3 Things You Need to Know About Conversion Optimization
You’ve built a website for your business. It has a lot of content, including professional photography and information about your company. It might even have e-commerce abilities, allowing your visitors to make purchases right on your site. Yet, it’s been months, maybe even years since you launched your site and it seems that visitors still aren’t doing what you want them to. Now you’re wondering what gives and what you can do to encourage visitors to take the specific actions you want them to take on your site.
Enter conversion optimization.
Sounds technical and complicated, right? We’re here to tell you that’s not the case. Conversion optimization doesn’t have to be rocket science but there are a few things you should know about it before you get started.
- The Definition
First and foremost, you need to understand what conversion optimization is, so that you will also know what it isn’t. Conversion optimization simply means that you have identified a specific action that you want your website visitors to take when they visit your site and are working to increase the number of people who take that desired action.
Say, for example, that you have a company newsletter sign up on your website, yet very few people are submitting their email address. You want them to sign up because your newsletter provides subscribers with valuable information about your business and special offers. Conversion optimization would look at this process and test theories on how to increase the number of people subscribing to your newsletter.
- The Process
Conversion optimization involves making small, calculated changes to your website based on visitor data and insights and then testing those changes to see if they improve conversion. There aren’t exact steps for improving your conversion rate because each situation will call for different tactics based on what you are trying to achieve.
Using the newsletter example again, something as simple as changing the CTA from “sign up to get our newsletter” to “join our newsletter to receive exclusive coupons and offers” could make all the difference in the world for getting people to sign up. Conversion optimization is focused on putting yourself in your visitor’s shoes and making sure that what you want them to do is both clearly defined, provides value, and is easy to accomplish.
- The Timeline
Conversion optimization is never-ending. The length of the process depends on the business objectives you have for your website and how much time you are willing to invest in it. Since business goals change over time, conversion optimization will always be needed and will adapt with your business.
This month you may be focused on gaining more email subscribers, but in three months your main focus may be getting people to pick up the phone and call your business. As your company goals develop, so will your website goals. Conversion optimization helps align your business goals online and offline.
Having a website that doesn’t achieve what you want it to achieve is like having a car and choosing not to drive it to get where you need to go. If you’re like the majority of business owners, CEO’s and marketing executives, then you want a website that helps you achieve your business objectives. The first step in getting started with conversion optimization is deciding what those objectives are. The second step is optimizing your website to help achieve those objectives.
Have you already identified what you want your website visitors to do but are having a hard time getting them to do it? mywebwow can help you identify and reach your conversion goals. Contact us today to get started.
