Let’s assume you have a well-designed website with high-quality content, a low bounce rate, which shows your page is interesting, and you have hundreds or even thousands of visitors per month.
Then we should congratulate you, it appears that your business is in good health and the clearest sign of a job well done is to have a high conversion rate.
The conversion rate is the total number of visitors who perform a predetermined action on your website. The predetermined action depends on the objectives of each individual business, for example for some, it may be making a purchase, for others, filling in a form, or subscribing to a newsletter.
Whatever your goals are, all the activities must be measurable and focused on improving the conversion rate of your website. However, this is not always as easy as it sounds, and even if it were, there’s always room for improvement!
Therefore, we would encourage you to put these 6 simple tips into practice and begin to reap the rewards!
Know your users
The first important step you need to do is try to identify the different users of your website.
You will most likely receive many daily visitors, but not all will have the same profile. Some visitors may already be your customers, others may have landed on your website by mistake and others will be potential customers looking for that extra bit of information that helps them take the final step.
Identifying your user base will help you to gain insight to what they are looking for and what you should be offering each one of them. For example, your potential customers may be interested in downloading case studies or your product catalogue, meanwhile those who are already loyal customers may be interested in downloading a report or going directly to making a purchase (depending on your type of business).
Pay attention to your CTA
The Call To Action (CTA) is the button or link that directs the users to perform an action which leads to a conversion such as “downloads, submitting forms, buy…”
The CTA needs to take into account several important elements such as the copy writting, the design, the type of button, etc.
- Copy writting: the text will vary depending on who the CTA is directed at. You need to direct the user, without leaving any doubt in their minds what is required of them, therefore it must be clear, direct, concise, and above all, original.
- Design: must be attractive enough not to go unnoticed, but it is also essential to avoid distractions so do not include any superfluous elements that don’t add value.
- All this must be reinforced by the Star of the show: the button!
It should be suggestive and persuasive. There are studies that show that buttons with rounded shape, bright colours and shadows to simulate depth are more clickable.
It must be located where the user most expects to find it, normally at the end of the page or text. Also, the size should be proportional to the rest of the design.
The copy must also be creative. Remember that between “Download” or “Buy” and “I want it!” can make up to 30% difference in the conversion rate.
Request the necessary information
Make sure that the information that you offer to your users or potential users is of interest so that they are willing to leave their data in exchange for the information they require.
For example, if you want them to download a particular presentation, the most sensible thing to do is make sure the procedure is simple and does not require more than 1 or 2 steps. If they need to leave their contact information, analyse what is the essential information you require, as requesting too much data can reduce your conversion rate.
Debug the purchase process
If you have an e-commerce site, then the most sensitive moment is when the payment is made, therefore it is important that the whole process is clear and conveys confidence.
How do you achieve this?
- If you require your customers to register beforehand then ask them for only personal data that is both fair and necessary, as mentioned in the previous point.
- Clearly, communicate the steps that must be followed and let them track their progress through the process.
- Offer different ways of payment, let the users choose the one that suits them best.
- Have a wish list or shopping cart recovery tool so that undecided customer can see their previous baskets.
All these points will help you increase your conversion rate.
Test
You can create A/B tests of many of the key elements on your website such as forms, layouts, colours, sizes, CTA and images… It is not necessary to test everything, but what you should do is to focus on your most important goals, this can be done by creating two versions of the same element and then measure which one gives you the best results. This will help you to see which works best with your users as well as detecting improvements and making your page a more efficient tool.
Analyse your conversion funnel
To achieve maximum profitability or conversion rate, testing on its own is not enough to optimize every detail and detect those errors that are harder to find. To do this, you need to use the funnel, because this will help you to identify at what point the user leaves your website.
If for example there is a high drop-out level with some element, this may indicate that it is not easy to understand or it is not well formulated.
In short, the funnel will help you to have a much clearer idea of where you need to focus your efforts.