Your SEO is the best it’s ever been. Your website has great content and it’s ranking high on Google. And, the data shows that it’s receiving lots of traffic.
But, despite all the visitors, you’re not seeing nearly as many conversions as you’d like. Why is that?
Well, SEO is important, but it’s not everything. Simply getting people to your site won’t turn them into customers.
This is where CRO comes in. CRO, in a nutshell, is how you make the most out of each visit to your website.
Here are 5 of the most effective techniques for turning visitors into loyal customers.
1] Conduct Tests
You don’t know your audience as well as you think you. And, you won’t know what’s working until you look at the data.
Conducting tests is the only way to determine the best CRO methods.
Running tests will give you lots of useful information. You’ll know what parts of your campaign are effective and what you need to work on. By making the appropriate changes, you’ll save money and increase your conversions.
The process might sound boring, complicated, and even expensive. But, there are many easy and affordable testing programs out there. Try out one of the best 2020 A/B testing tools. A/B testing is a great way to see which variation of a web page is most effective.
2] Gather Qualitative Data
The numbers are important. They help you better understand your consumers and cater to them. But, remember that your audience consists of real people. They are individuals with unique personalities and unique needs. Get to know your customers even better by gathering qualitative data.
One way you can do this? Conduct surveys. Have them fill out a brief survey after they make a purchase. Ask them about their experience with your site and how you could improve it.
User sessions are another great way to collect qualitative data. You can monitor exactly how a customer is interacting with your website. The recordings reveal information about what they are clicking on, what they spend the most time looking at, etc.
3] Improve Your Website Speed
If you’ve spent any time working on your SEO, you know the importance of your website speed.
Search engine algorithms favor websites with fast loading times. So, having a fast website will boost your SEO rankings.
But SEO isn’t the only reason you should care about fast loading times. Because it improves user experience, a fast website will also improve your conversion rate.
Think about it. Thanks to the Internet, people can find what they’re looking for quicker than ever. Who wants to wait around to view a slow-loading site?
One study found that loading speeds have a significant impact on bounce rate. As the loading time went from one second to ten seconds, the bounce rate increased by 123%.
Perhaps even more significant, the bounce rate increased by 32% when the loading time went from one second to three seconds. A two-second difference doesn’t seem like a lot, but it goes to show that user attention is limited.
Getting a user to click on your page is a huge deal. Respect their time and hold their attention by quickly showing them what they came for. Don’t scare them away with slow loading times.
There are many ways you can improve your website’s loading speed. While some changes are seemingly minor, they will add up.
For example, you should include the trailing slash on links to your websites (internally and externally). This avoids an unnecessary 301 redirect, making your pages load faster.
- Good: http://justwebworld.com/.
- Bad: http://justwebworld.com.
You can also take actions such as the following.
- Avoid cheap web hosting platforms.
- Optimizing media files (compressing images, using the ideal format, etc.).
- Enable browser caching.
4] Focus on Credibility
Users do a lot of research before buying a product or service. And there’s a lot of competition out there. To make your brand stand out, consider focusing on your credibility. Your reputation could be the difference between buying and bouncing.
Companies often find success when they display reviews. When consumers see that their peers have good things to say about a product, they’ll be more likely to hop on board. Also, don’t be afraid to show off any awards your company has received. Consumers like to see that your brand is worthy of recognition.
That being said, credibility isn’t just about your accolades.
Establish credibility through your words and actions. Be clear about what you offer. Avoid promising that you can do it all; honesty and transparency go a long way towards getting customers to trust you.
Pro tip: Be careful about using phrases like “no gimmicks” or “you can trust us.” These phrases may unintentionally place seeds of doubt in your customers when they weren’t there previously.
5] Deliver Personalized Content
Let’s say you create some ads for your website. You design great copy that compels users to click. But, after clicking the ad, they just land on your homepage. They see that the page is for your company, but there’s no direction for them to take. They get frustrated and bounce, and you just wasted money on that click.
When a user clicks on an ad, they’re looking for something. They should expect to find what they’re looking for on the landing page.
This is why it’s crucial for your landing page to be hyper-relevant to the user.
Not personalizing content is one of the biggest marketing mistakes businesses make. So, if you have an ad for women’s hats, the landing page should be about women’s hats. And, users should be able to easily browse and buy the products they’re looking for. Otherwise, it’s likely they’ll look elsewhere.
Bottom Line
These techniques are a great starting point for improving your conversion rate. Keep in mind that every website is different, meaning that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all CRO solution. Cater your strategy towards your business and audience, and the conversions will start rolling in!