Conversion optimization is the key to turning web visitors into loyal customers. Optimization can be anything from engaging copy that keeps visitors reading and coming back, to perfectly placed buttons that keep visitors on the site longer. There are many factors that go into making your site reach its full potential, and the ideal conversion optimization includes a little bit of everything. Below, we answer the questions like “How do I find new leads?” and explain how to develop your website to make conversion rates grow.

1. Get to Know Your Audience

Getting to know who visits your website and what their interests, wants, and needs are is key to getting successful conversions. A deeper understanding of web visitors' needs can be gained by conducting thorough audience research and user analysis. Once you know things like why your audience comes to your website, their pain points, and possible roadblocks they experience on their journey towards their goals, the better you’ll be able to meet their needs.

Begin to gather information on your visitors with tools like Google Analytics, that show businesses their users’ demographics, online behavior patterns, and preferences. It’s even easy to incorporate a quick pop-up poll into your website’s design to gather more specific information about visitors’ pain points and desires. Based on these insights, business owners are able to define specific conversion goals, making their roadmap to increasing conversion rates clearer.

2. Use Design to Maximize Potential

Effective optimization includes improving your site’s user experience (UX) design and usability. This means that your website should load quickly and be easy to navigate. Often, user experience research involves a series of user surveys and an in-depth analysis of user data patterns, like click rates and closed pages. Once designers check how visitors use the website and unmet needs, they can optimize the site so that it’s easier to navigate, streamlining and increasing conversion rates.

Usually, designers begin by adding clear and compelling call-to-action (CTA) buttons that encourage users to take a desired action. Desired actions could be things like adding a product to the cart, signing up for a newsletter, or creating an account. With a clear, clean, and attractive design, users are less likely to experience friction points like clicking on the wrong button.

A great website is made up of a variety of pages to meet the audience’s needs. By optimizing different landing pages, the business keeps the site decluttered and makes site navigation clearer.

3. Create Compelling and Persuasive Content

Getting creative and adding a bit of spice and entertainment to your website’s copy is what will make the site stand out. No one wants to read a long, boring bio. You could be the most interesting person on the planet selling the best product, but unless your website, branding, and product descriptions communicate that, the majority of users won’t stay on your site.

Always choose topics that will resonate with your audience (which you will already have a good idea of, based on audience research in the previous section!). Express yourself and your brand with persuasive storytelling techniques to captivate visitors. This means providing personal stories that will resonate with visitors’ emotions, usually relating to their pain points. A good story makes the reader feel seen and understood. It doesn’t have to be long, but it should keep users on the site longer, clicking on various landing pages.

By using visual elements like images, videos, and infographics, you’re more likely to keep visitors around. Having a lengthy website history, like blog posts published months prior, or stories from the beginning of your career and business, helps build visitors’ trust. Another great way to build legitimacy and credibility is to include social proof of your product and brand. Social proof is evidence that other users have interacted with your site and have found value in the products and services they purchased. A landing page for testimonials from past clients and happy customers are good examples of popular social proof. Metricool is a website we highly recommend to help you schedule content ahead of time, perform analytics analysis, and report on ad interactions to give you insight into what content is working for your business.

4. Utilize A/B Testing and Conversion Tracking

Don’t be scared by the word “testing”; A/B testing is a basic and fundamental part of building a successful website. When practicing A/B testing, a business provides its visitors or customers with two different versions of a product, web page, or campaign, and tracks which campaign performs better, A or B.

In order to be successful with this type of testing, your website must be set up with conversion tracking tools to measure and analyze results. For example, when performing A/B testing on a newsletter campaign, a business will create two different email versions and send them out to subscribers. Then, based on click rates and other interactions, will determine which email had higher conversion rates. We recommend sites like Hotjar, which easily allows businesses to collect key data points in A/B testing and check how many visitors are on your website.

Tools like Hotjar come in handy when testing out different variations of key elements of digital marketing like different CTAs (calls to action), headlines, subject lines, and landing page layouts. By collecting data like click rates, businesses are able to make informed optimization decisions and understand what really works for their audience base.

5. Expand to Advanced Conversion-Focused Tools and Techniques

To take conversion rates to the next level, consider including elements like exit-intent pop-ups and original lead magnets to capture possible leads. A lead magnet is a free service or feature given away for the exchange of the user’s contact details. Successful lead magnets are a fantastic way to collect an audience’s emails or phone numbers, which is how to increase online sales by identifying qualified leads. A qualified lead is a potential customer that favors your products, repeatedly visits your site, or engages with your lead magnet; basically, anyone who shows a high level of interest in your site or product.

Once users have signed up with a lead magnet, pull the client or visitor back to the website with compelling and clickable newsletters and emails. By incorporating social proof, like reviews and testimonials, and urgency techniques, users are encouraged to interact, which ends up improving conversions. When businesses create a dynamic back-and-forth with their audience, via newsletters or social media presence, the business harnesses the power of personalization and connection. This relationship makes audience members more likely to have loyal and long-term interactions with your site.

6. Optimize the Final Step of the Funnel

In the marketing world, “the funnel” refers to a customer’s journey, from learning about the product and business, in the beginning, all the way to the final stages of a purchase/ lead capture. To optimize the final step of the funnel, it is essential to focus on providing a seamless and persuasive user experience that encourages conversions. Start by simplifying the process and minimizing any potential friction points. Ensure that the call-to-action is prominently displayed, visually appealing, and clearly communicates the value proposition. Streamline the checkout or lead capture process by minimizing form fields and enabling guest checkout options. Incorporate trust elements, such as security badges and customer testimonials, to instill confidence in the user. Personalize the experience by offering relevant product recommendations or tailored offers based on their previous interactions. Additionally, implement remarketing strategies to re-engage users who may have abandoned the process, reminding them of the benefits of completing their purchase or submission. Regularly analyze and optimize this final step based on user feedback and data analytics to continuously improve conversion rates and maximize success.

7. Think Long-term: Analysis and Iteration

Websites are not meant to be built and then forgotten about. Successful business people treat their online presence like a plant: it needs to be fed and watered regularly to grow. Based on changing users, behavior patterns, and possible roadblocks, the site should be monitored and tweaked to continue to provide visitors with the most seamless experience possible.

By regularly monitoring and analyzing conversion data, businesses are able to know exactly what problems their users encounter and how to fix them. When a business identifies these areas for improvement, they are able to optimize their website further. Iterating and testing new strategies is a smart way to optimize your website to its highest potential, as strategies are based on tangible data.

Just like businesses change, so do their users and audience. Real business improvement is impossible without regularly refining and optimizing the conversion process. By keeping up to date on your website’s traffic and user patterns monthly, your likelihood of successful conversions skyrockets.

With the help of an experienced digital marketing team, you can be sure that your website is achieving its conversion goals. By investing in a professional team to monitor and optimize the performance of your website, you can rest assured that all facets of user experience are taken care of. Our boutique agency offers these services and more- you can request a free quote here and learn more about how we can bring you one step closer to success.

7 Tips for Conversion Optimization: How to Turn Website Visitors into Customers