Conversion rate. It’s one of those key metrics for any digital marketer. It tells you exactly how effective (or otherwise) your site is at converting your potential customers into actual customers. As such, your conversion rate also determines your revenue, which is the ultimate goal for every business.
With this in mind, it’s of vital importance that you do everything you can to boost your conversion rate, and get your site visitors to take the desired actions, whether that’s filling in a form, signing up to a newsletter or making a purchase. That’s why we’ve put together this article, which provides you with seven top tips for increasing conversions.
- Devise a CRO strategy.
You should already have a lot of data about your website thanks to Google Analytics, which will be able to educate you on where your visitors entering your site, and where they are dropping off. This data can help you form the basis of a Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) strategy, which should look at a number of areas, including the on-page content, layout, calls-to-action and page speed. Your strategy should identify a number of variables which could be altered with a view to having a positive impact on your site’s conversion rate, and suggest action points and tasks to complete as part of it.
- Make use of tools.
There are a number of tools out there which will help you determine which areas you need to focus on, some of which are free or have free trial periods. Consider using tools like heat-mapping software Hotjar, or CRO tool Omniconvert, in order to help you gain a better understanding of the user journey and actions undertaken by your customers.
- Split Test.
We’re extremely familiar with testing – it makes up a key part of our agile approach to digital marketing, but it also plays an important part of CRO too. If a variable can be tested, then go for it! The variable element could be anything, from the size or shape of a form to the colour or font of a call to action on a certain page. All you have to do, is to set up a split test, and send one half of your site traffic to the original guise, and send the other half to the new element you are testing. At the end of the testing period, which should last around a month, you can then analyse the results to see which converts better. If your change has converted better, then implement it permanently. If it doesn’t, then stick with what you’ve got and test it against something else.
- Don’t be afraid to change.
When it comes to implementing your CRO strategy, you can’t be too precious about your website. If there’s a chance that making a change will have a positive impact on your conversion rate, and ultimately your bottom line, then why would you try and stop that from happening?
It’s unlikely that your entire website will need to be redesigned straight away, as CRO is an ongoing process, aimed at finding the best combination of variables to ensure that your business is performing to its potential. Having said that, you should be prepared to make subtle changes to web page layout or the colours associated with your calls to action for example.
- Optimise your conversion funnel.
Optimisation of your conversion funnel, or as Hubspot now like to refer to it, the conversion flywheel, can be crucial to your sites conversion rate. Are you attracting the right audience? How are you engaging with them, and on which platforms? How do you keep your leads warm? How to you get customers to come back to you? Keep your conversion process as simple, yet effective as possible, and you’ll find that your site visitors become customers and then brand advocates quicker than you might expect.
- Add more obvious calls-to-action.
Calls-to-Action are the bread and butter of CRO. They’re how you attract your customers and get them to buy, fill in a form, or learn more about a particular product or service which they have likely shown some interest in. So, the easier you make it for them, the more likely they are to convert and take the desired action.
As previously mentioned in this article, don’t be afraid to play around with your CTAs. Carry out split tests on them to find your optimum size, shape, colour and font, and you’ll find your conversion rate improves significantly.
- Ensure your website is technically sound.
Your website must be technically up-to-scratch for any of your CRO efforts to really have an impact. There’s little to no point in split-testing or producing heatmaps if your site speed is affecting the number of visitors who ‘bounce’ before they have even looked at a product or service page. Use Google Lighthouse to give you an indication of your sites performance, and use other tools such as ScreamingFrog or SEMrush to help you undertake a full technical audit. This will help you ensure that your site is in top condition before making any other changes or tests.
Hopefully, these tips will help you in your bid to improve your conversion rate, and generate that all-important increase in revenue. If you would like more information about how we can help you with your CRO efforts, then get in touch with us today!
