By now, you know the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) and probably are doing all you can to improve your company's online standing. But have you ever measured SEO's lesser-known cousin, conversation rate optimization (CRO)?
If your company has focused solely on SEO, you're missing a crucial piece of the marketing puzzle.
Think of it this way: Both SEO and CRO are used to improve sales. SEO attracts new visitors to your website, while CRO turns those visitors into customers using design, analytics, and psychological principles. Put simply, CRO brings in the dough.
Aside from helping you seal the deal on sales, your conversion rate shows how well you target customers. Let's say your website attracts 10,000 visitors a month. This means that your SEO and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns are doing great. But if only one out of those 10,000 people buy your product or contact you, your conversion rate isn't doing so hot. Sadly, sending thousands of people to your website who aren't the right customers doesn't help your business.
Clearly, understanding your CRO is a big deal. Measuring it — and actively working to improve it — is key to meeting your business's sales goals.
How to Calculate CRO
Calculating your conversion rate is pretty simple, and only you define your website's success.
To start, you need to configure Google Conversion Goals, which helps you measure how well your website or app meets your goals. Otherwise, you can estimate your conversion rate by dividing the number of leads by the number of visitors and then multiplying that number by 100 (if you remember your middle school math courses, that will give you a percentage). For example, if your website attracts 1,000 visitors per week and 10 unique visitors purchase products from you, your conversion rate is 1%.
In addition to calculating your CRO, it's important to see which areas of your website can generate the best conversion rate so you know where to measure it. Look at your homepage, pricing pages, blog, contact pages, and landing pages. Often, the pages with the highest conversion rates engage visitors by offering chatbots, "subscribe" buttons, links to more information, calls to action, etc. Regardless of where you measure, make sure you have KPIs and conversion goals to look out for.
Key Strategies to Improve Your Conversion Rate
Now that you know how to calculate conversion rate and which areas of your website to measure, it's time to think about how you'll boost your conversion rate. Here are a few strategies to get you started:
l Know your audience. Tune into your audience's behaviors and patterns. Do they access your site from their smartphones? If yes, then optimize your page for mobile and constantly check for issues. How old is your audience? Make sure your images appeal to the right demographic and your content speaks directly to them.
l Be unique and compelling. Stand out from the crowd and let visitors know that you're offering something different that can't be found anywhere else. Competing companies offer similar products and services, so plan how to distinguish your brand from the get-go.
l Fix your contact page. So often marketers focus on creating a stellar homepage and making service pages clear, only to send visitors to a contact page that falls flat — or doesn't even work! Customers want easy access to information, so make sure your contact page is issue-free and ready to connect potential customers with you.
l Incorporate calls to action. Visitors love when you give free resources, but one way to actually engage with them is by asking them to do something. To improve your conversion rate, create calls to action that are compelling, repetitive, and simple.
Despite its importance, companies often overlook measuring their CRO and focus on other metrics instead. That's like focusing on only your arms when you go to the gym. They'll get strong, but the rest of your body will falter. Gauging conversion rate provides valuable insight into website performance, audience engagement, and so much more — making it one of the most critical marketing strategies out there. Think of conversion rate optimization as the obvious next step in your marketing strategy. Doing so will boost your company's customer interaction and revenue in new and exciting ways.
Contact CMG Local Solutions today to learn how we can help you improve your conversion rate.
