Every company today with an online presence should be particular about seeing results and one of the ways to track this is through conversion rate optimization (CRO). Many people in business know this already but how many are constantly working to improve their conversion rates? There are tactics you must implement to see results in the short and long term and this article expounds that.
What Does Website Conversion Rate Mean?
Website conversion rate is used to determine the number of visitors to a website who took an action. This may include making a purchase, filling a form, signing up for a newsletter, paying for a course, downloading an ebook, etc. Online businesses measure their conversion rates based on different factors, which depend on the nature of their business and their goals, all of which eventually translate to improved return on investment.
What is a Good Conversion Rate
According to a report from WordStream, a typical website conversion rate is about 2.35% on average. However, the top 10% of companies are seeing 3-5x higher conversion rates than average.
A good conversion rate may differ by industries and the illustration below shows what the conversion rate is in popular industries.
However, while this serves as a guide to what the global average conversion rate is, businesses should always aspire for more. Shoot for up to 10-20% conversion rate and always aim for the best.
To calculate your website conversion rate, take the total number of completed actions/goals over a period and divide that with the total number of visitors on your site. The result is measured in percentage. For example, if you have 10,000 visitors to your site and only 100 completed a goal, your conversion rate would be 100/10000 = 0.01, which is 1%.
How to Increase Your Conversion Rate Optimization
Understanding how CRO works is one thing, knowing what to do to increase the results is another. Here are a few tips to help you improve your website conversion rate.
1. Work on Your Call-to-action
The call-to-action (CTA) is the button or link visitors have to click to take a certain action that contributes to improving your conversion rate. As basic as the CTA is, it is the most important thing you can optimize on a landing page. It has a huge impact on how visitors interact with your content.
To improve your CTA, start by using active language, instead of generic or passive language on your buttons. Use “Where to buy” instead of “Store Finder”; “Send my message” in place of “Submit” or a more generic term like “Send”; “Test It Out” swapped with “Get Started”, and so on. This tells your reader what to expect when they click the link, rather than leaving them to guess. This will make your link more enticing and persuasive to users and a 2014 case study on an eCommerce store shows how CTA language does make a difference.
Make your CTA visible enough to visitors and use the right blend of colors that will entice them to click. Little adjustments like these to your CTA can make all the difference.
2. Experiment with Your Landing Pages
The main goal of a landing page is to convert visitors to customers and the average rate for landing page conversions is 9.7% across all industries. This means every landing page matters and you should put in the effort to ensure it converts. One of the ways to make this possible is by experimenting with the layout, content, style, and functionality. Ensure your landing pages are properly designed with content that provides substantial information to motivate users to take action.
Experiment with the elements on the pages and see what happens when you use a different style. Does your conversion rate increase when you change the action text on the CTA? Does it increase when you use fewer words in your content? These and more are things you should experiment with. In an earlier article, we addressed some other important things to consider when creating a landing page.
3. Add a Pop-up to Your Site
A study by Sumo shows that the average conversion rate for all pop-ups is 3.09 percent but if done the right way, can climb up to 10%. To get the highest conversion rates from pop-ups, provide offers that your audience may be interested in. This includes free products or services, PDFs, premium content, and more. It could also be to increase your newsletter subscription list. To increase your chances of positive results, always let visitors know what they stand to gain by taking an action. Also, make the pop-up notification easy to close to improve user experience on the site and set a cookie to ensure it appears once per user.
4. Expose Your Key Navigation
You can be deliberate about your navigation links in the same way you are about your CTA buttons. When visitors stumble on your site, you should make it easy for them to navigate through your site pages. Provide clickable options in your navigation menu that customers can easily access. If you sell products online, display important product categories on the menu. Visitors are more likely to click an obvious navigation link than a link embedded in a dropdown menu that is not easily accessible.
5. Page Speed and Experience
Page speed contributes to the overall user experience and is one of the major things every UX designer should consider. This contributes to page conversions, as users are more likely to stay longer on a website with fast-loading pages. Faster page load time is also a ranking factor on Google, as it impacts search engine optimization (SEO).
How Else Can You Improve Your Website CRO?
If you follow the points laid out in this article, there will be obvious changes in your website conversion rate. However, for better results, you need the best hands on deck with professional experience to work on your website and landing pages.
We have a community of talented software developers at Charisol that can help you with this and you’d see effective results. We’ve worked on outstanding brands over the years such as MailDrip, Aluuka, KakedBar, and Tishlms, among others. Our services span Software designing, App development, Digital Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Content Writing & Marketing, and Search Engine Optimisation. We will work hand-in-hand with you to ensure you get the best for your website and improve your conversion rate optimization over time.
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