CRO

How to Improve Your Website Conversion Rate: 14 Effective Ways

Kauri Ääremann
Co-Founder / CEO
July 6, 2023
Published
10
Reading

Introduction

Do you want to get more sales, leads, or subscribers from your website? If so, you need to pay attention to your website conversion rate.

Your website conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who take a desired action on your website, such as buying a product, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a form.

Your website conversion rate is a key indicator of how well your website is performing and how much value you are providing to your visitors.

But how do you improve your website conversion rate? There are many factors that can affect your website conversion rate, such as your design, content, offer, traffic source, and audience. Some of these factors may be out of your control, but others can be optimized and improved with some simple tweaks and strategies.

In this article, we will share with you 14 proven tips on how to improve your website conversion rate and grow your online business.

1. Use CRO planner

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the process of improving your website conversion rate by testing and implementing changes that make your visitors more likely to take action.

CRO is not a one-time thing. It's an ongoing process that requires planning, execution, measurement, and analysis.

To help you with CRO, you can use a CRO planner.

A CRO planner is a tool that helps you plan and execute your CRO strategies in a systematic and organized way.

A CRO planner can help you:

- Set SMART goals for your website conversion rate

- Identify the problems and opportunities on your website

- Prioritize the actions that will have the most impact on your conversion rate

- Measure the results of your actions and compare them with your goals

- Analyze the data and learn from your experiments

Conversiontigers provides you with just the tool to increase your conversion rate.

2. Include social proof

Social proof is the phenomenon where people tend to follow the actions or opinions of others, especially when they are uncertain or unsure.

Social proof can influence customer behavior and trust, as people tend to trust what others say or do more than what you say or do.

A screenshot, showing user review ratings and comments

Social proof can take many forms, such as:

- Testimonials: Customer feedback or reviews that showcase the benefits or results of using your product or service

- Ratings: Customer ratings or scores that indicate the quality or satisfaction of using your product or service

- Case studies: Customer stories or success stories that demonstrate how your product or service solved their problem or helped them achieve their goal

- Logos: Customer logos or badges that show the credibility or authority of using your product or service

- Social media: Customer comments, likes, shares, or mentions that show the popularity or engagement of using your product or service

Including social proof on your website can help you improve your website conversion rate by:

- Building trust and credibility with your visitors

- Reducing anxiety and doubt with your visitors

- Increasing desire and motivation with your visitors

3. Add live chat

Live chat is a feature that allows you to communicate with your visitors in real time via text messages on your website.

Live chat can improve your website conversion rate by:

- Improving customer service, engagement, and satisfaction

- Reducing bounce rate, increasing retention, and generating leads

- Answering questions, resolving issues, and providing guidance

We suggest to check out Askly. They provide live chat software that increases session duration and conversion rates by engaging with the customer.

4. Conduct A/B testing

A/B testing is a method of comparing two versions of a website element to see which one performs better.

A website element can be anything that affects your website conversion rate, such as:

- Headlines: The title or headline of your web page or blog post

- Images: The visual content or graphics on your web page or blog post

- Buttons: The clickable elements that prompt your visitors to take action

- Colors: The color scheme or palette of your web page or blog post

- Copy: The text or words on your web page or blog post

Conducting A/B testing can help you improve your website conversion rate by:

- Finding the best version of your website element that appeals to your visitors

- Optimizing your website element based on data and evidence

- Increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of your website element

To conduct A/B testing properly, you should:

- Define your hypothesis and goal for the test

- Select your metric and tool for the test

- Run your test and collect data for the test

- Analyze your data and draw conclusions from the test

Illustration how A/B looks like. You have 2 different variants running simultaniously

5. Increase trust and remove friction

Trust and friction are two factors that can affect your website conversion rate.

Trust is the degree of confidence or belief that your visitors have in you and your offer.

Friction is the degree of difficulty or resistance that your visitors face when taking action on your website.

Increasing trust and removing friction can help you improve your website conversion rate by:

- Making your visitors feel more comfortable and secure with you and your offer

- Making your visitors feel more motivated and excited with you and your offer

- Making it easier and faster for your visitors to take action on your website

To increase trust and remove friction on your website, you should:

- Display security badges, offer guarantees, provide contact information, etc. to increase trust

- Simplify your navigation, optimize your forms, reduce loading time, etc. to remove friction

For example, Amazon uses security badges, guarantees, contact information, simple navigation, optimized forms, and fast loading time to increase trust and remove friction on their website.

6. Write strong CTAs

CTAs (calls to action) are the words or phrases that prompt your visitors to take a specific action on your website.

Screenshot of a website illustrating how a CTA should look like

CTAs can be anything that motivates your visitors to take action, such as:

- Buy now

- Sign up

- Download

- Learn more

- Contact us

Writing strong CTAs can help you improve your website conversion rate by:

- Communicating the value and benefit of taking action

- Creating a sense of urgency and scarcity for taking action

- Making it clear and easy for taking action

To write strong CTAs on your website, you should:

- Use clear, concise, compelling, and urgent language

- Use action verbs and first-person pronouns

- Use contrasting colors and sizes

- Place them strategically on your website

Writing strong CTAs can help you improve your website conversion rate by making your visitors take action on your website.

7. Eliminate unnecessary distractions

Distractions are anything that diverts your visitors' attention or focus from your main goal or offer.

Distractions can be anything that reduces your website conversion rate, such as:

- Pop-ups: The windows or boxes that appear on your web page or blog post

- Banners: The horizontal or vertical ads or images that display on your web page or blog post

- Ads: The paid or sponsored content or links that display on your web page or blog post

- Links: The clickable text or images that lead to another web page or blog post

Eliminating unnecessary distractions can help you improve your website conversion rate by:

- Keeping your visitors focused and engaged with your main goal or offer

- Reducing the chances of your visitors leaving your website or blog post

- Increasing the clarity and simplicity of your website or blog post

8. Improve your page speed

Page speed is the time it takes for your web page or blog post to load and display on your visitors' browser.

Page speed can affect your website conversion rate and SEO rankings, as:

- Faster page speed improves user experience and satisfaction

- Faster page speed reduces bounce rate and increases retention

- Faster page speed boosts SEO rankings and organic traffic

To improve your page speed, you should:

- Use a reliable web hosting service that provides fast and secure servers

- Use a caching plugin or tool that stores and delivers static files faster

- Use a compression plugin or tool that reduces the size of your images and files

- Use a CDN (content delivery network) service that distributes your content across multiple servers

You can use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, or Pingdom to test and improve your page speed.

9. Optimize mobile

Mobile optimization is the process of ensuring that your website or blog post is responsive and adaptable to different devices, especially mobile devices.

Mobile optimization can affect your website conversion rate and user behavior, as:

- More people are using mobile devices to access the internet and browse websites

- Mobile users have different expectations and preferences than desktop users

- Mobile users have different challenges and limitations than desktop users

To optimize mobile, you should:

- Use a responsive design that adjusts to different screen sizes and orientations

- Use a mobile-friendly theme that provides a clean and simple layout

- Use a mobile-friendly plugin that enhances the functionality and usability of your website

- Use a mobile-friendly font that is easy to read and scan

10. Enhance purchasing journey

Purchasing journey is the process of guiding your visitors from becoming aware of your product or service to becoming loyal customers.

Purchasing journey can affect your website conversion rate and customer satisfaction, as:

- Different visitors have different needs and goals at different stages of the purchasing journey

- Different visitors have different levels of awareness and readiness to buy at different stages of the purchasing journey

- Different visitors have different objections and questions at different stages of the purchasing journey

To enhance purchasing journey, you should:

- Identify the stages of the purchasing journey, such as awareness, consideration, decision, etc.

- Create content and offers that match each stage of the purchasing journey

- Use CTAs and landing pages that move your visitors to the next stage of the purchasing journey

11. Define and Revise Your Website’s Value Proposition

Your value proposition is a statement that summarizes why your visitors should choose your product or service over your competitors.

Tree bubbles overlapping each other to create a common part in the middle

Your value proposition can affect your website conversion rate and customer loyalty, as:

- Your value proposition communicates your unique selling point and benefits to your visitors

- Your value proposition differentiates you from your competitors and creates a competitive advantage

- Your value proposition influences your visitors' perception and decision making

To define and revise your value proposition, you should:

- Identify your target audience and their needs and wants

- Identify your product or service and its features and benefits

- Identify your competitors and their strengths and weaknesses

- Write a clear, concise, compelling, and unique value proposition

- Test and refine your value proposition based on feedback and data

12. Remove unnecessary form fields

Form fields are the input boxes or fields that collect information from your visitors on your website.

Form fields can affect your website conversion rate and user experience, as:

- More form fields require more time and effort from your visitors

- More form fields increase the risk of errors and frustration from your visitors

- More form fields reduce the trust and privacy from your visitors

To remove unnecessary form fields, you should:

- Identify the information that is essential and relevant for your goal and purpose

- Remove or replace any form field that is not essential or relevant for your goal and purpose

- Test and optimize your form based on feedback and data

13. Add a countdown timer

A countdown timer is a feature that displays the remaining time until a certain event or deadline on your website.

A countdown timer can affect your website conversion rate by:

- Creating a sense of urgency and scarcity for your visitors

- Motivating your visitors to take action before it's too late

- Increasing the perceived value and demand for your offer

To add a countdown timer to your website, you should:

- Choose a relevant event or deadline for your offer, such as limited-time offer, product launch, event registration, etc.

- Choose a realistic and reasonable time frame for your event or deadline

- Place the countdown timer strategically on your website where it catches attention

For example, Udemy uses a countdown timer to display the remaining time for their limited-time offer on their website.

14. Add a point of purchase upsell

A point of purchase upsell is a technique that offers an additional or complementary product or service to your customers at the point of purchase.

A point of purchase upsell can affect your website conversion rate by:

- Increasing your average order value and revenue

- Providing more value and satisfaction to your customers

- Creating more loyalty and retention from your customers

To add a point of purchase upsell to your website, you should:

- Choose a relevant and valuable product or service that complements your main offer

- Choose a reasonable and attractive price or discount for your upsell offer

- Place the point of purchase upsell strategically on your website where it increases conversion

For example, Amazon uses a point of purchase upsell to offer frequently bought together items to their customers at the checkout page.

Conclusion

Improving your website conversion rate is not a mystery or a miracle. It's a matter of applying some proven tips and strategies that can make a difference in your online business.
Now it's your turn to implement these tips and see the results for yourself.

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