Your conversion rate is the ultimate “is it working?” measurement. And if your conversion rate is lower than it should be, it means you’re missing out on a chance to turn website traffic into valuable revenue.
The What and Why of Conversion Rates
A conversion rate is basically a measurement of how many website visitors take a specific action. Typical conversion goals include making a purchase, submitting a form, downloading a lead magnet, filling out a survey, or engaging with your site in some other way.
Once you have a goal in place (and a way of collecting data against that goal), calculating the conversion rate is easy. You simply take the number of conversions and divide it by the total number of visitors. Multiply this number by 100 percent and you have your conversion rate.
For example, let’s say your conversion goal is for visitors to opt-in to your email newsletter. If you have 800 visitors and 200 fill out the form, your conversion rate is 25 percent.
You’ll most likely have multiple conversion goals – and that’s fine. (You can track more than one conversion rate at a time.) The key is to track the same goals over time, so that you can study the trends.
4 Tips for Boosting Your Conversion Rate
Want to give your conversion rates a big boost? Here are a few useful techniques:
1. Add Exit-Intent Pop-Ups
Pop-ups are annoying. But did you know that they’re also quite effective?
While we wouldn’t recommend using pop-ups for everything, exit-intent pop-ups generate pretty impressive results. Whereas the average conversion rate of a pop-up is somewhere around 3 percent, many top-performing websites are able to get closer to 9.28 percent.
Exit-intent pop-ups are particularly useful for delivering coupons, discount codes, and offers when a visitor is about to leave the page. Consider adding them to your landing pages, product pages, and shopping carts.
2. Survey Your Customers
Sometimes it’s obvious why a page is underperforming or what factors are suppressing your conversion rate. Other times, you have no clue what’s causing poor numbers. Surveying customers can help you get to the bottom of the matter.
With website feedback software, you can collect, organize, and act upon data to improve conversion rates and strengthen your business at a foundational level. You can even use them in conjunction with exit-intent pop-ups to grab feedback when a customer is on the way out.
3. Write Better CTAs
It’s possible that your calls-to-action (CTAs) are holding you back. Improving the copy and design of your CTAs could lead to a direct improvement. Here are some suggestions:
● Use just one CTA per page. (Multiple CTAs confuse people and make it less likely that they’ll take action.)
● Use color psychology to your advantage. For example, red CTA buttons typically perform better in situations where you’re trying to communicate urgency.
● Use first-person action phrases in your CTA copy (rather than generic and passive language).
No two brands will have the same CTA. How you optimize your calls-to-action will depend on the customer, the product, and the narrative you’re pushing in order to magnetize the former to the latter.
4. Destroy Doubts
A good website proactively acknowledges and destroys all of a visitor’s major doubts and hesitancies. This can be done through a strategic combination of social proof (like testimonials and case studies) and guarantees (such as 100 percent money-back promises).
Adopt a CANI Mentality
At the end of World War II, the Japanese economy was in shambles. Industries were destroyed and the very fabric of the nation had been left in shreds. But it was in the immediate aftermath of the war that the principle of Kaizen was initiated to spur on one of the more impressive recoveries in the history of the world. And it’s a principle that you can use in your own business.
The Kaizen principle is built on the idea of constant and never ending improvement, also known as CANI. It’s a belief system of betterment and refinement – i.e. the idea that nothing is ever perfect and there’s always room for improvement.
As you approach your website conversion rate, try adopting a Kaizen mentality. Improvements should be celebrated, but you’ll never be done. Stay committed and focus on constant and never ending improvement.