What is conversion rate optimization (CRO)?
Conversion is the percentage of site visitors from the total traffic who performed a specific target action (purchase, subscription, registration) on an online resource. Conversion optimization is a set of activities and tools aimed at improving the user experience in order to increase the percentage of useful actions made on the site. CRO is an ongoing, incremental optimization process that identifies and fixes the “gaps” in the sales funnel through which you are losing money.
The main benefit of this improvement is to increase sales while maintaining traffic. You can systematically improve your website while keeping your SEO budget, advertising, context, and other marketing channels at the same level. Actions taken by a CRO agency should be based on detailed market research and sales funnel analysis.
What is the most preferred conversion rate?
Of course, the main goal of any commercial website is to convert a random visitor into a loyal buyer. To attract a user and lead him through the entire sales funnel from start to finish is the task of site marketers, as well as conversion rate optimization consultants. But passing through the funnel, a consumer not only can make an order directly. There are other types of conversion, as the user can perform many useful actions: a subscription to a newsletter or social networks, filling out a questionnaire, registration, etc. Making the main useful action on the site – buying – is called a macro conversion. The rest of the user’s actions are related to micro-conversions.
It’s important to remember that it is impossible to achieve incredibly high conversion rates. Moreover, each market has its own adequate value for this parameter. And we hasten to assure you that this is not even 50 or 40%, but ten times less. According to various sources, the conversion rate for an ordinary online store averages 2-3%. For wholesale sites targeted at B2B clients, this parameter can reach 7%, and for web services – all 10%. It all depends on management, region, product specifics, service/product life cycle, and many other factors. So, for instance, eCommerce conversion rate optimization will be drastically different from some other types of sites.
What results will I get after ordering cooperation with a conversion rate optimization agency?
Obviously, companies apply to a conversion rate optimization services company so it helps them increase their sales. But is it only the result of the work of a team of specialists? This is far from the case.
Since detailed studies are required for subsequent optimization, the intermediate results of CRO are the results of those researches. While conducting them, specialists study the entire site and a ton of analytical data from systems like Google Analytics, which may not even be studied by the employees of the customer company.
So, in the course of research on site optimization, you can get the following results:
- how long the session lasts on average;
- through which pages visitors get to the site most often and how they move on;
- what is the search depth on the site (how many pages the user views before taking a useful action);
- what key elements of the pages the user focuses on and which clicks more or less often;
- when and why users abandon the cart;
- high-quality user survey data on the technical condition and usability of the site (a list of bugs may occur);
- a list of hypotheses that require confirmation.
Only after systematization of all the data obtained and verification of all hypotheses, CRO specialists can start consulting on optimization or directly participate in the process of making changes to the web resource. The final result is your optimized website (or a landing page with a lead magnet built from scratch) and an increased conversion rate.
What kind of research is needed for optimization?
The testing, research, and audit process is the most labor- and time-consuming part of the service. The FIVE MEDIA arsenal includes the following methods of research within the CRO service:
- Data research from Google Analytics. All the most important and indicative parameters of your site’s success in one resource is a quick and convenient way to start large-scale research.
- Cross-browser testing on different devices. The biggest mistake site owners make is to ignore any platform or browser. As part of this research, we are testing the display and performance of your site on all possible devices.
- Sales funnel audit. We study what stages the visitor goes through on the site, identify the weaknesses of the funnel: investigate the options for receiving orders, the efficiency of order processing, the level of service quality and support, etc.
- Marketing channels audit. We analyze all entry channels and the quality of traffic that they attract.
- User testing. We analyze user experience: both on ourselves and with the participation of real users.
- Drawing up heat and scrolling maps. This research method clearly shows the depth of page viewing, with which page elements users interact most often and what they ignore, how the user’s session goes.
- User polls. One of the best ways to find out how user-friendly and effective a site is – asking your visitors directly. Bonus: by conducting this, you can compose detailed portraits of consumers.
What is being done to optimize conversions?
To better understand exactly what changes your e-commerce site can go through, let’s look at all the possible measures to optimize conversions.
- Partial or complete redesign. Research results will provide a clear answer to what exactly needs to be optimized in terms of design. Often, you can get by with moving blocks or adding new ones, adding navigation, “cosmetic” improvements to the CTA buttons. A complete upgrade of the site is not excluded if it is very outdated (both visually and technically) and only annoys the user.
- CTA optimization. The call to action may be trivial, in a blind spot, or the value proposition that is articulated may be blurred to the prospect. This is easy to fix when implementing a CRO strategy.
- UX optimization. The measures taken during the optimization of the user experience are aimed at the complete satisfaction of the user from the interaction with the site. If the resource is inconvenient, the visitor has questions like “Where is the basket?” or “How do I cancel a session reservation?”, some features are not working as expected, UX will be needed.
- Improving the quality of content. E-commerce sites suffer from content quality problems. The final decision of the consumer is influenced by information about the product, the availability of reviews, videos, the number of photos. A user survey and even a comparison with competitors can tell you how useful and comprehensive information on the site is.
- Cross-browser-platform optimization. We eliminate problems with the display and operation of sites on mobile and tablet devices from different manufacturers, as well as in browsers.
