eWay Corp Are you planning to embark on your conversion rate optimization (CRO) journey? If so, then you have made the right decision. The internet is flooded with billions of websites covering various domains. That means a profound number of pages are competing for traffic, clicks, and views.
In the event you are getting a fair amount of traffic, then it is well and good. But just getting traffic is not enough. You will need to convert your visitors into buyers. The best way out is to implement a CRO strategy.
With the right conversion rate optimization strategy in place, websites are bound to get more leads that can end up in sales.
In this blog post, we are going to discuss conversion rate optimization and how it helps websites convert visitors into leads and improve their conversion rate.
1. What is Conversion Rate Optimization
Conversion Rate Optimization, or CRO, is the practice of optimizing a site or landing page to generate more leads. In short, conversion rate optimization is the art of systematically increasing the percentage of website visitors and discovering experiences that are truly optimal, through A/B tests.
On average, websites see a 2.35% conversion rate, but many companies are seeing a 10X% conversion rate. How is it happening?
The answer is quite simple. This is because of certain conversion rate optimization strategies that are helping with increased conversion. But before delving deep into the strategies, let us learn about conversion.
2. What is Conversion
To put it simply, when a visitor takes some action that is usually predefined as a site goal, it is then referred to as conversion.
The site’s goal usually varies for the business houses. So, if you are into the eCommerce business, then product sale is your site goal. Similarly, if you are running a health or lifestyle blog, then your goal might be an email subscription.
Conversion can be categorized into Macro and Micro Conversion. For instance, in an eCommerce business, if a customer completes a purchase, then it is referred to as macro conversion. On the path to primary or macro conversions, smaller conversions like clicking the CTA (Call to Action) buttons or signing up for newsletters are referred to as micro conversions.
2.1. Why Conversion is so Important for Websites
Conversion helps businesses to get increased revenue and cut down their acquisition cost.
In today’s age, getting online traffic for a site is highly unpredictable. If you are not able to compel visitors to enter the conversion funnel, then there is a low chance of getting them back to perform the desired action. The best way to make users perform a certain action is by running an effective CRO campaign.
When a business gets more out of the existing traffic and leads, it motivates them toward long-term growth. This is when conversion rate optimization comes in.
3. What is a Conversion Rate
Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who finished the desired action, such as completing a web form or signing up for a service, etc.
When a website faces a high conversion rate, it means the website is well-designed and formatted to make it appealing to the target audience. On the other hand, a low conversion rate means the website offers a poor user experience.
Often, low conversion is a result of multiple factors, such as a broken form, slow load time, or copy that does not convey the brand message properly. Once these factors are investigated, conversion rate can be greatly increased.
3.1. Good Conversion Rate
Depending on the industry, niche, goals, or traffic channels, a good conversion rate differs greatly. Studies show that the average conversion rate of eCommerce sites was 2.17% globally during the third quarter of 2020. It was slightly lower from 2.37% the previous year. The conversion rate for eCommerce stores in the US was slightly higher at 2.57%.
3.2 Average Conversion Rate
The average conversion rate is 1 to 4%. But this figure might change, since:
- Every page or website and its audience is different
- Most people do not share their conversion rate
- Conversion rates vary based on the conversion goals, like ad clicks to newsletter sign-ups
So, it will not be wrong to say that the average conversion rate differs from country to country and by year. It also differs by industry niche.
For instance, the average conversion rate of eCommerce sites in the food and beverage sector is 5.5%, while the average rate for the healthcare sector is 3.5%.
If the conversion rate is lower than you expected, then it is below average in your industry, or lower than your competitors. In such a scenario, optimizing the website is important.
Optimizing the site helps with conversion. Moreover, it increases the probability of converting website visitors into customers. Hence, starting from the homepage to the contact page, price page, and even the landing page need to be optimized.
3.3. How to Calculate Conversion Rate
To calculate the conversion rate, just divide the number of desired actions or conversions by the total number of visitors and then multiply it by 100. You will get the percentage. For instance, if your website has 60 conversions and 1500 visitors, then the website conversion rate is 4%. To get the website conversion rate, we just multiplied 60 by 100 and then divide it by 1500.
4. Primary Elements of Conversion Rate Optimization
It must be kept in mind that CRO is a comprehensive process that passes multiple stages. A successful conversion rate optimization campaign makes use of in-depth data for analyzing results, tweaking content for the visitors, and running multiple tests till a conclusion is reached.
Throughout the eCommerce conversion rate optimization process, a marketer will come across the following elements. They are:
4.1. Landing Page Design
This is the first element that defines the success and usability of the website. When a site is aesthetically pleasing, it will get more traction.
To understand this element, let us consider the following scenario. For instance, all those customers who land on the product page of Amazon hold the intention of buying a product(s). So, one needs to understand the role of design in driving conversion for an eCommerce site like Amazon.
This eCommerce giant has designed the product pages in a manner so that even the minute details are prominent to the customers. For example, when a customer clicks on a particular product, they are offered a brief description of the product. The ‘Add to Cart’ button conveniently placed next to the product page, makes it easy for the customers to make a purchase.
4.2. Website Copy
A well-designed and aesthetically pleasing website can get more traffic. The right choice of words can verbally hook visitors to the site and make them convert to leads.
In this regard, writing relevant content which emphasizes the product’s strengths can make a visitor stay on the website for a longer time and take necessary action before leaving the site.
A website copy is usually divided into two sub-sections. They are:
- Headline
- Body Content
4.2.1 Headline
The headline forms the first thing that a visitor sees on the landing page. The headline typically helps to create a first impression of the business. In case a visitor does not like the headline, they will scroll down and check the rest of the page. To ensure you are on the right page, make it a point to focus on:
Formatting: It lets you focus on the font types, font size, and color so that it captures the attention of visitors easily.
Writing Style: The content should be written to throw questions to the readers. for instance, do you know that the CRO process can improve revenue by 2X for your business?
Similarly, the content needs to be split into two parts – directly addressing the questions a visitor might have in mind and focusing on numbers. For instance, for the former, ‘Can Content Marketing help with conversion?’, while for the latter, ‘10 ways to improve conversions.’
However, the headline must be to the point and short. The headline should speak only about the product or service in a clear manner.
4.2.2. Body Content
A well-written body content is important for a website. The content must be clear and concise. It should portray the brand’s persona in an efficient way.
For drafting good body content, the following things must be considered. They are:
- Formatting
- Writing Style
Remember a catchy headline accompanied by concise content which answers all necessary questions can make the page attractive. This, in turn, can help to get more traffic or customers.
4.3. Call-to-Action
A CTA button is the perfect way to compel customers to take a certain action. The action could be anything, such as booking a webinar slot to subscribing to a newsletter or making a purchase to avail of a service, and so on.
When the CTA is crisper, it helps to generate more leads. Is it that simple? Well, if one considers the CTA strategies used by various industries, then one will see that they offer simple yet compelling CTAs.
4.4. Navigation and Site Structure
The website’s structure is especially important. It should be designed in a way that makes it easy to navigate for the users. In other words, the site structure is a graph that shows how different pages of the site interact with each other.
Even though every site is different, the hierarchy remains the same. For instance, a user usually starts navigating from the homepage and then moves to different categories and subcategories until they reach the desired post.
If the entire process is smooth, then users will not face any issues in navigating your site. On the contrary, if a site is poorly structured, then users will abandon the site.
4.5. Forms
Forms are important for companies, especially when they are a part of the sales funnel. So, optimizing the touchpoint can help with the conversion rate. Certain factors must be kept in mind while creating a form. They are:
- The fewer fields, the better it becomes.
- Good-looking forms relate to good user experience.
- Having one-click form submission creates wonders for website conversion.
With some optimization tips, forms can become extraordinary. This, in turn, can help with website conversion rate optimization efforts.
4.6. Page Speed
Page speed impacts the performance of a website. As a matter of fact, it also influences the site’s conversion rate. According to a blog post by SEMrush, when a site loads in 1.7 seconds, it is then faster than 75% of the web.
These are some elements that need to be worked on to improve the conversion rate.
5. Places Where Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies can be Implemented
The four key places that can greatly benefit from website conversion rate optimization are:
- Homepage
- Landing Page
- Pricing Page
- Blogs
5.1. Homepage
It is the primary element for CRO. Apart from making the first impression on visitors, the homepage also offers an opportunity to retain visitors and guide them through the sales funnel of the website.
This can be done by emphasizing the links for product information or by offering free signup. Also, incorporating chatbots that might ask questions to visitors while they browse the site is a wonderful way to improve the conversion rate of a site.
5.2. Landing Page
Landing pages are designed in a manner so that the visitors take some action. So, the landing pages having the highest conversion rate make complete sense. The highest average conversion rate is for the signup forms.
For instance, an event landing page can be optimized with last year’s event video to encourage visitors to sign up for the event. Similarly, a landing page that offers free resources should be optimized so that it encourages visitors to download them.
5.3. Pricing Page
The pricing page of any website is a make-or-break point for site visitors. Conversion rate optimization helps a pricing page to convert visitors to customers by tweaking the pricing intervals, such as price-per-year vs. price-per-month. Also, describing the product features along with each pricing or auditing the simple popup form helps visitors to convert.
5.4. Blog Page
A blog page offers a massive conversion opportunity for websites. Apart from publishing useful content about the industry, blogs can use some conversion rate optimization strategies for converting readers into leads.
This process requires adding CTAs (Calls to Action) throughout the article or simply inviting readers to download an eBook in exchange for their email address submission.
6. Conversion Rate Optimization Best Practices
In the world of digital marketing, following the best conversion rate optimization best practices is extremely important. As per common belief, optimization action guarantees an increase in the conversion rate.
Some conversion rate optimization best practices that are followed by the conversion rate optimization experts are:
- Place CTAs above the fold.
- Use strong CTA button colors.
- Display the customer/client testimonials.
- Create a sense of urgency to drive sales.
- Go for a few form fields on the forms.
But whether these practices help to improve the conversion rate is a debatable topic.
Conversion rate optimization best practices are the past practices that yielded results for the CRO campaigns. In other words, they include those strategies that worked for past clients. This does not guarantee that the strategies will work for the present also.
Also, it must be kept in mind that applying the conversion rate optimization best practices puts a company in a position where they try to reach the score of their competitors. On the other hand, progressive companies will try to improvise the existing conversion rate optimization strategies that will be considered as the conversion rate optimization best practices in the future.
6.1. CRO Practices: Detailed Overview
As you might know, in a conversion rate optimization process, there is not anything that can be called the “best” practices. Often, conversion rate optimization experts follow certain tested formulas while running a conversion rate optimization campaign.
Let us look at those pointers:
6.1.1. Use interactive content as a part of CRO campaigns
Interactive content is one of the best ways to improve the user experience and increase conversions. Useful content can keep the audience engaged for a longer time and force them to pass the conversion funnel.
To create interactive content, tools like Outgrow can be used. Content is not only limited to blogs; rather, polls and quizzes can be created with ease. With a drag-and-drop interface, it is easy to create engaging content.
The tool also helps to gather more data that is required for running a CRO campaign.
6.1.2. Stop copying others
Marketers tend to look at competitors’ websites to find things to replicate. However, businesses differ. So, copying their moves will not work. Rather, it is better to gather and analyze the data for website conversion rate optimization and decide on the next step.
6.1.3. Hypothesis Is a must
Before starting the conversion rate optimization process, make sure you have a hypothesis. Without a proper hypothesis, defining the problem or solutions will not be extremely easy.
6.1.4. Goal tracking
Before starting any CRO campaign, make it a point to have the means of tracking the goals or else you might find yourself in a situation where you will not be able to understand if the experiment worked or not.
6.1.5. Do not stop any campaigns midway
If you have started a campaign for website conversion rate optimization, then do not stop it in the middle of the campaign. Make it a point to run it completely till its due period. In other words, the campaign must be run until it offers certain statistical significance.
These are some of the conversion rate optimization strategies that businesses should follow and to gain visible results.
7. Conversion Rate Optimization Best Strategies
What conversion rate optimization strategies work for a site? If you have the same question in mind, do not worry. Here is a quick overview of the best strategies that seem to work fine for any CRO campaign. They are:
- Create a text-based CTA within blog posts
- Add lead flows to your blog
- Run tests for landing pages
- Build workflows
- Improve page load speed
- Add pop-ups
- Messages for high converting pages
- Interactive landing pages
- Leverage retargeting
7.1. Create Text-Based CTAs Within Blog Posts
Including CTAs in blog posts is considered the best practice. Often the call-to-action can entice the visitors to take some action. The reason is simple.
Banner blindness is a common thing. People tend to ignore the banner content on websites. An approach to drawing their attention toward the banner is to add text-based CTAs. For instance, a standalone line linked with the landing page can create wonders in conversions.
7.2. Add Lead Flows to Your Blog
Another element that can help with eCommerce website conversion rate optimization is lead flow. Lead flows are regarded as high-converting pop-ups that offer immense value and attention.
7.3. Run Tests for Landing Pages
The landing page is where the visitor goes first, and it holds a high chance of facilitating conversion. For optimizing the landing page, running A/B tests is the best bet. This helps identify the best design and content features for the visitors.
With A/B testing, one can test different formats of the content offer, form questions, website copy, and web pages. This helps businesses understand what the leads or target audience consider the best.
7.4. Build Workflows
It is easy to create automated workflows that allow the team to work with marketing efforts. For instance, with marketing automation software, it is easy to send automatic emails with workflows or allow leads to book a meeting with representatives in one click.
Similarly, eCommerce sites can send emails to people who have abandoned their shopping carts. Based on research by Moosend, abandoned cart emails are highly effective. such emails have a high open rate of 45%. Among the 45% opened emails, 21% get clicked. Half of the clicks lead to a purchase.
7.5. Improve Page Load Speed
If a website takes too long to load, then it might affect the conversion. Hence, it is important to optimize the page load speed. Page load is one of the primary things that needs to be investigated.
Imagine the scenario: you have a beautifully structured site, but your site takes too long to load. Then you are in trouble. After all, page load has a direct connection with user experience that leads to conversions. As a part of the conversion rate optimization practices, improving the page load speed is vital.
7.6. Add Pop-ups
As per a study, the average conversion rate of popups is 3.09%. Brands that ace the art of designing pop-ups can enjoy a higher conversion rate. It can go as high as 9.28%.
To improve conversion through pop-ups, these steps must be taken:
- It is important to use interactive content for the pop-up since interactive content generates 2X conversion in comparison to static content.
- Adding a delay timer helps with improved conversion. If a pop-up appears as soon as the page is visited, the visitor can feel annoyed.
- The use of cookies can limit the number of times a pop-up will be shown to a visitor.
7.7. Messages for High Converting Pages
Introducing a live chat with website visitors in real-time is the secret to increasing conversions. Introducing this feature to high-performing web pages will help to improve conversions. For instance, eCommerce websites can add this feature to their product or pricing page.
7.8. Interactive Landing Pages
As we mentioned above, when a visitor lands on a page, the design layout strikes them first. This is one essential element determining the success of a site and conversions.
To improve the conversion rate of the landing page, creating interactive content, such as product recommendations, chatbots, etc. are helpful. The interactive content can be embedded within the landing page to make it more attractive.
7.9. Leverage Retargeting
Whatever your conversion metric might be, the basic truth is that most visitors do not perform the action that you expect/want from them. So, by leveraging retargeting for social media platforms, eCommerce brands or businesses can easily re-engage with those audiences who left the site.
Basically, retargeting works by tracking the visitors to your site and providing them with online ads while they visit other sites on the web. This is helpful when you are planning to retarget people who visited the high-converting web pages.
7.10. Optimizing High-Performing Blogs
When you are looking forward to improved conversion, make it a point to optimize the blogs. You need to identify the blog posts that get a high amount of web traffic but low conversion rates. Then optimize the blog post for SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), which will ensure the blog gets more traffic and conversions. For optimizing the blog, updating the content is particularly important.
7.11. Add a Countdown Timer to Show Urgency
Adding a timer to the website creates a sense of urgency. This, in turn, improves the conversion rate. The aim of introducing the timer is to establish a sense of fear in the mind of customers which will force them to complete the sales funnel quickly. Most eCommerce websites follow this trick to increase conversions.
These are some of the conversion rate optimization strategies that can be used for websites that look forward to increased conversions.
8. Conversion Rate Optimization Should be a Priority for Omnichannel Retailers
The way we shop is constantly changing. The advent of eCommerce platforms is encouraging both small to mid-scale and even large-scale businesses to take their business online. Customers prefer to shop from online stores that offer them a seamless shopping experience over offline stores.
For this reason, it is important for omnichannel retailers to offer their customers a good shopping experience across various channels on a continuous basis. To make that happen, an omnichannel strategy needs to be implemented. One such strategy is conversion rate optimization.
CRO is an approach that aids businesses to increase the percentage of site visitors who complete the set action.
Here is a quick overview of how conversion rate optimization strategies can help omnichannel retailers:
8.1. Allow Retailers to Offer Customers a Better Experience
As per data, 32% of customers stated that they will not visit a site again that offers a poor shopping experience, whereas the remaining 62% stated they will permanently leave the site after visiting the site 2-3 times.
This is where conversion rate optimization comes into the picture.
With a proper CRO strategy in place, it is easy to improve conversion rates across various channels, such as desktop and mobile apps. So, instead of seeing conversions for one channel, one can expect conversions for all channels.
8.2. Conversion Rate Optimization Reducing Friction in the User Journey
According to conversion rate optimization experts, within the omnichannel retail world, customer experience (CX) calls for offering a seamless user journey for customers. But for an eCommerce store, there is no one-size fit approach for enhanced CX.
The way people shop differs from country to country. Hence, the conversion rate optimization strategies will vary greatly.
For reducing friction within the user journey, the omnichannel retailer can try out the following tips:
- Use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology for personalizing the website and social media channels
- Use of chatbots for websites to answer questions
- Providing multilingual support
- Reduce clicks necessary to complete an action on the website
8.3. Conversion Rate Optimization Drives Online Sales
Conversion rate optimization is a process through which business owners can drive more online sales. A successful omnichannel retailer will need a seamless cross-channel experience that allows consumers to make purchases from any device and from any location.
This can bring about a lot of differences for the retailers. They are:
- Integrating the site with social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. This will allow customers to share their purchase experience with others.
- Ensuring mobile optimization for the websites. The website needs to be mobile-friendly. This will let customers access the website from devices like phones, laptops or tablets.
- Updating the inventory so that shoppers know which items are available in the store that matches their needs before making any purchase.
Based on a case study, the insole manufacturer Protalus saw a boost in their sales of 71% within just 6 months after implementing CRO and making one-click upsells a priority. The brand brought significant changes, like adding celebrity testimonials and even mentioning that their customers can upgrade to expedited shipping completely free of cost along the headline. Also, by using a long-form page, the brand saw a 58% increase in conversion.
As a part of the CRO strategy, brands must ensure that they are providing an online offer that matches the needs of their customers in real-time. This calls for retrieving data from websites and understanding the purchase process of customers.
8.4. Improving the Shopping Experience Across All Channels
Conversion rate optimization helps omnichannel retailers enhance their shopping experience across different channels, such as brick-and-mortar stores and online channels. It lays emphasis on helping customers finish their purchase process, irrespective of where they are making the purchase and the way they are doing it.
For instance, when a customer is looking forward to purchasing a product online, they might have questions related to the product. Then they might call customer services for help. If a customer care representative is not able to answer the queries, then the customer will abandon the cart.
This is where conversion rate optimization comes into play. Tracking multiple touchpoints, such as emails, phone calls, and chats, the conversion rate optimization experts can identify improvement opportunities that are going to increase the conversion rates.
Here, the conversion rate optimization experts can tweak the product descriptions or contact forms to make the eCommerce site more user-friendly and appealing during every stage of the purchase.
The CRO experts use an analytics tool like Google Analytics to understand why customers are leaving the site in the first place. The tool helps to understand:
- What keywords do people use on your site before leaving it
- What pages do people mostly visit
- Devices used by the people to visit the site
Introducing loyalty points helps brands improve their conversion. For instance, the Starbucks Rewards app allows users to earn rewards like a digital reward card whenever they make a purchase. The earned points can be redeemed for discounts later.
8.5. Conversion Rate Optimization Increases Conversion
Online retailers implement conversion rate optimization best practices to optimize every channel for better engagement. This, in turn, helps to increase the conversion for all channels.
To get started with CRO, omnichannel retailers should follow certain ways, such as:
- Define Customer Persona
- Optimize On-Page Elements of the Page
- Create an Efficient CTA
- Use Elements of Social Proof for Boosting Trust
- Building Trust Through Product Reviews
- A/B Test for Opt-in-Forms and Landing Pages
For instance, by performing an A/B test of forms, it is easy to understand if introducing the price will give a boost of leads.
8.6. Conversion Rate Optimization Increases Customer Satisfaction
For omnichannel retailers, customer satisfaction is an important metric. If your business does not meet the needs of customers, they will not return to your business. Only satisfied customers will come back to your site. Plus, they will recommend your brand to their friends or colleagues.
9. What are the Benefits of Conversion Rate Optimization
The conversion rate optimization process offers a robust analysis of user behavior on the website. Based on user behavior, one gets answers to questions like ‘What do the customers want?’, ‘Why are they visiting my site?’, or ‘how will the visitors react to the changes made to the site?’
Apart from answering what, how, and why questions, conversion rate optimizations offer the following benefits:
9.1. Greater ROI/Lower Customer Acquisition Cost
One of the main benefits of running a CRO campaign is to optimize the chance of conversions with every change made to the site. This, in turn, will create a positive impact on the audience’s mind and improve ROI. But this statement is only applicable when the changes are implemented after the A/B test.
Improved UX is bound to bring back customers. Plus, it can also help convert existing traffic to buyers sometimes. Studies show that winning new customers costs 5X more than retaining existing customers.
9.2. Ensure Better UX
Since CRO is a continuing process, it is important to improve the user experience of the site. When users find the site easy to navigate and use, they will come back again. This will eventually improve website conversion.
9.3. Know Customers Better
Another reason to opt for conversion rate optimization services is that they help businesses know their customers better. Often, data seems to be the backbone of a CRO process.
After all, data not only helps with CRO efforts but also helps businesses to have a better understanding of their customers. Analyzing the data properly can help businesses understand the pain points of the customers and segment them. The website can then be optimized accordingly.
9.4. Better SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Conversion rate optimization is known to boost SEO efforts. According to Google, user behavior is usually considered while ranking any page. This shows that websites that provide a smooth user experience rank higher on SERPs. Hence, putting effort into CRO improves conversion and boosts SEO.
9.5. Increase Use Engagement
Conversion rate optimization enhances the way visitors interact with websites and with campaigns. This, in turn, helps with improved engagement that leads to conversions. Engagement metrics offer valuable insight into the campaign’s performance and what compels the users to take some action.
9.6. Enhanced Customer Trust
More conversions call for users to supply their contact information in lieu of an eBook or more detailed information about services.
9.7. Scalability
Conversion rate optimization allows for making the most use of the visitors and turning them to leads and customers. When the conversion rate improves, it helps to scale the business.
These are some important benefits that a business can gain after implementing a proper CRO strategy.
10. Conversion Rate Optimization Roadmap
What is a CRO roadmap? It is a detailed workflow that entails the time and resources needed, when and which experiments will be launched, and the probable outcome.
The roadmap assures that each tweak or change, test, and insight add some value to the next steps and reinforce the step to offer improved results. So, with an exclusive roadmap in place, it is easy to do away with the hope of getting satisfactory results from poorly chalked experiments.
10.1. Basic Steps for Conversion Rate Optimization
Wondering about the steps involved in an effective website conversion rate optimization plan? Yes! Then to put it simply, the CRO process gets divided into 5 simple steps.
They are Research Phase, Hypothesis Phase, Prioritization Phase, Testing Phase, and Learning Phase.
10.1.1. Research Phase
In this step, the conversion rate optimization agents find the areas that need improvement. Here, marketers try to understand what users do and their user behavior. By studying the behavior of the target audience, it becomes easy to get an insight into their actions.
So, the information can be used for improving website conversion. Also, based on data and customer psychology, it becomes easy for marketers to pinpoint the exact reasons why and what users do after visiting a site.
10.1.2. Hypothesis Phase
This phase allows the marketers to come up with a detailed hypothesis. With the gathered information from the research phase, a hypothesis can be drafted. Basically, it calls for a detailed explanation of the research and is divided into three parts.
The parts are:
- A particular change – Depending on the insights obtained from the qualitative and quantitative data.
- A particular effect – A goal or a conversion metric that needs improvement.
- A particular reason – It is the thinking that goes behind a certain change that brought about the desired effect.
The best way out is to run a test. Based on the hypothesis, necessary changes to the product page can be made. The main aim of the test is to check if the new variation brings about more conversions.
A proper hypothesis paves the path for improved eCommerce website conversion optimization efforts. Even if the path fails, the case can be taken into consideration to understand what went wrong. Based on the input, proper measures can be taken.
Without a properly structured optimization process, efforts go in vain, and the campaign loses its purpose.
A rule of thumb is to back the testing with a proper purpose and solid proof. To support the test, there should be enough quantitative and qualitative data. The hypothesis should be as comprehensive as possible and should have all necessary information.
10.1.3. Prioritization Phase
In this phase, various frameworks can be chosen for the conversion rate optimization process. Often the P.I.E framework by Chris Goward helps in prioritizing the testing elements and the right actions can be taken accordingly.
As per the P.I.E framework, P stands for Potential, I for Importance, and E for Ease.
Potential: It lets you find the pages that are not performing well but can improve to a great extent.
Importance: The pages can be narrowed down based on which ones offer valuable traffic. Remember, traffic becomes valuable when it is paid for and super relevant for the product offerings.
Ease: Once you have the final list of pages, it is important to understand that not all pages can be optimized. A page like an eCommerce product listing page is a bit complicated, while a home page is easy to optimize.
Other frameworks that can also be used include I.C.E. Framework by Sean Ellis and T.I.R Model by Bryan Eisenberg.
10.1.4. Testing Phase
Before running a test, one needs to understand the following points:
- What is statistical significance and why is it so critical?
- How long does the test need to be run?
- What should be used —multivariate, A/B, or split test?
10.1.4.1. What is statistical significance and why is it so critical?
The primary reason to run a test is to understand whether bringing any change to a site can help with more conversions.
10.1.4.2. How long does the test need to be run?
When you are running a test on the site, visitors are a part of the test. Hence, the number keeps on changing. This further shows that the conversion rate might see an increase or a slight dip at times, or it might become stagnant during the testing period.
Depending on when one is planning to check the results of the test, the statistical significance can be either low or high. This leads to “peeking” error.
10.1.4.3. Peeking Error
This means looking into the test results even before it finishes its due course of action. There might be a chance that you discover the statistical data higher or lower than the set expectations. On those grounds, you might stop the test, as the test/tests have or have not done well. This, in turn, will deploy a version that can affect the conversion negatively.
So, it is extremely important to define the duration of the test. Also, declare the winner or loser of the test once the run-time finishes.
10.1.4.4. What should be used —multivariate, A/B, or split test?
Three main types of tests are run. They are multivariate testing, A/B testing, and split testing.
Businesses often get confused over these three types of tests. They are not sure which test will meet their needs. To help them understand, the following points must be kept in mind.
Multivariate testing must be used when there are multiple change suggestions for a page, and you want to test each of the combinations separately.
A/B testing is known for its simplicity. Hence, it seems to be the best fit. This test is suitable when the design changes are not too complex.
Split testing is also known as URL testing and is used when there is a need to test pages that exist with different URLs, the design needs some heavy modifications against the original version, or back-end changes are needed.
The decision to follow any one of the test methods solely depends upon the task at hand. But each testing method has its own set of pros and cons.
10.1.5. Learning Phase
Lastly, in this phase, you can conclude the tests and close the loop for conversion rate optimization. It is always better to take note of the information gathered that can be used for further testing.
While most conversion rate optimization experts only look at the test results to understand if the variation passed or failed, they should also comprehend under which scenarios the tests paid off well or when it was a failure.
These are some basic steps involved in conversion rate optimization for websites including eCommerce websites.
One needs to understand that website conversion rate optimization is an ongoing process. Hence, it needs constant analysis as there is always room for improvement.
11. Businesses Benefitting from Conversion Rate Optimization
A proper website conversion rate optimization is beneficial for all types and sizes of businesses irrespective of the industry they cater to. Here is a small sneak-peak into the businesses that can receive help from it.
11.1. Conversion Rate Optimization for B2B/SaaS Companies
Lead generation is the beginning of grabbing customers’ interest. This can be done by engaging the customers on the site by gathering information via various means, such as signups, surveys, etc. It can also be done by contacting them so that they become loyal and recurring customers.
For B2B companies, it is their duty to help their customers take an interest in the product and make a purchase decision.
11.2. Conversion Rate Optimization for eCommerce Companies
Shopping carts are a common issue for eCommerce sites. With eCommerce conversion rate optimization, the challenges that eCommerce sites face can be solved. According to an analysis by Baymard Institute, around 69% of eCommerce visitors abandon their carts for several reasons.
For this reason, coming up with a user-friendly eCommerce site offers a great design, a good collection of products, and minimal shipping costs. It will not only solve the issue of cart abandonment, but also deal with issues like complex payment processes.
11.3. Conversion Rate Optimization for Agencies
Another sector that can receive help from website conversion rate optimization is agencies, such as web development agencies, digital marketing agencies, and more. It is even applicable to any dedicated conversion rate optimization agency.
By running CRO campaigns for websites, these agencies can improve their ROI (return on investment) to a greater extent. This is even applicable to CRO agencies who are looking for improved conversion rates. Often digital marketing agencies OFFER these CRO services to their clients so that they can get the desired level of traffic.
However, it is best to talk to conversion rate optimization experts to understand whether your website really needs it or fits your business requirements.
Take Professional Help
Now that you have gone through the entire blog post and you are planning to give your website the desired boost, you can talk with our experts. As a provider of conversion rate optimization services, eWay Corp will help clients get the highest possible percentage of visitors to their site and ensure visitors convert to leads and bring worthwhile investment.
Wrapping Up
Do you want to increase the conversion rate of your website? If yes, your website can get the desired boost with an effective CRO strategy in place. Remember, there is no generalized rule for perfecting the conversion rates.
However, following the tips of CRO experts can be extremely helpful. The conversion rate optimization experts will enhance your online presence so that you can stand out in this competitive world.
