CRO is the process of making changes to your website to increase the percentage of visitors who complete a specific goal, such as making a purchase. The goal of most businesses is to make a sale, but there are some exceptions.
Some ideas for actions that would be desired could be people signing up for a demo, downloading something from the website, trying out a new tool, or signing up for your newsletter. A conversion is anything that helps you grow your business, and it can be optimized.
The great thing about these conversion rate optimization tips is that they will work no matter what your desired conversion method is.
1. Add site search to your website
If a search box is available, up to 30% of visitors will use it. Almost 84% of businesses have not customized their on-site search tool to match what users want, which is unfortunate. If your website does not have a site search, you should consider adding one.
The main benefit of site search is user experience. The data collected from search results can be useful in understanding how users behave by giving you an idea of what they are looking for.
The following information can help you understand what content is most important to your audience so that you can provide them with the information they need or want.
You may be able to identify a user’s place in the funnel based on the search terms they use. The following information can help you better understand your customer’s needs by identifying their most common questions and pain points. By using this information, you can tailor your website’s experience to better suit their needs.
If you have a WordPress site, you can add a search feature using a widget. Webflow lets you customize your own website. Adding site search is easy with Wix and Squarespace.
2. Ensure forms are easy to fill out
The average form abandonment rate is 68% which means that most people will not finish filling out your form. There are many reasons why website forms exist, such as to sign up for newsletters, to get freebies, and to ask questions about products or services.
If a form is easy to fill out, you will likely have a higher conversion rate.
On average, a typical form has about 5 fields, and forms that are A/B tested have about 10 percent higher conversion rates.
A few ways to ensure your forms are easy to fill out:
- make form names clear
- use proper HTML formatting
- use relevant sample placeholder text (I used “Your website URL” in the example above)
- have a distinct and easy-to-local submission button
3. Improve your CTA’s
If you want to improve conversions, then start with improving your call-to-actions as they are easy to implement and improve. The average CTA click-through rate is only 4.23 percent. However, many different factors can impact what makes your CTA more effective.
For example, if you include more personalization in your CTAs (calls-to-action), conversion rates can improve more than three times as much. It is important to constantly test your call-to-actions to determine what is effective and what needs to be changed. User preference can change very quickly!
Start by testing these CTA elements:
- copy
- colors
- placement
- button shape
- button size
- page placement
Consider testing different types of CTAs as well. Here’s how CTA types convert, according to a study by Vye Agency:
- button CTAs have an average CTR of 5.31 percent
- text CTAs have an average CTR of 2.06 percent
- designed CTAs have an average CTR of 3.53 percent
When it comes to branding, consistency is key. Although it might be tempting to stick to your branding colors for all of your call-to-action buttons, it can be worth it to branch out and experiment with other colors. If the colors you have chosen for your website are similar to the rest of the site, they may be ignored by visitors.
4. Run user testing
Poor usability can kill your business. Seventy percent of online businesses fail because of their subpar usability. If you make changes to the design and flow of your user checkout process, you could see a 35 percent increase in your conversion rates.
User testing is a valuable tool for collecting data that can help improve website conversions. It is therefore important to start this process as soon as possible.
Heat maps are a common way to test UX by showing how users navigate a site and what interactive elements they’re clicking on.
You will be able to tell if they are looking at your links, tabs on your navigation bar, or calls to action, etc. Some heat maps use eye-tracking software to show not only where users look first, but how long they spend looking at certain areas and in what order they move their eyes around the screen.
There are a few different heat mapping tools that you can use, but I tend to prefer Crazy Egg and Hotjar. The process for setting up Hotjar is very easy to follow.
5. Add more (better) social proof
More consumers than ever read social proof. Most users (77 percent) say they read online reviews before making a purchase. You should try to get customers to remain loyal as much as possible. Why? It’s free marketing and brand exposure. Even better, reviews can drive revenue.
This means that businesses who have more than the average number of reviews earn 54% more in annual revenue. It is also easy to create.
Using user-generated content is a simple and effective way to promote your brand. This can include reviews and ratings shared by customers and influencers, user-submitted content like photography, and more.
If you want to build trust with your website visitors, adding social proof is a great way to do it. Showing that other people trust you helps to build confidence in your brand and entices new visitors to engage with your site. If you want to get more conversions, you need to be trustworthy and credible.
To add more social proof, try:
- Send a follow-up email asking for reviews.
- Host a contest with a branded hashtag on social media.
- Include a card with a branded hashtag when shipping physical products.
6. Add chatbots or live chat
Wouldn’t you rather get an answer quickly if you had a question? That’s the idea behind chatbots. Even if your customer service is excellent, at times there may be a lot of people waiting in line.
The good news? Users like chatbots. The average satisfaction rate of chatbots is 87.58 percent. They can also reduce customer service costs. One study predicts that chatbots will save businesses $8 billion in customer service costs by 2022.
Having the right tools can help your brand connect with customers immediately, which increases the likelihood that they will buy your product or service. Here are a few ways to leverage chatbots;
- answer FAQ
- qualify leads
- suggest related products
- troubleshoot common issues
- share information about new products
- increase your email list
While there are many chatbot options available, it can be difficult to find the right one. Focusing on native channel integrations will help to narrow your search.
If you’re looking for an app with a lot of different ways to integrate it, check out Landbot. It has messaging features through web, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and API.
Perhaps you just need to integrate with Facebook Messenger? In that case, Chatfuel is an affordable solution. Choose a chatbot that supports your business goals.
7. Build a sitemap
If you have a lot of pages on your website, it can be easy to miss some of them if they’re buried in the navigation. A catch-all navigation that links to every page on a website is not usually a good idea. A sitemap will help users understand how the website is organized and how to find the information they need.
An HTML sitemap is a page on your website that lists all the other pages on your site so that visitors can find them easily. The sitemap can be found with just one click, and the desired page can be found quickly with a brief look.
The easier it is to find what they are looking for on your website, the more likely they are to stay on your website. Sitemaps are not used by all visitors, but those who do find them to be extremely helpful in finding what they want quickly, without having to click through a deep navigation structure multiple times.
You are more likely to get a conversion if you get your visitors to the right information as soon as possible.
8. Use consistent formatting
All of your site’s pages should have a similar format. It is important to keep the same style from one page to the next. Some homepages might look a bit different than the other internal pages, but that shouldn’t matter.
Your visitors should be able to expect consistency from page to page, in terms of things such as primary navigation, footer, page layout, and color.
If every page on your website has a similar layout and design, visitors will be able to easily find the information they’re looking for and navigate the site with no problems.
If a website is not consistent, it can be confusing for visitors and ruin their experience. Any bad experience is bad for sales.
9. Publish your privacy policy
Does anybody really read your privacy policy page? I doubt it, but who cares! The point is that the text is available for them to read if they want to.
In the end, it is about convincing them that you do have a policy in place. Having the document available gives readers a sense of security, even if they do not read it thoroughly.
It is important to have a privacy policy page on your website and to link to it from key locations. If your website has a form, having a link to your privacy policy on the same page can increase the rate at which people submit the form.
This tells visitors you care about protecting their information. For many, that’s all the assurance they need.
10. Add unique product information
If you sell similar products to those found on other websites, it’s likely that your product descriptions will be just as similar.
You’ll almost always get better results if you ditch the manufacturer’s product descriptions and write your own. While this may provide some relevant product information, it doesn’t make your product stand out against the competition.
You want your site’s descriptions to have a personal touch so they sound unique. Describe the product from your unique perspective.
Make sure to mention any unique or useful features of each product to shoppers, or anything else you think they might want to know.
Sell them using emotion, not just facts! The more unique your company is, the more you will stand out from the competition.
11. Fix your checkout process
I’ve never found a shopping cart or checkout process that didn’t need improvement in some way. 40% of online shoppers abandon their carts because of poor shopping and checkout processes. Shoppers start orders, but then they don’t complete them.
Your checkout process should be as streamlined as possible, with as few steps as possible. Every opportunity that visitors are forced to make creates a click for them to flee.
The more clicks it takes to complete the checkout process, the more likely it is that customers will abandon their purchase!
Make your checkout process more efficient by requiring less information, adding persuasive language, and placing related products where they will be most effective.
Conclusion
If you work on improving each of the areas related to conversion optimization, you will see an improvement in customer interaction and conversion rate.
If you improve your conversion rate, you will make more sales each month. If you increase traffic, you will make even more sales.
