8 Ways to Get Started with Conversion Rate Optimization

Introduction

Conversion rate optimization is one of the most important metrics for measuring the success of your marketing strategies. A part of sales and marketing is getting the customer to the website or the store; the second and most major part is turning the visitors into loyal customers and brand fans and more ROI for every rupee spent. Many businesses invest heavily into attracting the visitors, but the efforts go waste if the customer does not purchase. This is where conversion rate optimization, or the CRO, comes in. 

In this guide below we will talk about what is conversion rate optimization, and eight powerful ways to get started with it through strategic approaches. These ways will help you learn more about target user behavior, improve their experience, and implement dynamic changes in your strategies to increase the conversion rate. 

What is Conversion Rate?

Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who take a desired action – making a purchase, signing up for the newsletter, completing a form, confirming a servicing, etc. A high conversion rate means that your marketing efforts are fruitful and appealing to the target audience. On the other hand, a low conversion rate means customer needs are not met or the website design is not good or it is not performing well. Sometimes even the slow loading website can be the reason the customer turns away. 

Conversion Rate Optimization 

This is the distinct process or the way used to increase conversion rate. By optimizing the strategies, you can maximize the existing traffic to your brand, drive high-quality leads, and boost conversion without increasing ad and outreach spend. 

CRO is a systematic process of improving the percentage of people who take the desired action. CRO separates normal marketing from successful marketing strategies. It is about devising a follow-through plan to get the most out of every lead and every customer purchase. For sustainable growth, conversion rate optimization is a must. 

What is a Content Rate Optimization Strategy?

A strategy for CRO is the way to make a smooth journey from click to checkout to post-sales service and even repeat purchases. The aim to generate actual, measurable revenue. A good conversion rate optimization strategy removes barriers from the sales funnel. 

What is a good Conversion Rate?

Good conversion rate number varies by the type of industry. On an average, a good conversion rate is 2.9%. It varies with industry, niche, goals, traffic, audience types, etc. 

8 Strategic Ways for Conversion Rate Optimization

Understand the way your Audience Behaves

In order to increase the conversion rates, it is important that you understand what your audience wants, needs, and expects. Get a firm grasp on: Who are your audience? What are they looking for? Why did they leave without taking action? What questions were not answered? 

Use data-based insights from various sources to understand user behavior and gather info on demographics and pain points. This information will help you tailor personalized experiences for every user, match and surpass their expectations, and increase conversions. The common tools to use are

Google Analytics for tracking user behavior, bounce rates, demographics, user flow, etc. 

Heatmaps, Session records, Hotjar to analyze session recordings, heatmaps, and user feedback. 

Customer Surveys and feedback to understand friction points directly and what the user finds confusion or frustrating. 

Analyze your website’s performance

When you open a store, a great attention is paid to all the details, such as the placing of the merchandise, training the staff to know each and every product, packaging, and so much more. The same stands true for the website, too. The website designs play an important role in website performance; you can find how comfortable users are with your website. Assess on the following metrics:

• Bounce rates which indicate visitors leaving before engaging.
• Time on page, i.e. are they spending enough time to take action/make a decision.
• Conversion funnel drop-offs, which is the exit page or the place where they are dropping off. 

Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to analyze the website performance and refine the conversion funnel by reducing drop-offs. 

Understanding website analytics will help increase conversion rates by prioritizing improvements that have a significant impact on conversions. 

Optimize Landing Pages 

A landing page should be super fact-loading, persuasive and visually appealing to keep the customer engaged. Landing pages are meant to encourage action, and signup forms get the highest average conversion rate of 23%. A landing page that is optimized for conversion rate will attract more customers. For example, a landing page that wants to attract registrations might optimize with a video of last year’s successful event, or a free resource website will have a landing page optimized with preview content.

Here are a few tips for conversion rate optimization using landing pages:

• Keep the page free of any distractions.

• There should be one only one clear goal (gathering email address or selling a service, etc.).

• Use concise bullet points to convey key information quickly and simply. 

• Keep the CTAs prominently displayed.

• Use a clear and compelling headline.

• Use high-quality images or videos to reinforce your message

• Strong value proposition should be clearly visible and highlighted (why should they choose you). 

• Make the landing pages mobile friendly for all tablet sand mobile device screens. 

Landing pages bring in most conversions. A user-friendly landing page will encourage visitors to engage and browse more and increase your conversion rates. 

Improve Call-to-Action buttons and Lead Flows

The CTA buttons and lead flows are the most important component for conversion rate optimization. They start the conversations. 

Call-to-Action Buttons

• Should be clear, visible and action driven

• Use a button colour that is contrasting with the background.

• Play the CTA above or below the folds or near the testimonials or after company information. You can also place them next to headings or sub-headings. 

• Use strong words like “Get Started” “Join to be a xyz” instead of the standard “Submit.” 

Use A/B testing to check the different CTA variations. The right CTA will drive the highest conversion. 

Lead Flows 

Lead flows as they get 192% higher click-throughs and 27% more submissions than regular CTA. These are the pop-ups and drop boxes you see when browsing a website. 

• You get immediate attention with lead flows.
• Make them creative using design elements. 
• Place them on the homepage or blog pages for most attention.  

Speed up your Website

A slow loading website kills more conversions than anything else. Even a 1-second delay in load time can decrease conversions by 7%. For conversion rate optimization, you can boost the website speed simply by 

• Compressing images and optimize file sizes. 

• Removing unnecessary scripts and minimizing HTTP requests. 

• Using Content Delivery Network to serve pages faster.

• Enabling browser caching

Use Google PageSpeed insights or GTmetrix to fix the speed related issues. 

Build Trust and Credibility with Social Proof

Social proof is the simple way to increase conversion rates by providing them a positive experience. It is a fast way to ease their doubts and hesitations and assure them that they are making the right choice. Use:

• Customer testimonials and reviews. 

• Publish and share user-generated content regularly.

• Display endorsements from reputable sources and influencers for your brand. 

• Trust Bades such as SSL certificates.

• Case studies and success stories.

Your customers are more likely to take action when they see their peers doing the same. Social proof is an invaluable tool of conversion rate optimization. The more trust you gain, the higher will be the conversion rate. 

Simplify Forms and Checkout Process

The customers will turn away quickly if they have to fill up a lot of forms or if the checkout process is complex and time consuming. Frustrated users are a big reason for conversion rate drops. Make both processes as simple as possible with the fewest complexity. Implement conversion rate optimization by

• Reducing the number of required fields (keep it only to essential information).

• Enabling guest checkout for users who don’t want an account or want to refrain from sharing information. 

• Using auto-fill and real-time validation for smooth and faster processes. 
• Use clear labels. 

• Using multiple steps or conditional logic in case of more information. 

• Offer multiple payment options and make sure they are secure and valid. It includes credit cards, PayPal, UPIs, net banking, etc.

• Clear explanation for why the information is needed

The fewer bottlenecks the user faces, the higher the completion rate. 

Run A/B Tests and Continuously Optimize

Conversion rate optimization is an ongoing process, and A/B testing is its mainstay. By continuously employing A/B testing, you can pinpoint even the smallest changes that can significantly impact the conversion rates.

Test on different elements like 

• Page Layouts
• Headings and headlines 
• Images
• CTA placements
• Content placements
• Images and videos 
• Product descriptions 

Tools like Google Optimize or Unbounce can help you refine your marketing strategies based on real-time user data. 

Conclusion

Implement conversion rate optimization marketing at

• Homepage where maximum visitors land.
• Pricing page where customers make decisions to shop.
• Landing pages as they streamline the conversions.
• Blogs where most valuable information is provided. 

The secret to increasing conversion rates is understanding user behavior, testing different strategies, and continuously improving experiences. By implementing the above 8 steps for CRO, you can maximize your business growth easily.

Read Also: What is Micro and Macro Segmentation Marketing