7 Ways to Optimise a Conversion Rate

Optimise your conversion rate and work smarter not harder to generate revenue.

It is more cost effective to optimise the traffic you already have than generate new visitors through online marketing. If you get the conversion rate optimisation right the first time, then you can look at ways to boost targeted traffic. Increasing visitors to your website is pointless if that traffic doesn’t covert. Here are 7 tried and tested ways to improve the conversion rate of your website and increase your online revenue.

Conversion rate optimisation tip #1: Define the objectives of site

To increase conversion rates, firstly define the objectives of your site and ensure every page leads or contributes to that ultimate objective. A website isn’t a painting just to be looked at and admired. It has a specific objective – this may be a sale, relaying information about a service, providing education, increasing subscriptions or other specific actions. The design and content must be created with that objective in mind.

Conversion rate optimisation tip #2: Tell your customer what they have to gain

When writing the copy for your landing pages and designing your site, keep in mind ‘what’s in it for the customer’ and you’re halfway there to increasing your conversion rate. Visitors who have landed on your website via a keyword search have got a problem which they are hoping to solve – you need to sell the benefits of your offerings and provide a solution. When user intent matches your content, a conversion is more likely to occur.

Conversion rate optimisation tip #3: Tell your customers what you want them to do

Once you have defined your objectives, you need to tell your customers exactly what you would like them to do. Ensure content is clear, concise and focused on the objectives (see above) of the site and remove material which is unrelated, dilutes your message and/or makes it confusing for customers. Ensure there are no distractions on your site that interfere with visitors doing what you want them to do eg outbound links, banner ads etc.

Conversion rate optimisation tip #4: Implement large clear call to actions on your site

You can improve conversion rates by having clear and easy to find CTAs (call to action) buttons on every page – the type of buttons will depend on the objectives of your site. For example hotel websites implementing online booking engine on each page of the site alone has been known to significantly increase conversion rates. Other call to actions may include buying a product, downloading a trial, subscribing to a newsletter and so on.

Conversion rate optimisation tip #5: Analyse your traffic

Ensure you have Google Analytics installed and examine how your traffic is arriving to your site eg keywords searched for (are they targeted, relevant keywords), referring sites (text link, paid advertisements, social media etc). Look to see where you can find keyword opportunities that can improve conversion or other methods to drive pre-qualified leads to your website that are in the later stages of the buying cycle.

Conversion rate optimisation tip #6: Set up goals and funnels in Google Analytics

This will show you where you’re losing traffic, the stumbling blocks to conversion and where the biggest opportunities are. The tale of the $300 million dollar button demonstrates how making a small change can make a huge impact. Designers modified a form on an ecommerce site which forced people to register if they wanted to buy products online to optional registration– make it as easy as possible for customers.

Conversion rate optimisation tip #7: Measure often

Refine content, design elements such as CTAs etc and continually monitor results in Google Analytics. The most successful ecommerce websites continually test their pages. Website Optimiser is a free website testing and optimisation tool Google introduced to help businesses test and optimise site content. It is designed to increase the value of your existing websites and traffic without spending a cent.

At the heart of conversion optimisation is testing, data analysis and measurement of results. All changes should have a positive effect on the specific objectives of the site. Conversion optimisation and SEO work hand-in-hand and should be fundamental in the design and content creation stages. Contact the consultants at Internet Intelligence Works if you would like to know more about conversion rate optimisation for your website.

Here at iiWorks, our “be SMART think BIG act FAST measure ALL do GOOD and have FUN” philosophy drives all our internet marketing strategies and tactics, delivering leading edge solutions that maximise your online visibility and produce measurable results…contact us today!

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