Websites should be built to work for your business and to engage the user. However, websites are not always as up to par as you want them to be, as reflected in conversion rates. Fortunately, there is a powerful tool you can implement to improve and elevate your website and reap other benefits: conversion rate optimization (CRO).
CRO is the process of identifying friction points on your website to make improvements that can lead to increased conversions through strategic testing and analysis. Below are a few benefits of conversion rate optimization to help explain why every online business should consider implementing it:
1.) Utilizes Current Traffic
Before you think you need to increase your marketing budget to see conversion results, know that CRO allows you to use your existing traffic. That means your marketing budget doesn’t have to be largely used for driving more traffic. Your focus can, instead, turn from quantity to quality. Consequently, your conversion rates can increase with your current traffic as your site’s quality increases.
Using existing traffic helps identify ways to encourage current visitors to move further down the conversion funnel to gain them as customers. Then, hopefully, you can keep them as returning customers as well. The quality of your website plays a large role in getting and keeping customers. This brings us to our next point, the importance of user experience.
2.) Improves User Experience (UX)
As indicated above, CRO helps you move traffic from being visitors to being customers. This is done by working out friction points of your website. Sometimes, websites have obvious issues and friction points that need to be addressed. However, some friction points are not as obvious. Through the use of analytics and insights into the user behaviors of your target market, unknown friction points are found. Then, you can make the necessary changes to improve the UX. As your website becomes more user-friendly and customer-centric, your users move more seamlessly through the site, hit fewer friction points, and are more likely to convert. To understand more about behavior analytics, read this article from Hotjar.
3.) Data-Driven, Informed Decisions
Notably, CRO is not a guessing game. It relies on data, analytics, and testing to inform the changes and improvements made to your website. A CRO specialist gathers data and user behavior insights through heatmaps, click rates, analytics, etc. Then, once the specialist has analyzed this information, determinations about what needs to be addressed, and in what order of importance, are made. The specialist will then form hypotheses to test using A/B testing.
A/B tests are one of the most important components of CRO. Using A/B testing, you can test different versions of your webpage against each other to see how conversions are impacted by the change. Informed by these results, you can confidently decide to keep something as it was or to change it because you know what version performs better. Therefore, changes to your website are based on results and not assumptions. As more effective strategies are implemented throughout the site, you can expect to see conversion rates increase. For additional information about A/B testing, check out this blog post.
4.) Increased Conversions
Of course, the main goal of conversion rate optimization is to increase conversions. Like a domino effect, increasing conversions can lead to more subscribers or customers, more inquiries about your product or business, and even increased revenue.
The use of CRO tactics doesn’t have to be limited to your website. You can also implement them in your email campaigns and flows. In doing so, you can discover ways to improve your emails, which can lead to an increase in open and click-through rates.
5.) Repeatable Strategies
Finally, as your site’s traffic grows, you can wash, rinse, and repeat the tactics of CRO. This allows you to optimize your website continuously. In turn, you will ensure that your visitors and customers are consistently met with the best user experience you can offer. The repeatable strategies of CRO allow you to maintain the confidence of having a website that works for you.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a business’s online presence should not be overlooked or under-utilized as it is crucial to a business’s success. Conversion rate optimization is a strategic tool rooted in data, analytics, and insights. It allows you to improve your website with your target audience in mind, elevate your business with confidence, and impact your business growth. Contact our CRO specialist today to begin reaping the benefits of conversion rate optimization.
