Internet marketers and webmasters alike have become savvy in recent years by focusing on many important components of online success including search engine optimization, social media optimization, and pay per click advertising. However, generating traffic is by no means the end-all be-all of digital marketing. There is something missing.
Introducing Conversion Optimization: What Is It?
You may or may not have heard the term “conversion optimization” or “conversion rate optimization” (CRO) being used almost secretively. However, you may have not known what it referred to. Conversion optimization is a method of internet marketing that boosts the ratio of sales to traffic.
Why You Need Conversion Optimization
Conversion optimization is arguably one of the e-commerce industry’s best kept secrets. If you are among the few ingenious webmasters who are properly, actively and consistently applying it, you will stand out from your competition like no other.
3 Main Benefits of Conversion Optimization:
- Increases Revenue
- Improves Repeat Business
- Maximizes Return on Marketing Investment
- Enables You to Defeat the Competition
Spending money on marketing your site, its products and services, and its branding power is unquestionably a worthwhile endeavor. However, you and your enlisted internet marketing firm must be continuously applying conversion optimization methodology if you are to recoup your marketing investment and see your greatest possible profit margin.
The Process behind Conversion Optimization
Three components you should consider when applying conversion optimization are:
1. Bounce Rate
There is a direct correlation between the optimization of sales conversions and the reduction of “bounce rate.” Bounce rate is a term that refers to the ratio of visitors who leave a site quickly after arriving versus those who stay long enough to perform a desired action.
To minimize bounce rate, you must be determined to ascertain why certain visitors bounce (without much in the way of click-throughs and other preferred actions) while others stay and engage in ideal activity (such as joining a mailing list or making a purchase). Minimizing the bounce rate of the site is, by many accounts, nearly interchangeable with the act of maximizing your rate of conversion.
2. Sales Funnel
A focus on the sales funnel is one of the most popular approaches to conversion optimization. This is the process of examining the steps, in order, that visitors take, and the behavior they exhibit when they do so.
To optimize your sales funnel, you must study what causes visitors to become aware and interested in your site’s offerings. You must also scrutinize details such as what causes them to commit to making a purchase, make referrals, and return for repeat business.
3. Identifying and Adapting to Your Niche
While a general emphasis on the enhancement of the website, landing page content, and ad copy is an essential part of this process, gaining an accurate and thorough understanding of your niche (or “target demographic”) is also vital.
The act of being fully mindful of your target audience entails measuring the characteristics of your current visitor audience, particularly those segments of the audience which tend to make purchases, and catering to that audience by tailoring your content accordingly. It also is important to examine your general industry and the tendency of specific market segments to be drawn to your category of products and services.
How to Apply Conversion Optimization
How do you maximize your sales conversions? There are a variety of strategies that fall under this heading. Numerous aspects of your content, design, functionality, usability and ad copy can be optimized to maximize your sales. Some changes you make will have a permanent effect while others will need to be periodically maintained to sustain their optimum effectiveness.
The best way to apply conversion optimization, once you have a general understanding of it, is to allow a digital marketing agency to inspect your business model and assist you in enhancing it. It is also up to you as the webmaster to take certain steps (as those previously outlined) to complement and supplement the actions of your internet marketing firm. If you are unsure of how this translates to real-world duties, inquire with your marketing agent for more detailed explanation.
Jared Pomranky
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