What Is Conversion Rate Optimization and Why Do You Need It?

Having a website dedicated to reaching more customers is an excellent step in the right direction. But while designing a business website to entice and encourage visitors, it is also important to remember that it is even more valuable to have people do more than just visit your website. Driving traffic would not do much for you in the long run. You’d want to optimize your website to convert visitors into actual customers, subscribers, or members. There are many ways to do this, and most businesses do CRO tests to improve their process further and achieve their desired goal. In this article, we will be helping you understand what conversion optimization, a cro program, and micro conversion are. We will also be telling you all about CRO tests and how your website benefits from knowing and doing these.

What is Conversion Rate Optimization?

Conversion Rate Optimization refers to the process of increasing the conversion rate of a website. That is the percentage of the site visitors who are persuaded to eventually convert or perform a desired action, whether that means purchasing product/s, subscribing to newsletters and updates, signing up for a membership, and/or simply filling out a form. Alternatively, you can look at it as the process you go through to understand how your site visitors and potential customers found your website, how they are best encouraged to convert, and what demotivates them to go through with the transaction. It is the process of converting a mediocre user experience into the best one you can pull off. Understanding what drives them to your website will allow you to know which of your marketing campaigns work. Once they are on your website, you’d also want to understand what entices them to stay or what pushes them to leave. Understanding these factors will help you improve your website and, thereby, your conversion rate.

Another thing that might help you in knowing what your website needs are micro-conversions. Micro conversions are not conversions per se. However, they are usually clear indicators of conversion happening. See, micro conversions refer to how site visitors complete or accomplish specific small steps or actions, which suggests that they are on their way to conversion. Professionals in conversion rate optimization often study these micro conversions to gain some insight into how certain marketing strategies work or don’t work. They try to pinpoint weaknesses in your website pages and/or elements and know how to further improve user experience and increase conversions.

Furthermore, performing a CRO test also gives you an overview of your conversion rate optimization. A CRO test is a method or technique used to test what changes (elements, pages, other areas) work best for your website’s conversion rate optimization. There are many different methods on how you can do a CRO test. The most common being the A/B testing which is really a method that encompasses other ways as well. With this kind of CRO test, you change a few elements and test them with a specified audience. The results will tell you which of the parts you have is causing problems. These kinds of CRO tests are highly statistical and have to be backed up with actual data. Another type of CRO test you can try is user testing. With this method, you ask specific questions to your users to gather their feedback. And based on the data you collected, you can make the necessary changes you could point out.

These CRO tests and micro conversions are all summed up in one CRO program. That is your conversion rate optimization plan. CRO program refers to the overall digital marketing strategies you have up your sleeve. It is what business owners, like you, set out to improve their conversion rate optimization. CRO program involves all the analysis and optimization of your website. It helps you get an overview of your whole website and carefully consider the next steps you need to optimize your conversion rate.

How Your Website Benefits From Conversion Rate Optimization?

There are many ways in how your website benefits from conversion rate optimization. It increases customer lifetime value, lowers costs per lead, boost your SEO ranking, increases your returns, and significantly improves your customer user experience. Specifically, we would like to tell you about your website’s specific parts that benefit most from your CRO program.

・Landing Page

Fighting Pretty Landing Pageb

Image taken from Strikingly User’s Website

Landing pages are pages that are specifically targeted to encourage a specific action from your site visitors. Conversion rate optimization is practically its purpose and goal. It is different from a homepage because it only contains enough information to encourage visitors to press that call-to-action button. It can even act as a doorkeeper that leads your visitors to your main website. Thus, by knowing well what elements work to convert more site visitors, you can easily modify your landing pages accordingly. By performing cro tests and tweaking your cro program, your landing page becomes a premier area of your website to convert visitors into customers, members, or subscribers.

・Homepage

CozyKin Homepage

Image taken from Strikingly User’s Website

Your homepage is the first thing visitors see on your website. Besides your landing pages, it gives off the first impression to your visitors. What it contains and how it is designed can make or break your conversion rate optimization. See, when you optimize your homepage according to the results of your cro tests, you give your visitors the best user experience from the very beginning. You guide them through the opportunity to explore your website more. You can optimize your homepage by emphasizing product descriptions, incorporating pop-ups, and offering free sign-ups. You can also check your statistical data whether a live chat feature can help your website’s conversion rate optimization. If you can please your site visitors as early as your homepage, you significantly increase the chances of improving your conversion rate.

・Pricing Page

Strikingly Pricing Page

Image taken from Strikingly Product

Your pricing page can often be the last line that separates your site visitors from your customers. It is a highly critical part of your website. If your site visitors are not encouraged by what they see on your pricing page, then maybe your conversion rate optimization measures on that particular page are not effective enough. And we are not talking about just the prices they see here. How your pricing page is designed and displayed plays a big part in either your visitors will become your customers. Ideally, cro programs of businesses suggest that communicating your prices in different intervals work well with site visitors. You can also clearly but concisely indicate what features are included in each of your display costs. It helps you convince visitors to avail of your products and/or services if they are fully informed about what they are paying for. You can also indicate an email or contact information they can use if they have questions about your pricing. If you can get them past this, then your conversion rate optimization plan is on a good track towards success.

・Blogs

Blogs

Image taken from Strikingly User’s Website

Blogs present good opportunities for conversion. Nowadays, most websites have blogs gathered into one of their pages. These blogs are meant to give detailed insights and perspectives to site visitors and customers alike. They are written to have content, more than the products and product descriptions themselves, that can further motivate site visitors and customers to take the desired action you want them to. Your blogs can use conversion rate optimization because doing so successfully presents a significant avenue for conversion. You can do this by adding links to actions, other blogs, or product information that can push them to convert. These links can be embedded or inserted throughout your articles and blog posts, so make sure they are relevant. You can also add a signup form or a call to action button towards the ends of your blog that can help convert readers to customers.

Conversion rate optimization is not an easy and simple thing to do. But it can be one of the best things that you will invest your time and attention into. If you are knowledgeable about what works for your website, it just goes to follow that you can be more successful in your business endeavors. Though this is not a one-time thing or process to execute, you can learn after each cro test and modification of your cro program. As you venture into the industry and use the time that passes to continuously improve and evolve, you can establish a system that can surely and eventually make you one of the best businesses there is. Find the strength and perseverance in you to be adamant and motivated in your conversion rate optimization. With Strikingly as your website builder, you can easily edit elements and pages according to your business needs. Sign up now and let Strikingly help you ride to the top of the food chain!