Conversion rate optimization – how to optimize your website's conversion rate

Imagine this: You're strolling through a bustling market surrounded by vendors vying for your attention. All the stalls have been carefully designed to entice you in. As you navigate the maze of offerings, you can only help but notice that some stalls attract masses of eager customers while others need help to capture anyone's interest.

This market can be compared to the endless number of websites, webshops, and online platforms in the digital world. Here, the success of your website depends largely on one crucial parameter: conversion rate optimization, a strategy used to improve the conversion rate of a website, webshop, or online platform. The conversion rate is the ratio between the number of visitors to a website and the number of actions taken, such as purchasing a product, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a form. In other words, conversion rate optimization is all about getting more visitors to take the actions you want them to take when they visit your website.

Read on for more advice on increasing your website's conversion rate.

Know your website's conversion rate

For online businesses, the conversion rate is a crucial metric. This is the number that indicates the percentage of your visitors who convert. A conversion occurs when a user performs an action you have defined as valuable to your business. The conversion rate indicates how many of your visitors perform a beneficial action for your company.

If, for example, 100 visitors enter your webshop and 5 buy something, then you have a conversion rate of 5%. There are no fixed rules for what a reasonable conversion rate is. It depends, among other things, on the company's industry and the website's content. But generally, a 2-5% conversion rate is considered good.

A high conversion rate indicates that a website is well-designed and contains relevant and valuable content that motivates visitors to purchase or sign up for a service. In addition, a high conversion rate also means you can achieve more conversions without increasing your advertising budget. This can result in better ROAS (Return on Advertising Spend) from your paid ads and help you achieve better results.

There are several ways to improve your conversion rate, which can vary depending on your industry and audience. However, it's always essential to clearly understand who your visitors are, what they're looking for, and what motivates them to take action on your website.

Tips for successful conversion rate optimization

Conversion rate optimization involves identifying and implementing the changes that can increase the conversion rate. As a website owner, it is, therefore, essential to have a well-defined strategy for conversion optimization, as it can help you boost the number of conversions and thus increase your revenue. Below, you can get insight into some of the elements that can optimize your website's conversion rate and improve the user experience for your visitors.

Streamline the user experience

A smooth and intuitive user experience is essential to increase conversions. Your website must be easy to navigate so that you reduce the risk of friction on the customer journey. The user experience and conversion rate on your website can be improved by:

• Using clear call-to-action (CTA) buttons. They are crucial for conversions. Therefore, always ensure that the CTA buttons are visible and natural so they do not seem overdone. Visitors should notice the buttons, but they should still appear as part of the overall look of the page.

• Optimizing your checkout flow. The checkout flow is a critical step in the users' buying journey, and the risk of abandonment is high. That's why it's important to ensure that your customers can complete the purchase on your website both simply and quickly. Reduce the number of steps to a minimum, allow autofill of information, and offer more payment options to improve the shopping experience.

A/B-testing

It's essential to test different elements on your website, such as headlines, images, placement, and color of CTA buttons, to identify the most effective combination for generating conversions. By testing and analyzing different versions of your website, you'll also find out which elements are important for increasing conversion rates.

By doing an A/B test, you also get the opportunity to get the most out of your current traffic, which helps you increase the conversion rate without having to spend a lot of resources on attracting new traffic. An A/B test can give you a high return on investment, as small changes, such as the CTA buttons' color, can significantly increase conversions.

Optimize your website for mobile devices

As more and more visitors come from smartphones and tablets, it is crucial that your website is mobile-friendly and works on all devices. This means that your website must be made in a responsive design that automatically adapts to different screen sizes on various devices.

In addition, it is also vital to have fast loading times, as mobile users are typically impatient and leave the site if the pages take too long to load. This is shown by a study conducted by Google (2016). Here, the results show that 53% of all mobile users leave the website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load the page.

Personalization

Personalization is one of the most effective tools in conversion rate optimization. It involves tailoring offers, messages, and recommendations to individual customers based on their interests, characteristics, and behavior. Personalization can increase conversion rate by making the customer feel valued and understood. When a customer feels that a company is meeting their specific needs and preferences, they are more likely to trust that company and thus also take the desired action.

Additionally, personalization can lead to increased customer engagement and loyalty, as customers are more likely to return to a website that offers a personalized experience. Furthermore, personalization enables a company to stand out in a crowded market, as most customers prefer a brand that provides a unique and tailored experience.

Why does conversion rate optimization play a significant role for your business?

There are several reasons why conversion optimization is essential for your business. First, it helps maximize your potential to generate sales and conversions on your website. By improving your conversion rate, you can increase the number of visitors who take the desired action, such as purchasing a product or service, leading to increased revenue and profit for your business.

However, there is more to conversion rate optimization than increased revenue and profit. It's also about creating a better and more personalized user experience on your website and delivering value for your customers at every touchpoint. You can eliminate any user challenges by researching and optimizing your conversion processes. This will create a smoother and more pleasant experience for your potential customers, increasing the likelihood of repeat visits and building loyalty, which can help you gain a much greater insight into your customers' behavior. Ultimately, it's about attracting visitors more likely to convert and create a targeted and personalized user experience that meets your customers' needs and expectations.

The conversion rate on your website can constantly be improved, and the work with conversion rate optimization is, therefore, also a continuous process that requires constant monitoring, analysis, and adjustment. It is thus also a time-consuming process. If you do not have the resources or the right skills in your company, several of our navigator partners within sales & webshops, and marketing can help you identify and implement changes that can help increase the conversion rate on your website.