Whether it’s making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter, we measure campaign success via conversion, or action taken by the user. So what are the best ways to optimise for conversion?
- Multivariate Tests
67 percent of marketers use A/B testing for conversion rate optimisation, where traffic is diverted to two different variations of a single website to determine which is more successful. However, only 30 percent use multivariate testing, making it wildly undervalued. Multivariate testing involves modifying a number of different aspects between the two sites, which allows us to delve deeper. For example, we’re able to see which combination of variables leads to higher conversion rates, and so on. It typically needs more traffic than A/B testing to ensure accuracy, but the ability to analyse numerous aspects simultaneously is a major advantage.
- Visitor Segmentation
At the most basic level, we should be optimising for the lowest common denominator among our visitors, but this isn’t enough. We shouldn’t be assuming that each visitor is looking for the same experience. Segmentation adds a level of personalisation to the process which could have a significant effect on conversion rates. Segmentation is often done by adapting for new visitors vs. returning visitors, by customising based on location, or by where they’ve arrived from. This could include, for example, showing a voucher for new customers, or automatically transferring UK visitors to the UK website, even if they’ve clicked through to the US version.
- Prioritise Content
Content marketing isn’t just important for advertising and brand awareness – it can be beneficial in terms of conversion, too. Many of us are now turning to the LIFT model for CRO, ensuring that all content adds value for the user. The LIFT model is a set of 6 aspects that we should all keep in mind when producing content: urgency, value proposition, relevance, clarity, distraction, and anxiety. Ideally, we want to boost urgency, relevance, and clarity while minimising distractions and reducing feelings of anxiety in the reader, all to contribute to the value. Research has shown the LIFT model to be very effective in terms of CRO, with one website reporting a 404 percent increase in lead generation conversion rate after applying the LIFT model to content.
- Design
If we want users to convert, we first need them to engage with the website, and we can do this through design. Consider that 77 percent of first time visitors won’t scroll past the fold, and that eye tracking software confirms that we have a tendency to focus on faces, and look where they’re looking. We can use this to our advantage by strategically placing ‘action’ links (like a link to an ecommerce store or newsletter sign up) in a prominent position. We can also make use of images, placing action links, or valuable information that directly leads to a conversion, in the eyeline of the person in the image. Design should be about user experience, and about ensuring that our most valuable content is easy to identify.
- Filter
While your desktop website may be successful in converting users, your mobile website may be bringing overall conversion rate down. Believe it or not, a responsive mobile website isn’t enough. We tend to think that all we need is to create a responsive website that loads accurately on a mobile device. However, we need to consider that mobile users are in many cases looking for a different experience to desktop users. Reports show that one loyalty rewards company boosted their mobile conversion rate by 55 percent, by shunning responsiveness in favour of a mobile-specific website that focused on the needs of the mobile user. In this case, they used a voucher-offering landing page to increase conversion rates.