Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) is the process of optimising your website (and your brand in general) to increase the percentage of visitors to your website that complete an objective… usually buying a product (though it could be to download a .pdf, or subscribe to a newsletter).
Why is CRO important?
So you’re spending time generating new content, working hard on your website’s Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), paying for Facebook and Google Ads to drive lots of traffic to your website… but your conversion rate is 0.3% (e.g if you have 500 visitors, then only 1 or 2 are completing your objective). You’re wasting lots of time and money and its essential you make website improvements to
- Increase sales\leads
If your conversion rate was higher, then by spending the same amount of time and money you increase the number of visitors completing . It’s more cost effective to convert the visitors you have rather than finding more traffic.
- Increase Traffic
A high conversion rate means you’re doing things right. Your site loading fast (great for SEO) and is a doddle to navigate so customers can find your products and make a purchase easily… then they’re going to leave satisfied and more likely to leave positive reviews (more SEO gains!) and tell their friends and family about their fantastic experience which all equals more traffic for you 🙂
The Principles of CRO
To get the best Conversion Rate its important to focus on each of these 4 CRO Principles.
Have a Clear Value Proposition
What is it that sets you apart from your competitors? Why would a potential customer choose your product over another? If it’s your price, then get those price tags big and bold, if it’s the quality of your product then make sure your messaging reflects that front and centre. Buyers today will check out your competitors, its really important they quickly understand the benefits you offer.
Incentivise your customers
Special offers, free trials etc increase Conversion Rates because well who doesn’t love a bargain!? But there’s more to it than that. Money back guarantees, quality trusted reviews, social proof, the quality of your product photography and more will combine to incentivise your customers to hit ”Buy Now”.
Lower Barriers
If shoppers can’t buy your product incredibly easily, they’ll leave your site and find something else. Remove any obstacles that might affect your Conversion Rate, things like;
- Off site checkout
- Bad or no product photography
- Slow loading speed
- Poor mobile experience
- Vague product descriptions
- Forcing customer registration
…to name a few. Fix these and along with your incentives you’ll find your Conversion Rate increases.
Make the customer feel safe
If you can’t build trust, then no matter how good your incentives are or how low your barrier, the majority of your potential customers aren’t going to feel safe enough to complete a purchase. The aesthetic design of your website, its content and payment gateway all come into play here.
Some marketing strategies already carry a mistrust tag, things like pop-up ads and cold emails. Think about each part of your marketing plan and make sure you aren’t harming the trust in your brand for a quick win.
CRO for your business
There are many reasons why we’re increasingly spending time with clients to optimise their Conversion Rate including;
- Capitalising on existing website traffic, without having to spend on generating more.
- High conversion rates means more repeat business and high customer retention
- CRO helps to win over customers from competitors
- Quickly identifying which part of the customer journey are underperforming and make necessary changes
- A great website which guides visitors to their objectives improves brand perception
Good CRO is about making expert changes based on good, reliable data, but stats alone don’t paint the whole picture of your user’s journey. Think about the personas of your website visitors, how they’ll feel when they engage with you – and how to make them connect with your brand and turn them from visitors into customers.
A good Conversion Rate varies depending on lots of things like your objective, your product and your competition. But an average conversion rate for an ecommerce website is around 3%. If you’d like to measure and optimise your Conversion Rate, get in touch.
Find your Conversion Rate
Calculating your current conversion rate is pretty easy if you have access to the data (ask us about adding Google Analytics to your website if not).
Here’s formula:
Conversion Rate = Total number of conversions ÷ total number of visitors
Example: You sell a t-shirt to 100 customers. Divide the total customers by the number of visitors to your site. If 100 people bought the t-shirt and 2000 visited your site, your CR would be 5% (100 ÷ 2000 )
