17 Ideas for Improving Website Conversion Rate

17 Ideas for Improving Website Conversion Rate

Conversion Rate Optimization is a digital marketing strategy aimed at increasing the number of visitors who take a specific action on your website. It could be something as simple as clicking on a video, signing up to a webinar or making a sale. Your website conversion rate can is calculated using the following formula: Total website visitors/ total conversions (leads or sales). I always tried to keep grow web traffic every month and make sure overall website conversion rate was above 5%. Here are 17 ideas for improving website conversion rate.

A/B Testing
What is A/B testing? Think of it as conducting a scientific research study. You split your traffic into two groups – Group A gets to see a different version of your website than group B.

Test different factors, like headlines, colors, buttons, website design, calls-to-action, font size, and more. You can only derive meaningful results from A/B testing if you can attribute the changes in conversion rate to a specific change that you made. Here are some good starting points: (Use software like Optimizely to help)

• • Headlines
    
  • Colors of design elements (buttons)
    
  • Placement of buttons (left vs. right vs. center)
    
  • Page layout (sidebar vs. no sidebar)
    
  • Copy (how do you describe your product?)
    
  • Calls-to-action (buy now vs. try now)
    
  • Media (images vs. videos vs. text)

Add Site Search to Your Website
According to Forrester Research 40% of web visitors go to search first and search users are 2-3 times more likely to convert. Despite the importance of site search to conversion rate optimization, surveys say 42% of sites have search issues. Data from search results can provide valuable insights into user behavior by showing you exactly what they’re searching for. By using that data, you can then tailor content to meet those needs.

Ensure Forms Are Easy to Fill Out
Website forms serve many purposes, including newsletter signup and product inquiry. However, most people won’t even finish filling them out. Why? Well, there may be:

• • Security concerns over data
    
  • Advertisements that put off prospects
    
  • Upselling that annoys customers
    
  • Lack of mobile compatibility
    
  • Too many form fields
    
  • For form length, HubSpot suggests using the ‘Goldilocks’ method. In other words, ensuring your forms are just right: simple/less is better.

Improve Your CTAs
If you want to improve conversions, CTAs are low-hanging fruit. The average click through rate is ~4%. Many factors can impact what helps your CTA convert. For example, if you include more personalization in your CTAs, conversion rates can improve by 200%.

Conduct User Testing
Poor usability can kill your business. There is a link between UX design and revenue – 88% of shoppers won’t visit a website again after seeing a poor UX. One of the most common ways to run usability tests with heat maps which show how users navigate your site and what interactive elements they’re clicking on. With heat maps, you can see if they’re looking at your links, navigation bar tabs, CTAs, and so on. There are several heat mapping tools, such as Crazy Egg and Hotjar.

Add More Social Proof
More consumers than ever read social proof. In fact, 77% of users say they always or regularly read online reviews before buying. Leverage customer loyalty as often as you can. Why? Trust and credibility play a big factor in getting more conversions. To add more social proof, try:

• • Sending a follow-up email asking for reviews.
    
  • Hosting a contest with a branded hashtag on social media.
    
  • Including a card with a branded hashtag when shipping physical products.
    

Use Live Chat
If you have a question, wouldn’t you rather get the answer fast? That’s the idea behind Live Chat. Research from Leadoo shows that conversions can increase between 20-40%.

Review Customer Persona and Adjust Your Messaging
A customer persona is a fictional snapshot of your ideal customer. Personas are commonly used by businesses to give their target audience a human face. They can help drive leads, increase conversions, and shorten the sales cycle. 5 steps you can take to make sure you are targeting the right customer personas:

• • Make a list of your highest-value customers.
    
  • Use a customer persona template to create a new persona.
    
  • Start adding details from your highest-value customers. Start with demographics like location, age, budget, education, etc.
    
  • What channels do your highest-value customers use to find you? Add that to your persona as “methods of communication.”
    
  • Look at the content they consume—what does that tell you about their motivations? Add those to your template.

Use Targeted Lead Magnets
Lead magnets are a free resource (like an eBook) given away in exchange for user data. The most common lead magnets are PDFs or videos, but there are plenty of media types to use. The best part? They work.

The more targeted your lead magnets are, the more effective they will be.

Consider creating some more interactive lead magnets like quizzes or online calculators. The average quiz has a lead capture rate of 40.1%.

Use Pop-Ups Carefully
Pop-ups have an average conversion rate of 11%. I have a love/hate relationship with pop-ups because they walk such a fine line between being beneficial (for your customer) and incredibly annoying. However, when done right, pop-ups can be an invaluable conversion tool. Your pop-ups should include fast load times, visible exit options, and platform-appropriate size. There should also be limits as to how often users see the pop-up. For example, a user who bypasses the pop-up once shouldn’t be bombarded with it on each page of your site they navigate.

Check Your Site Speed
No one likes to be kept waiting. If your site loads slowly, all of the conversion rate optimization tips in the world won’t make a difference. In fact, website conversion rates drop by 4% for each additional second your site takes to load. Fortunately, there are plenty of free sites and tools that let you test your site speed and troubleshoot common issues PageSpeed Insights and Pingdom are two of the industry leaders. The most common issues that slow down site speed:

• • Render-blocking JavaScript
    
  • Poorly optimized CSS
    
  • Large media files
    
  • Bulky code

Follow up on Abandoned Carts
According to the Baynard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate is 70% That rate is even higher on mobile, where the average shopping cart 86%. Recovering just a fraction of those missed sales could do wonders for your conversion rate. If e-commerce sites just fixed checkout usability issues in their process, they could increase conversion rates by 35%. Here are some other ways you can recover abandoned carts:

• • Automated email flows
    
  • Retargeting ads
    
  • Use personalization
    
  • Automated social outreach
    
  • Add a call to action

Make Sure Landing Pages Match Your Messaging
The average landing page converts just 2.4% across all industries. If you want to be a top performer in your sector, you should be aiming for conversion rates above 10%. How do you increase your landing page conversion rate? One way is to ensure the messaging on your landing page matches the ad or copy that brought your prospect there in the first place. This creates a more cohesive experience, showing users that your page is the right fit for what they want. Here’s how to match your messaging:

• • Use similar language in your landing page and ad (especially the main keywords)
    
  • Keep branding consistent (include your logo and use brand colors)
    
  • Use a clear CTA on both your ad and landing page

Your value proposition can be a must be clear, and include the following pieces:

• • Headline
    
  • Subtitle
    
  • Bullet points
    
  • Image
    
  • Social proof

Create a Sense of Urgency to Make Your Customers Act
Remember the “only a few left!” message on Walmart’s site? That is urgency. Telling your customers that they have a limited time to act helps them make a purchasing decision.

Address Concerns Upfront
For the salesperson at a clothing store, the goal is to make you feel more secure about your purchase and eliminate your concerns. Online, you can’t advise your customer live and in-person (in most cases, except live chat), but you can still address their concerns. A good way to do so is a (FAQ). Another is to show customer testimonials. Start out by making a list of common objections. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What counterarguments could you have against buying?
A few very common issues:

• • You don’t understand my problem well enough.
    
  • You understand my problem, but I don’t believe you can solve it.
    
  • You understand my problem and I believe that your product works, but my situation is special and I’m not sure if it’ll work for me.
    
  • You understand my problem, I believe your product works, even though my case is special, but you’re more expensive than the next best alternative.

How do you address those?

• • Be very specific, when explaining what problem your product actually solves.
    
  • Show references, ratings, awards you’ve won, certifications, and social proof.
    
  • Show case studies and testimonials from various industries and applications of your product.
    
  • Draw a comparison with your competitors (before they do) and show why your product is more valuable.

Add Conversion Opportunities to All Blogs
Not every blog you post sets the world alight. However, when you do have a blog post that’s gaining major traction, make the most of it. If you’ve got tons of traffic flocking to a specific blog, it makes sense to add conversion opportunities. I’m talking about things like including:

• • CTAs
    
  • Forms
    

Lead magnets like eBooks and checklists

Use Retargeting
If you’re not familiar with retargeting, it gives marketers the opportunity to continue to reach out to customers who’ve shown an interest in one of their products.
Have you ever felt like an ad is following you around? For instance, you look at a mattress online. You don’t buy the first time, but when you go to, say, a news site, there’s an ad for the same mattress. That’s retargeting. Retargeting allows for personalized messages that are tailored to each customer’s needs and interests; this creates a sense of trust between the business and its audience.