When you do a local search, such as “web design Dallas” on a search engine, the results that you get might vary from time to time. However, the ones that stay at the top of the results have a lot of competition. Just because a website makes it to the top of search engines, does not mean that it gets a lot of business.
When the designer of the site keeps conversion rate optimization in mind as much as they do search engine optimization, they have the capacity to create a website that not only looks great but provides a great source of revenue.
What is CRO?
CRO is the abbreviation for conversion rate optimization. In order to understand conversion rate optimization, you will need to know what conversions are.
When it comes to measuring the success of a website there are a number of factors that come into play. A conversion is when a web visitor lands on the website as a shopper and then converts to a customer. Converting visitors into paying customers is an art that can be mastered with practice and education. By measuring the rate of conversions against the total number of visitors to the site you will find the conversion rate.
For example, if your site gets 100 visitors in a day and 25 of them buy something you would have a 25% conversion rate for that day. You can measure the hour, day, week, month…or whatever you decide is appropriate for your website. What matters is the number of visitors that visit the site that do not buy something can be optimized so that each and every visitor to the site is a potential sale.
The practice of optimizing a website so that it gets more conversions is known as CRO, or conversion rate optimization.
When web development agencies offer conversion rate optimization it means that their end goal is results-driven as opposed to merely looking pretty on the internet.
Web Design and CRO Make Things Happen
One of the biggest mistakes a web designer can do is to build a website for looks and not take into consideration search engine visibility and conversion rates. While some websites may get a lot of their traffic from offline referrals, the majority of successful online businesses get action being found and seen on the internet.
Conversion rates are established being seen in search engine results, either paid ads, or organic search results. In order to sell something on the website it has to be visited, right?
The very beginning stages of the creation of the website should always be about strategizing what keywords are best for the promotion of the website.
For example, if the website is selling pet accessories, it is wise to seek out and research the most commonly searched keywords and phrases that people actually use to perform a search to find pet accessories.
Words and phrases such as:
- Dog leashes
- Animal training aids
- Kitty crates
- Dog clothing
- Pet dishes
- Dog brushes
- Pet supplies
Any type of keyword combination that could result in somebody finding the website and purchasing exactly what they are looking for is great.
Finding the pillar keywords for the site and building it based on content that talks about these keywords is a great way to start.
The next phase is in the early design stages. When the designer creates the pages, the titles of the pages, the headings, and the meta descriptions.
When search results appear in search engines the first thing people see is the title of the page and the meta description. If the keyword that they used to make the search is in the meta description it will be in bold letters in the search results.
Why this matters is the content in the search results is directly related to the design of the site. If the title of the page is enticing and offers a solution while the meta description gives a general idea that sounds like the solution is available and easy to get…or whatever…the odds of the user clicking on the result link are much higher than if the title and meta description are not appealing.
When the designer keeps conversions in mind as they create, they structure the website to sell things as opposed to sitting around on the internet collecting web dust.
CRO After the Click
OK, so your website has a great title and meta description so people click on the result and land on the landing page. Now what? This is where great web design comes into the picture.
A website only has a few seconds to catch the attention of a user and engage them. People have to be attracted to something, or be interested in something to keep them on the website. If a person lands on the landing page of the site and does not see anything worth looking at, they will most likely leave and find another site that has more to offer. That’s just the way it is.
The very first viewport that users see will make a huge difference. A great designer will understand this and use what little space they have to make a big impact.
- Get their attention
- Engage them
- Call them to act
- Give them what they are looking for
Conversion rates are determined using analytics software to gauge the way visitors act when they hit the site. There are a number of things a visitor can do when they land on the landing page.
- Bounce away to another site
- Visit for a while and read content
- Do a search in the search box
- Navigate to other areas of the site
- Click on the call to action buttons
- Buy an item
The analytics program will be able to track the way visitors navigate the site. For example, if the person visiting clicks on a link to another page the software will track it and keep on tracking the journey of that customer throughout their entire stay on the site.
The purpose of conversion rate optimization is to t track what people do when they visit the site and make adjustments to the site in order to better serve the customer.
One of the most common ways to decipher what visitors like and what they don’t like is to run an A/B test and see how the visitors respond to it.
A good example of an A/B test is to put two different calls to action on the landing page. The calls to action will be worded differently and have different content as well as be linked to their own page.
After a session that lasts a week or a day or whatever the analytics software will be able to show how many customers clicked on A and how many clicked on B. If either one of these got the majority of the clicks, the one that didn’t get as many clicks will be removed.
The test could be for a contest, or even to display the same product but with different images and different wording.
The bottom line is that doing tests like this gives the developers a good idea of what visitors want when they come to the website, and which direction they take for their web journey.
Communicating With Visitors
Another popular way that websites can help to improve conversations is to interreact with visitors on an individual level. Site surveys and questionnaires are a big help in finding out exactly what the people want. Simply ask them and see what they have to say.
Forms with multiple choice options such as:
What would you rather have on the site:
- More inventory
- Cheaper products
- Better communication
- Nice Photos
And so on…
The general idea is to ask the visitors what they would like to see more of on the site so that you can provide it for them…if possible.
Web Design and Success
Since conversion rates have so much to do with the way the website looks and behaves there is no doubt that conversion rates must be considered in the beginning stages of the website. Ask questions such as “What would my target audience like to see..” or “How can I make it easy and simple for visitors to buy things…”
Based on the answers to the questions the designer will be able to take what they have learned from actual customers and implement it on the website so that future visitors will be able to enjoy what is there and be inspired to discover what more the website has to offer and go through with a purchase.
