Web Traffic is Not the Same as Conversion

Traffic to your website has increased and clever use of keywords has enhanced the relevance of the content… but you're still not quite where you need to be. Perhaps it's because you haven't put into place a strategy for optimizing your site’s landing pages for conversions (i.e. conversion rate optimization or CRO). In the absence of CRO, the hours invested website optimization efforts are wasted time. Traffic and conversion cannot be equated. Search engine optimization drives traffic and CRO improves site performance.

Why is Landing Page CRO Important?

There are at least 5 really good reasons to prioritize CRO:

1.       You get more customers for free. (No money spent on advertising.)

2.       You'll have an edge over the competition.

3.       CRO improves profitability. (A small increase in the conversion rate can have an enormous effect on your company's bottom line.)

4.       Your business will become more robust. (You will be in a position to afford advertisements in other media for even more exposure.)

5.       If competitors have not implemented CRO already, they will do it soon.

How to Implement Landing Page CRO

CRO does not happen on its own – it requires you to create conducive architecture for your website which ensures a natural flow from the landing page to the final purchase. The conversion rate architecture is all about addressing issues, such as planning and design of the landing page, bad content, poorly designed call-to-action, etc. Try these steps to CRO implementation:

Research

You need to research your audience and understand browsing habits. The starting point is an analysis of your current data establishing the initial traffic, conversion metrics, and bounce rate. Compare your site with that of competition and understand what is missing. Identify top-performing landing pages and create a conversion funnel.

Website Design

It is important to consider all of the landing page design aspects when you embark on a CRO. Small changes, subject to testing, tend to provide big impacts. Color, size, layout, call-to-action button, contrast, and alignment are just a few of the factors that have to be considered. Website speed optimization is a key aspect which should not be forgotten at all.

Testing

Testing is an important part of CRO. Two of the most commonly used methods are multivariate testing and A/B split testing. After making changes to your website, you need to ascertain whether the change had brought about a positive or negative impact.

Summarizing, conversion rate optimization is all about testing and making necessary changes so as to see what works best for you. Therefore, CRO works best for online businesses that follow the principles and take the trouble to implement the steps explained above. According to Econsultancy, most companies are unhappy with their online conversion rates. Further, research shows that companies that are happy with their conversion rates on average did 40 percent more tests than those that are dissatisfied. It is believed that the average conversion rate is 2 percent for purchases. You don’t have to get stuck on that figure. As far as you are concerned, a good conversion rate should be one that is better than your current rate!

Need help implementing a conversion rate optimization strategy?  Contact Website Optimization today!

Website Optimization
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