Conversion Optimization Techniques: A Guide for Beginners

Conversion Optimization Techniques: A Guide for Beginners

Conversion rate optimization techniques (CRO) is a way for businesses to improve their site and determine what content is required to ensure visitors convert to customers or subscribers.  They use a scientific approach to determine how traffic is brought to the site and what is causing certain visitors to become permanent subscribers.

2 Ways to Optimize

There are two main ways to improve business on a website.  First, you can optimize the site to bring in more visitors and gain higher rankings on Google. Or you can choose to optimize the effectiveness of your site to boost sales.  By working on your current website and making subtle changes, you can achieve an increase in sales without sinking more money into advertising.

Hypothesize

One way to optimize your site is by looking at your landing page and determining how you are currently obtaining revenue.  Consider working on your landing page and creating different versions and designs and monitor the sales you receive based on these modifications.  Sometimes, live testing is the best way to determine effectiveness.  Copy, layout, and designs are all significant on a landing page.  The color and location of your “sign up” button may mean the difference between 5 customers and 20.  Test different phrases and information methods to see what is the most popular for business conversions.  Check with SEO optimizations to find the most searched words and phrases, just perform a web search for your area, like SEO company Birmingham AL.  Then you can find a company that optimizes words that are searched for in your field of business and see what you should convert your website to read.

Gather Data/Analyze

It is worth your time and your money to research the way that traffic and visitors react to your site. Google analytics is a great way to review all of the details of your website and the patterns that occur.  Conversion funnels can be monitored and you can determine where people drop off in the conversion process.  Maybe they want to sign up, but when the second page loads with more questions, they drop out.  Most sign-up pages see a drop off at the “add credit card” info screen.  Gather information from your customers by starting a survey, with very few questions.  Offer a discount or incentive to get people to fill out the survey.  The results you obtain from your customers are invaluable in the optimization process.

Start Mining 

Now that you have all the data, make sure to start digging through the data to find the gold you are looking for.  Try to determine the patterns that you are seeing and find a way to increase the patterns or reduce the patterns if they are negative to business.  Also, determine the hurdles that your customers are facing with your products.  Is it functionality, pricing, or delivery?  Determine what your customers are saying and how you can optimize the language you are using to engage more customers.

Convert

Now that you have all the information necessary, it is time to change your website and optimize it for maximum conversion potential.  The conversion process itself is easy, but getting there can take time.  Make sure to spend the time and energy developing your site properly and according to all of the research you have analyzed.