Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the process of improving the percentage of visitors to a website that complete a desired action such as making a purchase or filling out a form.
CRO is essential for businesses because it helps to increase revenue and improve the overall effectiveness of a website.
With that said, in what follows, we’ll be discussing some of the best conversion rate optimization practices that businesses can implement so as to improve their overall conversion rates.
The first step in any CRO strategy is to understand the needs and behaviour of your target audience. Conducting user research, such as surveys and focus groups, can help you gather valuable insights about your customers. You can also use tools like heat maps and session recordings to understand how users interact with your website.
Once you have a clear understanding of your audience, you can use A/B testing to experiment with different versions of your website and see which ones perform the best. A/B testing allows you to make changes to your website and measure the impact on your conversion rates.
Optimise your website's design and user experience.
A well-designed website with a smooth user experience is essential for converting visitors into customers. Make sure your website is visually appealing, easy to navigate, and loads quickly. Use clear and concise headlines and copy to communicate your value proposition and make it easy for visitors to understand what you offer.
Improve the credibility and trustworthiness of your website.
Trust is a key factor in the purchasing decision of online shoppers. Use social proof, such as customer reviews and testimonials, to build credibility and trust. Displaying security badges and seals can also help to increase the trust of your visitors.
It is said that around 92% of people trust recommendations more than they trust an advertisement or brand. Hence, to ensure your audiences are well-aware of your product's performance, you should display the ratings and reviews of your product at the top. In addition, you can also show a testimonial or quote from a previous or recent client to gain their trust and increase your business reputation.
Make the call to action prominent and effective.
The call-to-action (CTA) is the button or link that prompts the visitor to take the desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. Make sure your CTA is prominently displayed and easy to find. Use action-oriented language and make it clear what the visitor will get by clicking the CTA.
A lengthy or complicated checkout process can be a major barrier to conversion.
Make sure your checkout process is as simple and straightforward as possible. Offer multiple payment options, consider implementing guest checkout to make it easier for visitors to complete their purchases, and test auto add-to-checkout buttons.
Use retargeting to bring back visitors who didn't convert.
Retargeting is a powerful tool that allows you to show ads to people who have visited your website but didn't convert. By showing relevant ads to these visitors as they browse the web, you can bring them back to the exact product page they've left and potentially convert them into customers.
With the increasing number of people using their smartphones to shop online, it's important to make sure your website is mobile-friendly. A mobile-optimised website will have a better user experience and a higher conversion rate on mobile devices.
Other conversion rate optimization best practices that will drastically boost total revenue and growth include but are certainly not limited to anchoring similar products at checkout to increase total AOV, geotargeting locations, personalising landing pages, segmenting email lists, and implementing urgency tactics to trigger purchase orders.
The next among the top CRO best practices is sharing the value of your product or service with your customers or visitors. Many businesses focus more on why they are perfect for this product range and don't tell about the benefits their products and services have to offer, which leads to lower conversions. Hence, this becomes the most crucial step of your campaign, as one wrong line can make your customers totally uninterested.
"The Shama Hair Oil company is the best as we have the best oils and hundreds of customers...."
"The Shama Hair Oil company has the best oils made of natural ingredients and brings natural shine to your hair..."
Calls to action, also known as CTAs, are critical as they inform your customers about their next step. With a well-crafted CTA, you can grab potential customers that can increase your sales or bring more leads. According to the Go To Shelf, CTAs with a strong personalised message can increase your conversion rates by 202%. So you should be attentive and as helpful as you can while writing a CTA for your product or service.
For instance, instead of simply writing "Hit the add button," you should write it as "Hit the add button to get your desired product in your cart." Proper guidance and information enable customers to make a clear and informed decision, making it among the best CRO practices.
If you cannot grab satisfying clients, the next one of the CRO best practices is keeping an eye on your competitors. Even though they are your biggest business rivals, you can still find plenty of useful information from them that can help your business. You should look at how they present their products and services and try to develop something better. Moreover, also keep a close eye on the things they lack and fulfil that gap to get promising customers and sales.
Remove all friction from any page, and you're left with a blank screen with only a form - but that's not going to convert.
The challenge is to understand when and how to use friction to your advantage. Exit-intent pop-ups, for example, have been shown to enhance conversion rates from traffic that would otherwise depart.
Live chat widgets also disturb the user experience, although this isn't necessarily a negative thing if they aid in the discovery of what people are looking for. Similarly, forcing individuals to sign up for your newsletter or create an account adds complexity but allows you to follow up with prospects more effectively.
In this instance, adding a page and increasing the number of clicks required to finish an activity can increase conversions by 60%.
Instead of seeking to minimise friction wherever it appears, understand how to capitalise on it. It's a terrific tool for not just increasing conversions in certain instances, but also for improving conversion quality, something far too many CRO approaches overlook.
CRO is an essential component of every online business. All of the strategies described above are CRO best practices that you may apply to boost your leads. You may greatly boost your conversion rates and income by performing user research, optimising the design and user experience of your website, enhancing credibility and trustworthiness, and expediting the checkout process.
Don’t forget to optimise for mobile and use retargeting to bring back visitors who didn't convert. If you want a credible partner to increase conversions, Blazer Agency is the perfect partner for that. We have a team of marketing and ads experts that adopt top methodologies to boost ecommerce growth.
Therefore, interested in improving your CRO and potentially increasing your store conversion rate up to 30% or even higher? Let’s have a discovery call in which we will go over our special CRO audit containing over 142 questions that will ultimately lead you towards guaranteed CRO improvements.
