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What is conversion rate optimization (CRO)?

At The Roadmap we get asked about conversion rate optimization (CRO) all the time. CRO is the process of getting more of your website visitors to do a specific action, like buy, sign up for a newsletter or fill out a contact form. Conversion optimization involves using tools and strategies such as A/B testing, AI integration, and continuous testing to improve these actions. It’s important because it lets you get more value out of the traffic you already have. Let’s dive deeper.

A Beginner’s Guide to More Conversions

Why CRO Matters for Website Visitors

Why should you care about CRO? Well, it’s simple. CRO is about making your visitor’s journey through your website as easy and frictionless as possible. Effective conversion rate optimization strategies include continuous testing, data-driven decision-making, and technical optimizations such as site speed and mobile responsiveness.
Imagine visiting a store where you can’t find what you’re looking for or the checkout is a nightmare. You’d probably leave without buying anything, right? The same applies to websites. By improving the user experience (UX) through CRO, you make it easier for visitors to take action and that means more revenue and lower customer acquisition costs. Improving UX can also encourage conversions by guiding visitors smoothly through the purchasing process. Additionally, optimizing for mobile devices is crucial to enhance user experience and conversions. A seamless and user-friendly mobile shopping experience can significantly boost sales and customer satisfaction.

“Conversion rate optimization is important in digital marketing as it increases revenue, reduces customer acquisition costs, and enhances the user experience.”

Conversion Rate Basics

What is a Conversion Rate?

Let’s break it down: a conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who complete a specific action on your website. For example, if 100 people visit your site and 5 buy, your conversion rate is 5%. This metric is important because it tells you how well your site is turning visitors into customers. Optimizing specific web pages, such as product pages or landing pages, can significantly improve your conversion rates.

What’s a Good Conversion Rate?

You’re probably wondering, “What’s a good conversion rate?” It varies by industry but in Q2 2022 the average conversion rate for e-commerce websites in the US was 2.3%. So if you’re around that mark, you’re doing well, but there’s always room for improvement.

Where to Apply CRO

Homepage Optimization

Your homepage is like the front door of your store. It’s often the first impression potential customers have of your brand. To optimize it make sure it’s welcoming, easy to navigate and clearly communicates what you offer. For example a clean design with a prominent call-to-action (CTA) can guide visitors to explore more. Find out more about content optimization here.

Pricing Page Optimization

Your pricing (e-commerce) page is where many visitors decide to buy or not. Make it clear and compelling. Highlight the benefits of each pricing tier and include testimonials or case studies to build trust. For example, a money-back guarantee or free trial can alleviate fears and drive conversions.

Blog Post Optimization

Did you know your blog can be a conversion tool? By adding CTAs throughout your posts you can guide readers to take the next step like download a free resource or sign up for your newsletter. Check out our other UX posts here for more.

Landing Page Optimization

Landing pages are designed to convert visitors into leads or customers. Use A/B testing to find the best combinations of headlines, images and CTAs. For example test different headlines to see which one grabs more attention and drives higher conversions.

➡️ Read More: Our frontend optimization in simple terms

10+2 CRO Strategies - How We Enhance Your Website’s Performance

1. Text-Based CTAs within Blog Posts

Traditional CTAs like buttons are great but don’t underestimate the power of text-based CTAs. They blend in with your content and can be very effective. For example within a blog post about email marketing a text-based CTA could be, “Ready to improve your email campaigns? Download our free guide now!”

2. Lead Flows on Your Blog

Lead flows are high-converting pop-ups that grab visitors attention without being too in your face. For example a slide-in offering a free e-book related to the blog post can increase your lead capture rate by a lot.

3. Testing Your Landing Pages

A conversion rate optimization strategy is key to landing page optimization, and split-testing different versions of your headlines, images, and CTAs can help determine what works best. For example, you might find that a shorter form on your landing page drives more conversions.

4. Encouraging Leads to Become MQLs

Not all visitors want to take the scenic route through your site. Sometimes they’re ready to get down to business immediately. By offering opportunities that qualify them as marketing qualified leads (MQLs), such as downloading a detailed industry report or scheduling a demo, we can help streamline their journey and move them further down the sales funnel.

5. Building Automated Workflows

Automating workflows ensures that leads are nurtured efficiently throughout their journey. For example, we can set up email automation to follow up with visitors who have downloaded a resource, guiding them through the next steps and enhancing their engagement with your brand.

6. Adding Messages to High-Converting Pages

Incorporating live chat software on high-converting pages allows for real-time interaction with visitors. This can help address any immediate questions or concerns they might have, nudging them towards conversion. For example, having a live chat feature on your pricing page can effectively handle last-minute objections and assist in decision-making.

7. Optimizing High-Performing Blog Posts

Updating top-performing blog posts with new content and fresh CTAs ensures that they remain relevant and continue to drive conversions. This practice helps to keep your content engaging for returning visitors and can lead to increased conversions from existing traffic.

8. Use Retargeting to Re-Engage Website Visitors

Since most visitors do not convert on their first visit, retargeting ads offer a way to bring them back. By targeting visitors who have previously viewed your product pages but didn’t make a purchase, you can re-engage them with special offers or reminders, encouraging them to complete their transaction.

➡️ Read More Here: Why you need to invest in retargeting ads?

User Experience and Design

9. UX Design

CRO revolves around enhancing user experience. By conducting user research, we identify pain points and opportunities for improvement, making your site easier to navigate and more enjoyable to interact with.

10. Make Clear and Strong CTAs

CTAs should be big and bold, this is why we use action oriented language and make them stand out. For example instead of “Submit”, we would probably go for “Get Your Free Ebook Now”.

11. Use Behavioral Analytics for More Data

We then use tools like heatmaps and session recordings to see how visitors interact with your site. These insights will show you where visitors drop off or get confused and guide your optimization efforts.

12. Optimize Page Load Times

Fast pages are key to keeping visitors. Slow pages can annoy users and increase bounce rates. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and other conversion optimization tools to find and fix performance issues.

Getting Started with CRO

  • Identify Your Conversions: Determine what actions drive the most value for your business. This could be anything from product purchases to form submissions. Focus your CRO efforts on these key actions.
  • Gather User Data: Get user data through analytics tools. This will show you how visitors navigate your site and where they get stuck.
  • Create Hypotheses: Based on your data, create hypotheses about what will improve conversion rates. For example, you might hypothesize that adding testimonials to your pricing page will increase conversions.
  • Test Your Hypotheses: Run A/B tests or multivariate tests to prove your hypotheses. For example, you might test two versions of your homepage to see which one performs better.
  • Review and Iterate: The conversion rate optimization process involves continuous testing and implementation of changes. Review your test results and iterate on your strategy to keep improving.

Exclusive Offer for Our Readers

At The Roadmap, we love helping you get the most out of your website. That’s why we’re offering a free website checkup to see if your current site is conversion-optimized. If you don’t have a website yet no problem! Schedule a call with our experts and we’ll walk you through the process.

FAQs About CRO

1. What’s the first step in CRO?

The first step in CRO is identifying your key conversions. This means understanding what actions on your site, such as purchases or form submissions, are most valuable. Once you know these you can start gathering user data to see how visitors behave and create strategies to improve.

2. How long until I see results from CRO?

Time to see results from CRO varies depending on the changes made and the amount of traffic to your site. You might see initial improvements in a few weeks but significant, long term improvements take several months of continuous testing and optimization.

3. Can CRO work for any website?

Yes CRO can work for any type of website, whether it’s an e-commerce site, a blog, a service based business or a B2B company. The principles of improving user experience and encouraging desired actions apply to all, but the strategies will vary depending on the industry and target audience.

4. Do I need technical skills to do CRO?

While having some technical skills can be helpful, many CRO tools are designed to be user friendly and accessible even to non techy people. And working with a marketing agency like ours can provide the expertise to implement advanced CRO strategies without you having to learn the technical details.

5. How is CRO different from SEO?

CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) serve different purposes but can work together. SEO is about increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your site by improving search engine rankings. CRO is about maximizing the value of the traffic you already have by improving user experience and encouraging conversions. Together they bring in more visitors and make sure those visitors are more likely to take action on your site.
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