Conversion Rate Optimisation is an often overlooked, but essential part of web performance and digital marketing. If the traffic you’re driving potential customers to via channels like paid media isn’t converting, your paid media teams may get blamed… But having a good look at how that page is laid out and making what may seem like minor adjustments can be super impactful in increasing your results from paid.
Ian, our Head of Web Performance, explains in this blog post what exactly Conversion Rate Optimisation is, why it’s crucial in performance marketing and how to go about doing it.
Conversion Rate Optimisation Definition
Conversion rate optimisation (CRO) is the process of optimising your website to increase the likelihood that visitors will complete a specific action. The higher your website’s conversion rate the better. Your website could do brilliantly in all other areas, but if your conversion rate is poor, it will directly impact your bottom line – so it’s essential you make improvements.
When it comes to Conversion Rate Optimisation, there are many different steps to consider when crafting a website that convinces visitors to take action. That action could be enquiring about a service, making a purchase, creating an account, subscribing to a mailing list or getting in touch.
The site’s design plays a crucial role in creating trust among browsers. It should be easy to navigate, simple to use and be accessible to as many users as possible by ensuring accessibility guidelines are met.
Whether your website attracts traffic organically through search results, or via a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign, the goal remains to create an environment where users feel confident and compelled, which can help encourage them to explore further.
However, All that traffic is worth nothing to your business if it’s not compelled to act in some way, so your website must be able to ‘convert’ by turning a proportion of that traffic into leads, subscribers and customers.
Why Is Conversion Rate Optimisation Important?
There are several reasons why Conversion Rate Optimisation is so important, let’s look at a few:
Firstly, when you’re spending money on organic marketing channels like SEO, or paying for traffic via a PPC campaign, a good conversion rate will provide you with a higher return on investment (ROI). It’s also more cost-effective to convert the visitors you already have rather than attracting more traffic.
It is not lost on Digital Marketing teams how important Conversion Rate Optimisation is. With an average increase of 80% in conversion rates gained when pain points and questions are addressed on a landing page, more and more businesses are choosing to invest in CRO.
At Passion, we want our clients to experience successful conversions, and we work with them on a continuous basis to find opportunities to improve as their business and websites evolve.
Conversion Rate Optimisation Strategies
Implementing Conversion Rate Optimisation strategies can be an extremely simple and cost-effective way for digital marketing teams to have a dramatic impact on the success of their online campaigns. Working in conjunction with a Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) team can be one of the most effective ways to tackle barriers that are stopping your website from maximising its ROI.
Conversions can occur all over a website, from the homepage and service pages to pricing pages, the blog and landing pages designed for specific campaigns. Implementing effective Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) strategies on these pages is crucial.
Here are a few simple ways those pages can be optimised for:
1. Optimising your homepage
A homepage is not typically the page visitors will complete an action on, but it still has a critical role to play in conversions as it is often the first point of entry for users. Implementing an effective Conversion Rate Optimisation strategy on the home page is essential. It will create a favourable first impression on visitors and guide them clearly through your website to the information they want to find.
Here are some elements that should be on your homepage to increase the likelihood of conversion later in that user’s journey.
- Clear value proposition so that users fully understand what they are viewing
- Clear links to product and service information
- Buttons that allow visitors to take quick action
- Contact information
- Features like “Request a call back” or instant messaging services with a team member to ensure the user’s questions or concerns are being met
Here’s an example of the Passion Digital homepage:
2. Optimising your Landing pages
It’s important to follow effective Conversion Rate Optimisation practices on landing pages, as these types of pages are specifically designed for people to take action. They are often the main destination of paid online marketing campaigns, and a lot of money is spent driving traffic to these pages, so it’s important you get them right. Limiting the number of potential actions visitors can take, clearly articulating the value of the product or service and establishing the credibility of the business through social proofing (adding reviews or trusted and recognisable partners) are just a few of the elements you need to consider optimising conversion rates.
3. Optimising your pricing page
A website’s pricing page is primed for Conversion Rate Optimisation. A visitor who reaches a website’s pricing page could well have the intention to buy, so this is the page that could make or break that decision for them. Giving the visitor a range of pricing options (e.g. prices per week, per month and per year), offering promotions, including discount codes, providing plenty of information about the product features and having simple payment options can all help to increase the conversion rates.
4. Optimising your blog page
The blog is an excellent way to answer the questions visitors may have about your products or services and provide more information about the kind of benefits they can provide. That also makes them an effective way of using Conversation Rate Optimisation to potentially turn readers into leads. Publishing relevant, genuinely helpful content which includes a Call-To-Action (CTA), invites readers to find out more and asks them to submit their email address for more comprehensive information can help you convert.
Benefit of Conversion Rate Optimisation
Businesses can gain a wide range of benefits by pursuing Conversion Rate Optimisation. These benefits include:
1. Capitalising on existing traffic with CRO
Conversion Rate Optimisation offers a cost-effective and efficient way to maximise the use of your current site traffic. Instead of spending heavily on SEO, PPC and other traffic-generating methods, CRO focuses on optimising the user experience on your website, improving the chances of your customers completing a conversion action.
2. CRO and customer retention
A well-optimised website is more likely to attract repeat business and greater customer retention. By focusing on Conversion Rate Optimisation, you can boost customer satisfaction and improve the overall customer experience.
3. Gaining a competitive edge through CRO
CRO allows you to win customers from your competitors. In a digital marketplace saturated with customer options, having a website that focuses on CRO will distinctly set your business apart from the competitors.
4. Understanding your customers for effective CRO
By analysing data such as user session recordings and website navigation behaviour, you’ll gain a better understanding of your leads, prospects and customers. This data can then be used to make informed decisions and implement effective Conversion Rate Optimisation strategies.
5. Identifying and improving underperforming areas with CRO
You will have the ability to pinpoint which sections of your website are not performing well and then apply the appropriate strategies for Conversion Rate Optimisation to enhance your page.
6. CRO and brand perception
Having a website that guides visitors seamlessly to their objectives will help to boost brand perception and increase the likelihood of customers returning.
7. Enhanced user experience with CRO
Optimising for conversion rate also means an optimised user experience. This is because CRO looks at improving CTAs and their positioning, providing relevant and informative content which helps user journeys to become streamlined.
Conversion Rate Optimisation in Digital Marketing
In today’s dynamic landscape of digital marketing, Conversion Rate Optimisation is key for unlocking the true potential of your online presence. As we navigate through the era of AI, it becomes crucial to constantly refine and enhance your website’s performance to achieve optimal conversions and drive tangible results.
To ensure your online platform remains competitive and effectively engages your target audience, it’s crucial to consider CRO. This can be achieved by keeping your content relevant and up-to-date, staying proactive, and adapting to the ever-changing digital landscape. By doing so, you’ll enhance the quality of your online presence and successfully connect with your desired audience.
Here at Passion, we are always looking for new opportunities to help improve website conversions. If you’re looking for a Conversion Rate Optimisation agency in London, get in touch today to find out how we could help your business grow.