Conversion Rate Optimization - What Is It?

Anyone who has been connected to the digital marketing space for some time has likely at least heard of the term "Conversion Rate Optimization". And for the most part, it's fairly easy to explain from a website standpoint.

Let's say you have 1000 visitors to your website over any given period. Let's say over a week. And on your website visitors can choose from a range of "Desired Actions" (Conversions) such as :

1. Calling You
2. Requesting A Quote Via A Web Form
3. Engaging In A Live Chat

For many small businesses, you are looking for LEADS which are driving your sales funnel, and subsequent revenue.

So before we talk about what CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization), IS. Let's talk about what it ISN'T.

Conversion Rate Optimization, while EXTREMELY important for Ecommerce Websites, does NOT strictly apply to websites that are requiring a consumer to purchase immediately.

In fact, more often than not, "CRO" is a process that can and should applied to websites which are filling their sales engine with leads through a range of "Conversion Points".

Coming back to the earlier point, with your 1000 visitors. So let's say here are your "Conversion" results from that 1000 visitors (for smaller businesses with a lesser online footprint this 1000 visitors easily could be an entire month worth of traffic) :

1. Calls - 50 Calls Generated, (and for argument sake, let's not that this yields 10 "legitimate inquiries" for potentially viable clients/customers - the others were telemarketers, customer service calls, etc, very typical call results). But after all guys, taking care of customer service SHOULD be very important to you, or you probably shouldn't be in business.

Truth hurts. Sorry?

2. Quote Requests - Web forms were filled out requesting a total of 27 requests.

3. Live Chats - 40 Live chats yielding 20 legitimate new customer requests/quote requests/related inquiries.

And really, as you can see, how a "conversion" is measured is up to some level of subjectivity. Do you count calls and emails from existing customers? Do you count the erroneous inquiries?

Here's the SHORT ANSWER : If you are trying to BENCHMARK your conversion figures against industry data, competitors, or "What you think everyone else is doing", go for the RAW INQUIRY total for your conversions as a BENCHMARK figure, albeit this total RAW INQUIRY figure escapes reality as it may include inquiries that will never lead to new customers!

What I recommend is taking your RAW INQUIRY total to start, as this will be the only figure you can report within your ANALYTICS data, since "Conversion Tracking" and Google Analytics won't be able to discern between a raw inquiry and a legitimate new customer inquiry. This is a good STARTING POINT and way to get an idea of how you are doing.

And THEN ALSO drill it down into quality opportunities, and then sales as additional KPI's for a deep dive look as you start to gather data over some weeks and months.

Because really, the only thing that ends up mattering from your 1000 hits is, how many customers did you actually generate?

(Mind you, your existing customers are ALWAYS checking you out, so don't be surprised if you improve client retention as you improve your online presence overall)

So now back to our calculation from earlier:

So in this case, we calculate a 11.70% raw conversion rate, and a 4% conversion rate to a legitimate opportunity.

So What Now? First let's answer this question, "What IS CRO anyway?"

Tim Ash, CEO of SiteTuners, a conversion optimization firm, and author of "Landing Page Optimization" puts it this way, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the art and science of getting people to act once they arrive on your website.

This is a very accurate, and simple way to put it. But does this mean that you only focus on the website? No. Why? Well, because the way the digital scape has evolved, is such that we are now in a "Multi Touch" environment. This means, that although someone may "land" on your website, this doesn't necessarily mean they will "convert" the first time they see your site.

In fact, more often than not, they will search on their mobile device, see your mobile site, perhaps see your retargeting ads, perhaps see your Adwords ads, perhaps visit you again from an organic link, and so on, before converting or contacting you the first time.

And even beyond that first contact, once that individual is in your sales funnel, do you think it matters if they see supportive branding throughout the sales process? Yes! This impacts your CLOSING RATIOS and bottom line ROI.

So YES "Conversion Rate Optimization" IS getting people to act on your website, but it doesn't stop there.

First, as far as your website goes...

Just Remove The Navigation

Guys, I can't tell you how many times a potential clients calls me for help on CRO and then starts suggesting we build a one page "landing page" without a navigation as the solution.

While this may have been an effective strategy in 2004, it's not necessarily in 2016. I'm not saying NEVER test pages without top navigation, but realize, if you are in a competitive space, and if you are syncing these pages up with AdWords, you may run into problems with Quality Scores.

Google Doesn't Like Those Pages, Generally Speaking...

Written in Google's "Landing Page Experience" policy you find the following :

• Make mobile and computer navigation easy
• Organize and design your page well, so people don’t have to hunt around for information.
• Make it quick and easy for people to order the product mentioned in your ad.
• Don’t annoy customers with pop-ups or other features that interfere with their navigation of your site.
• Help customers quickly find what they’re looking for by prioritizing the content that's visible above-the-fold

Note this is just one excerpt from the policy. But you see, Google looks at your landing pages both via algorithms (organic and paid) and your pages are scored on a range of factors including whether or not bottom line, "Did you just build this page to obviously grab leads?".

More often than not, we find pages built without navigation at the top, getting lower quality scores with AdWords which then impacts impressions, CPC rates, and your bottom line.

Also, I've seen companies get suspended from AdWords who were subsequently told that the fact they didn't have any navigation, was a factor in the decision.... (Don't worry - this doesn't ALWAYS happen but Google has subjective policies they can speak to if they want to shut your account off...)

So to avoid these issues, we prefer, to first test pages that do contain a simple, non-distracting navigation. It's generally OK to include links to pages like "How It Works", "FAQ", "Testimonials" and so on, and not pose a major distraction away from your page Call-To-Action.

So What Else Can You Do?

1. Is it 100% clear what you do when someone lands on your site? - Are you essentially structuring your website in a way that they have to SEARCH to figure out what it is that you do? Are you trying to be "too cute" with your content, imagery, etc, to the extent that you end up confusing your visitors?
2. Is your UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION clear?
3. Does your site appear credibility? Are you leveraging social proof, trust logos, association memberships, certifications, and so on, to show that you are a credible company?
4. Don't assume your page HAS to have a specific format. Short VS Long, or can't have additional areas/pages to click-to, just because you are "Optimizing". What works for one company, or competitor, isn't necessarily going to work for you.

And Finally, Is there a clear "Call To Action" on your landing pages/deep pages?

So again, it IS important to have DEDICATED pages for specific "Market Segments" IE Landing Pages or "Deep Pages" within your website. This can be as simple as a detailed page for each service you provide.

But this can be as simple as having a website that converts to BEGIN WITH!

After all, why should you have to build hundreds of additional pages after you've just redesigned your site? You might as well tell your developer, "Thanks for a job well done, but you suck."

CRO is what is happening OFF YOUR SITE

Going back to "Multi-Touch" (Get Your Mind Out Of The Gutter)

Here's a scenario for you. Remember last time you were searching for ANYTHING online. It could have been a restaurant, a product, a trip, it doesn't matter. You searched several websites, went back to Google multiple times, and read reviews, right? You probably researched the company you were thinking of buying from/working with.

So with CRO, if you think your 27 1 Star Reviews in Google doesn't have an impact on your CONVERSION RATE, you're wrong! Everything from Yelp, to Facebook Reviews, Google Reviews, and a range of other related sites, can impact how the consumer perceives your brand and whether or not they trust it, and will even CONSIDER doing business with you (conversion! conversion! conversion!), let along BUY from you.

So do yourself a favor, and check out what comes up :

1. Google your business name in multiple common ways (with .com, without, with the word "reviews" and so on....)
2. Google your business on mobile as well
3. Check out the specific reviews coming up

Stop blaming YELP for all of your Reputation woes folks (unless of course this is the only site where you have bad reviews coming up and the good reviews were filtered out, in that case, I understand why you'd be mad...)

Enter Retargeting

One of the "Secret Weapons" for improving reputation. Did you know you can push out banners that redirect visitors who left your site, right back to your website's testimonial or reviews section? If someone was "on the fence" about buying your product or service, don't you think this additional reinforcement will help bring them around to convert into a lead?

Yup.

There are an abundance of micro targeting strategies that can be leveraged with retargeting. Look into it, if you are serious about being a real player in your market.

So again folks, while there could be a time and place for creating a few landing pages and removing the navigation, this is a VERY one sided approach to CRO. You have to consider your entire website structure and results, your reputation, and the multi-touch digital landscape if you are to truly capitalize on your conversion optimization opportunities.

"Because sometimes the very smallest changes, will have the biggest, lasting impacts."

Hop2TheTop is a Google Certified Online Advertising company that specializes in Google AdWords, Remarketing, Mobile Advertising, and Conversion Rate Optimization. Contact Us Today For A Free Consultation.