key Tips For Successful Website Conversion Rate Optimization

Many businesses have realized with a lot of regret that an increase in web traffic does not necessarily translate into an increase in the organization’s bottom line. Research and experience have shown that the major cause of this imbalance is usually the failure to recognize the importance of Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO).

Most medium-sized and small businesses tend to stop at Search Engine Optimization (SEO) which is usually geared toward making it easier for people to find a particular website. Conversion Rate Optimization on the other hand is specifically directed toward turning your prospects and visitors into customers who either use your services or buy your goods, if not both.

For those interested in coming up with a CRO campaign, here are some tips which will ensure that your CRO campaign is a resounding success. They include the following:

Know Your Market

Before you even begin with CRO, it is critical that you identify and study your competitors; know what they plan to bring to the market, what kind of promotions they are having and how their numbers are in terms of Conversion Rate Optimization. And if they are ahead of you, try and find out what is making them tick. If they are behind you in terms of CRO, clearly identify your competitive advantage(s) and ensure these advantages move you further ahead. Irrespective of your product or service offerings though, always keep in mind that no two websites are similar in terms of performance, so don’t strive to be like them, but try to learn the good things they are doing and apply some of these features to your site, such as more attractive and visible purchase buttons.

Another crucial thing to be aware of in terms of CRO is completely understanding what your target market wants or is talking about. In order to do this you can feel your prospective clients’ pulse by checking on the reviews they make about your services and products or comments they post on the various social media platforms and business review apps, including Facebook; Twitter, Yelp!, Instagram, and Monto.

You can also engage test groups using A/B (split testing) on different advertisements or landing pages, using tools, such as Unbounce and Qwaya to help you identify your target markets pain points and then come up with an appropriate strategy to not only convert them into clients but also maintain them for the long haul.

Strategize Accordingly

It is critical for any business keen on having a successful CRO campaign to spend enough time and resources developing a business strategy. This should include both long and short-term goals and identifying the necessary metrics for success.

It is important to clearly understand how the entire business is functioning, going the extra mile to identify both strong and weak areas of the business. Clear reasons for each scenario should be noted and any remedial action should be undertaken where necessary.

To fully understand how the business works, it is important for the business owner(s) to use their own services or products to get a true picture of the customer experience. This helps one to better understand what goes on in the client’s mind when using your services or products; allowing you to make changes and improvements where necessary.

Know and Understand Your Traffic Sources 

Doing this usually calls for the use of some digital analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, Qualaroo, and Unbounce, which will help you see where you are losing many potential clients. You should have real-time, accurate data on who is visiting your site, which landing pages they are spending the most time on, which ones they are ignoring and in which order they navigate through your site

Armed with this data, you will be able to understand how your business’s complete conversion funnel is functioning and identify accurately the places at which you are losing customers. You can then go ahead and concentrate on the areas that show the highest potential for conversion success; saving you time and money in the process.

Develop an Appropriate Call to Action Mechanism

One of the most important aspects of Conversion Rate Optimization is the call to action. It is also one of the misunderstood items in CRO implementation. Many people tend to assume that ending your landing page with a “Call us now” liner will suffice. A good and effective call to action should not only prompt a potential client to take a particular action; it should enable him/her to do so fast and immediately.

For instance, let’s take an example of a local tour and travel agency Alaknanda River Adventure Camp from Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India. This firm has implemented numerous ways in their website via strong Call to Action stuff and wise designing to ensure potential visitors can engage and take actions almost instantly. The topmost things I liked about their conversion tactics is the following:

1. Primary Business Contact Information (Phone no and Email Id) right on the top to grab the first attention of the visitors and ensure they don’t have to look out here and there.
2. Secondary Contact Information (Postal Code, Address and other contact numbers) at the Footer of the Homepage
3. Cool Price Tags like “Starts only at 2500/-“placed above the Large Background Slider and left to the Small Text Slider (that displays Tour Packages) right on the Homepage. The point to be noted here is, it loads extremely fast.
4. Engaging content with amazing punch lines to describe the packages and a “Read More” button just below the sliced lines that opens up on the same page.
5. Right Placement of Social sharing stuff – Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest etc.
6. Responsive web design that delivers good on any gadget, may it be desktop, mobile , laptop or tablets.
7. “Best Time to Visit” – a decent small Call To Action Banner placed to inform the visitors of the duration in which they should plan their trip so that they don’t delay in purchasing packages.
8.  All packages and Inbound Links to important webpages right on the footer
9. A Detailed Contact page with large Google Map showing the exact location of their business and all information crucial to connect with them.

If you want visitors to book appointments for a visit if you are a doctor, make sure the website has a widget that allows for appointment scheduling. This will allow your visitors to easily commit themselves and schedule an appointment that fits their schedule without leaving the site.

In case you advise your clients to make contact either through email or telephone, make sure there is a well-planned and organized follow up mechanism. If you have automated responses, clarify that they are such and make a point of making further more personalized contact as soon as realistically possible.

Set Realistic Targets And Know When To Convert Your Prospects

In this particular context, target or goal refers to what the business defines as conversion. It is worth noting that for different businesses a conversion may mean different things. A website that deals in selling high end houses is unlikely to sell very many houses directly through the site, but they are bound to get client’s contacts and follow up from there. Their conversion is thus different from a company that sells software online. It is very important to define what a conversion is in your business context and come up with a number that is both realistic and achievable.

So depending on the business, a conversion occurs at different points in the customer buying process. It is important to identify such points and engage prospective clients accordingly; keeping in mind that if you engage a client too fast, he may be apprehensive and if you delay too much, he may be gone.

Shout About Your Strong Points

Knowing your competitive advantages and strong points is totally worthless if you do not make them work for you. Once you have identified factors or aspects of your organization that click with your target market, you should go ahead and identify at what points in the buying process they will be most beneficial and introduce them accordingly.

It is also advisable to shout about these advantages by running appropriate advertisements, which are precisely targeted towards your particular market. Such advertisements should be placed in the appropriate media so as to achieve the maximum positive effect.

All in all, CRO is a relatively complex aspect of internet marketing, which is a very fluid and dynamic field that is quite different for each and every business. The above mentioned tips are not a one size fits all solution for each and every conversion rate optimization campaign; though they can, and should be customized so as to fit the unique needs of each and every business. It should also be noted that the results of a CRO campaign are mostly as good as the analytics tools and methodologies adopted by the marketing team. So make sure you do your research to find the best CRO analytics tools and methodologies, which should if applied effectively, lead to increased leads and sales conversions for your business website.

Conclusion:

Since the popularity of online shopping is increasing with every single day, be it for retail or ecommerce businesses, it has become very essential to have a successfully implemented website for short as well as long term goal achievement. 

Hence, for any given business, increasing the website conversion rate should be the number one priority as it will surely inspire your customers to buy products from you.