Conversion Rate Optimization: An Actionable In-Depth Guide

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Most modern businesses operate primarily in the online world. As such, they are always on the lookout for ways to bring more people to their websites. However, just because people visit your website doesn’t necessarily mean they will stick around long enough to make a purchase.

Heavy website traffic, although useful, doesn’t really promise a good conversion rate. So, if your website is getting a lot of traffic, yet your conversions are not all that great, you will need to pay more attention to your conversion rate optimization (CRO).

With that in mind, here’s an actionable in-depth guide on how you can improve your conversion rates and optimize them for peak performance

What is conversion rate optimization?

Conversion rate optimization is the process of relying on analytics and user feedback to improve your website’s performance.

As such, the conversion rate optimization process normally focuses on a specific metric that is key to your website’s performance. These metrics are commonly referred to as key performance indicators (KPIs).
In other words, the goal of CRO is to encourage as many of your website visitors as possible to take the desired action (subscribe, purchase, download, etc.).

That’s why some say that conversion rate optimization is a process of trying to figure out what your audience needs and then offering them just that. Depending on the KPIs you’re trying to improve, your CRO can take many different forms. However, the end goal will always be the same – convert your website traffic into paying customers.

Why does conversion rate optimization matter?

There are numerous reasons why any business should care about improving their conversion rates. However, the three most important reasons include:

  • Better ROI

Every business nowadays is most likely paying for traffic on their website in one way or the other.
So, if you’re already paying for promoting your business, you want to make sure you make it worth your while. If you optimize your conversion rates, every single visit to your website that manages to convert will instantly mean better returns on investment for your business promotion.
Therefore, the higher your conversion rates are, the better your ROI will be.

  • Greater cost effectiveness

It’s far more cost-effective to try and convert the visitor you already have than to try and attract a new one. Realizing the true potential of your already-existing audience is vital in trying to improve your conversion rates. So, instead of trying to market your business to anyone willing to listen, try to make it more appealing to your existing audience and encourage them to convert

  • Not challenging visitors’ patience

The overall attention span of the general audience is on a constant decline. By optimizing some of your KPIs properly, you’ll avoid challenging your visitors’ patience.

If a visitor needs to spend too much time on your website looking for what they’re interested in, they will be more likely to bounce.

It’s safe to say that optimization is all about getting more of the right type of traffic.
Instead of trying to reach out to people who simply may not have any need for what you have to offer, focus on providing your existing audience with exactly the things they’re interested in finding.

The basics of conversion rate optimization

Not all your visitors are the same. Those who only check out your website once are not all that likely to make a purchase or come back to your site. The repeat visitors are the people you need to be focusing on.

To achieve this, you should:

  • Use contrasting colors for call-to-action (CTA) buttons
  • Place CTAs above the page fold
  • Rely on the fear of missing out (FOMO) to drive sales (limited offers, one-time deals, etc.)
  • Make testimonials visible
  • Optimize your forms

Even though these are just the basics of conversion rate optimization, you’ll need to find unique solutions.
As every business is unique, you need to identify the things that set yours apart and focus on optimizing them first.

Benefits of conversion rate optimization by webpage

Now let’s focus on how CRO will benefit specific pages on your website. No modern-day business can thrive without a strong online presence.

To achieve that, you need to make sure you create a strong website that will feature all the necessary pages.
According to a web design company from NY, stellar websites will instantly be more appealing to visitors.
So, let’s go through four crucial pages of your website and see how they can benefit from CRO.

  • Home page

Your home page usually receives the most traffic.
Therefore, this page should be able to grab your audience’s attention and encourage them to stick around.
Use this to your advantage by adding CTA buttons and other relevant information to your homepage that will encourage your visitors to further explore your website.
The more time your visitors spend on your website, the more likely they are to convert.

  • Pricing page

Pricing and product pages are where all the action happens – or not.
So, make sure you optimize them accordingly, so that all your visitors can find all the relevant information quickly and easily.

You won’t be able to change much if your visitors see the prices of your products and bounce. But if they bounce because they simply can’t find the price, you should prevent this by making your prices clear and visible.

  • Blog

Blog posts provide great conversion opportunities. Be sure to include calls to action in your blog posts and rely on internal links to offer more value to your readership. This is a simple tactic used to boost conversion rates.

  • Landing pages

Landing pages are a great means for boosting conversion rates.
If properly optimized, your visitors will instantaneously get the idea of which steps they should take next, i.e., make a purchase, subscribe, etc.

If not, they either won’t know or won’t care about what their next step should be, so they will most likely bounce.

User experience and funnel optimization

User experience plays a huge role in the modern business worldAccording to a New York web design company, user experience is sometimes even more important than the quality of your offer.

So, you need to make sure you provide your visitors with the best experience possible, and that’s where funnel optimization comes to play.
When optimizing your funnel to achieve higher conversion rates, you will need to:

  • Reduce the number of unnecessary clicks

Even though this can’t be said for every potential shopper out there, people often buy on impulse As such, the lesser the number of unnecessary clicks they need to make to complete the purchase, the lesser the time they’ll have to potentially change their minds.
Therefore, the easier you make it for your visitors to complete the purchase, the more likely they are to do so.

  • Reduce cognitive overhead

By reducing the friction that could potentially deter your visitors from converting, you will encourage them to act favorab

Wrapping up

Conversions play a key role in any business’s success. Therefore, you need to make sure you optimize your conversion rates as much as possible to keep your business afloat.
The more conversions you receive, the better the revenue you can expect.
So, roll up your sleeves and optimize your conversion rates to help your business thrive.

Author bio:

Tomas is a digital marketing specialist and a freelance blogger. His work is focusing on new web tech trends and digital voice distribution across different channels.
Digital Strategy One

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