Jared Atchison July 30, 2020 The internet has changed the way we live our lives. One of the most notable changes can be seen when you look at our buying habits. Instead of driving to a physical location, browsing the selection of products, and checking out with a cashier before you go home, we can now buy virtually everything from the comfort of our homes.
As an online business owner or marketer, you have to understand the different concepts behind conversion rate optimization (CRO) if you hope to thrive in this climate. Essentially, CRO is the act of increasing sales and conversions by enticing users to subscribe to your newsletter, buy a product, or otherwise engage with your brand.
We want to take a look at several statistics you should know about CRO. The goal here is to reveal areas of opportunity in your marketing strategy and help you grow your business. Our tips will focus specifically on what you should do after creating a website and have most of your design choices set in stone.
Let’s get started!
97% of Consumers Check Reviews
First, let’s talk about the importance of customer reviews and show you how they factor directly into your CRO strategy. When someone buys a product online, most brands ask the user the leave a review letting them know their thoughts.
There are plenty of benefits to this strategy, with the most obvious one being that you can learn ways to improve your product, service, or website. But there’s another hidden gem you can use to boost your conversions on site.
A whopping 97% of consumers check for reviews before they buy something online. They want to see what other people think about what you’re offering so they can decide if your product will fit their needs. This phenomenon is also called social proof. Social proof is the idea that when consumers see what friends, family, and even complete strangers enjoying a product, they are likely also to want that item.
You can improve your CRO by including reviews on your product pages. When someone lands on your page and has questions, your reviews can help them get answers while giving them the confidence to make a purchase.
You’re 7x as Likely to Convert a Lead Within 1 Hour After Contact
Do you have a way to quickly reach new prospects when they contact your business? It turns out that giving useful information isn’t enough. We have to focus just as hard on responding to consumers as soon as they reach out with a comment, question, or concern.
Research shows that you’re 7x more likely to convert a lead if you respond to them within an hour. The moment they send their response, they might start looking for competitors that offer a similar product, but features a customer service team that’s always online.
You don’t have to worry if you’re running a small company with limited staff. Chatbots can help you improve your CRO because they can catch new leads as soon as they land on your site. Instead of worrying about someone leaving because they can’t find what they want, the bot will guide and help resolve their question.
Implementing this small change can help you capture more prospects while increasing customer satisfaction across the board.
Organic Search Results Get 94% More Clicks
You’ll often hear marketers say that SEO and CRO are not directly connected. We beg to differ, and there’s a good reason why. SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of designing your website in a way that makes it readable and easy to rank when Google crawler bots visit.
While that much is true, the result of a website that’s SEO optimized is an improved CRO rate. When done right, SEO helps you rank towards the top of Google for your keywords. Appearing at the top of the page means more people are likely to click on your website. In fact, organic search results tend to get 94% more clicks than those with ads or no SEO strategy.
By going through and following SEO best practices, you’re doing a fantastic service for your site visibility and slowly increasing your conversion rate.
Split Testing Can Improve Conversions by 300%
Split testing, also known as A/B testing, is another popular strategy you can use to grow your business. Essentially, this technique involves changes elements of your website and emails to improve your results. But did you know that one simple split test can improve your conversions by 300%?
There are countless things you can test too! Some business owners have found success simply changing the text they use in their content, while others have found that split testing their call-action drastically improved their total conversions.
The key is to give each test time. You want to make sure that changes you make a positive impact on your customers, and you’re not going to know that right away. Spend some time going over the analytics and look for specific changes that boost your conversion rate.
As you test various elements, you’ll get a feel for what works and what doesn’t. This experience is totally unique for each business depending on their industry, audience size, and more. However, there’s no question that everyone can benefit from split testing.
Conclusion
Once you’ve chosen your domain, created your website, and started researching your target audience, you have to think about conversions. The best way to see an improvement in your CRO strategy is to find out what works for your brand.
Hopefully, these statistics gave you some ideas that you can translate to your business. Think about how you can take these concepts, and put a spin on it that fits your industry. For instance, if you own a clothing eCommerce website, you could split test your home page by using 2 dresses that are different colors.
Use the framework we’ve offered here and your own creativity, and you can skyrocket your conversion rate.
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