Earlier websites were created to showcase just about the company and a minor web presence wherein visitors can know about the company and contact or call the company for further details. But it’s been years now that this has changed from just having a web presence to having a website that will have a killer ROI (Return on Investment). Hence, in today’s SEO age it’s time to dive deeper into Conversion rate Optimization also known as CRO. But what does CRO actually mean and how much does it matter to the company? A Conversion rate of a website is the percentage of website visitors who take action and in a sense if you improve this rate then you improve your revenue. But the question is, does it take a lot of time for actually seeing improvements in conversion rates of your website and the answer to this is a definite YES. There are an entire group of people, agencies, and occupations who are totally engaged in CRO.
CRO though is a very wide and to be researched and tested area of implementing strategies yet there are a few easy ways and tricks to improve your CR for your website even without spending too much money and time to achieve the same. There are simple conversion techniques which you can implement and let’s enlist it for easier understanding.
Testing software is a very handy tool and it’s a worthwhile investment for good powerful software. The right software which you need is A/B testing software which will be very handy and easy to operate by yourself. Some of them to name a few would be Optimizely, Visual Website Optimizer, Unbounce, Kissmetrics and Google Experiments. A personal best if you want to try free would be Google Experiments.
A/B testing is the biggest conversion testing or in simple words split testing which is the process of using two versions of a website or landing page. You try to give one version to a set of visitors and the other to another set and then have a comparison of which version work the best with the most conversions. Split testing is the most reliable of all and works the best when it comes to conversions. Some of the simple valuables tests to start with on your website are as under
The headline text
The CALL to Action text
Form fields which should not be long.
The right place for the CALL to Action
The size of the image which should be prominent and attract the visitors for action.
The size and style of the font used and also the color scheme.
The amount of content on the page and should be appealing to the visitor.
CALL to ACTION should always be placed above the fold of your website as it makes it easier for the visitors to convert them and where people can see it right away. This means to have the CALL to ACTION on a section on the landing page and visitors don’t have to scroll down. This doesn’t mean that you have to eliminate any CALL to ACTION beneath the website and it’s imperative to say that you retain everything as it is as the visitors once when he finished reading you page may then reach the end of the page and think of having a CALL to ACTION.
Always use short forms as invariably website users are turned off when they have to fill out long forms and it’s always better to make your forms easier and shorter. For example, if your goal is to get users email address then it’s best to skip collection of unwanted data like First name, last name, phone numbers and size of the company as those details are very irrelevant. Focus on the goal and do not distract from that.
Always keep your call to action bigger as it works best for your conversion rates. The bigger and better your CALL to ACTION the more likely visitors will click it.
Make your headlines more obvious and more than 80 percent of your visitors will ready your headlines. The best would be to use large font text that appears at the top of your web page. Make it bigger and attractive but keep it shorter which ideally, should not be more than 20 words. It should be easy to understand and to the point for your visitors.
Testimonials are the best way to show your visitors how trusted your website is and that the easiest way to convince that your visitors are taking the right CALL to ACTION. Show pictures of the actual person who have put in their testimonials and feature the name, position and the company details his/her work. Use testimonials of people who are a part of your target audience and that appeal to your prospects.