How can you create a conversion optimization plan?

1 Define your goals and metrics

Before you start optimizing your website or landing page, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you will measure your success. Your goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART), and aligned with your business objectives and customer needs. Your metrics should be relevant, actionable, and easy to track, and reflect the key performance indicators (KPIs) of your conversion funnel. For example, if your goal is to increase sales, your metrics could include conversion rate, average order value, revenue per visitor, and customer lifetime value.

2 Analyze your current situation

Once you have your goals and metrics in place, you need to understand your current situation and identify the strengths and weaknesses of your website or landing page. You can use various tools and methods to collect and analyze data about your visitors, such as web analytics, heatmaps, scroll maps, click maps, user surveys, feedback forms, user testing, and competitor analysis. These will help you understand how your visitors behave, what they like and dislike, what motivates them, what challenges they face, and what opportunities you have to improve their experience and persuade them to convert.

3 Generate and prioritize hypotheses

Based on your data analysis, you can generate hypotheses about what changes you can make to your website or landing page that can increase your conversion rate. A hypothesis is a testable statement that predicts the outcome of an experiment, such as "Adding a countdown timer to the checkout page will increase the sense of urgency and reduce cart abandonment". Your hypotheses should be based on evidence, logic, and best practices, and address the problems or pain points of your visitors. You can prioritize your hypotheses using a framework such as PIE (Potential, Importance, Ease), which scores each hypothesis based on the expected impact, the relevance to your goals, and the resources required to test it.

4 Test and validate your hypotheses

After you have a list of prioritized hypotheses, you need to test them using a method such as A/B testing, multivariate testing, or split testing. These methods allow you to compare different versions of your website or landing page and measure the effect of each change on your conversion rate and other metrics. You can use tools such as Google Optimize, Optimizely, or VWO to create and run your tests, and follow a structured process such as the Scientific Method or the Conversion Optimization Framework to ensure the validity and reliability of your results. You should also define the sample size, duration, and significance level of your tests before you start them.

6 Repeat and refine your process

Conversion optimization is not a one-time project, but a continuous cycle of improvement. You should always keep testing, learning, and implementing new ideas and insights to enhance your website or landing page and achieve your goals. You should also review and update your goals and metrics regularly, and use tools and methods that suit your needs and context. By following a conversion optimization plan, you can create a more effective and engaging website or landing page that delivers value to your visitors and your business.