Getting more people to visit your website is important, but traffic alone doesn’t guarantee more sales.
Conversion rate optimisation, usually shortened to CRO, focuses on helping a greater percentage of visitors take a useful action.
A conversion could be buying a product, completing an enquiry form, requesting a quote, downloading a guide or joining a mailing list.
For example, imagine an online shop receives 1,000 visitors each month, and 20 people make a purchase. Its conversion rate is 2%. If improvements increase that rate to 4%, the shop could generate 40 sales from the same amount of traffic. This is why CRO can be more cost effective than simply spending more money on advertising.
Understand how visitors use your website
Good conversion optimisation starts with understanding what visitors need and where they encounter issues.
Analytics platforms can show which pages people visit, how long they stay and where they leave. There are also visual tracking platforms known as heatmap tools, which can reveal which buttons, links and page sections receive the most attention. For example, if many shoppers reach the delivery page but leave before paying, the delivery costs may be unclear or unexpectedly high. Fixing this issue could produce a bigger improvement than redesigning the homepage.
Customer surveys can also provide useful feedback for adjustments like this.
Test changes carefully
A/B testing involves showing visitors two versions of a page or element to see which performs better. You might compare two button labels, product images, headlines or checkout layouts.
It is usually best to test one change at a time. If you change the headline, image, price display and button together, you won’t know which adjustment affected the results.
Tests should also run for long enough to collect meaningful data, as decisions based on a handful of visitors can be misleading.
Improve key pages and calls to action
Landing pages should match the message that brought someone there. If an advert promotes a specific discount, the linked page should clearly display that offer.
Headings should explain the benefit quickly, while images should be clear and relevant. Reviews, testimonials and recognised payment logos can reassure first time customers.
Calls to action should tell people exactly what will happen next, while phrases such as “Get Your Free Quote” or “Add to Basket” are clearer than vague wording such as “Continue”.
Forms should also ask only for essential information, as a quote form requesting 10 unnecessary details may discourage someone who was ready to enquire. Think about your own experiences on a website – would you bother filling in 10 different information fields? Or would you want to save your time and look elsewhere?
Make buying simple
For online shops, the checkout is one of the most important areas to optimise. Customers should be able to complete their purchase quickly, particularly on mobile devices.
Offer familiar payment options, remove unnecessary checkout fields and explain delivery charges before the final stage.
Website speed is important too. Large images, poor hosting and unnecessary plugins can make pages slow, which may cause visitors to leave.
CRO is not a single project – it’s an ongoing process of reviewing behaviour, testing improvements and removing obstacles. To improve your website’s performance and turn more visitors into customers, speak to our team at Engage Web about how we can help improve your strategy.
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