Essential On-Site Optimization Tactics To Increase Conversion Rates

Average conversion rates in eCommerce and other digital businesses are between 1-2 percent. Getting this figure above 2 percent takes a lot of work and perseverance – and, above all, it requires steps that make your website a lead-capturing and conversion-making magnet. This article looks at five actionable tips for on-site conversion rate optimization (CRO) and tops it off with more ways conversion rate optimization helps your business.

What Is Conversion Rate Optimization?

Conversion rate optimization is a multi-step strategy for boosting the number of website visitors who take a desired action on a page, like submitting a form or buying an item.

To optimize your website for higher conversions, you need to understand your visitors’ user journey, how they move outside and inside your sales funnel, what actions they take and what might prevent them from completing the desired action. With that said, here are five best practices and essential steps for improving your website’s conversion rates.

Leverage Filtered Navigation

A website’s navigation should be simple, intuitive and understandable in order to keep visitors on the site for a longer period of time. 

Including filtering options with the navigation helps users sort search results very quickly and with very little effort.

Advanced on-site navigation features, like filters, make it possible to refine the search results according to users’ exact preferences. Users can sort their products according to price, type, rating, color and other criteria, thus removing unwanted items from search results.

Filtering narrows down their options and gets them closer to the item they are looking for and, consequently, closer to conversion.

Navigation filters are a critical element of any eCommerce platform with a large number of products. They are also very helpful on business-to-business (B2B) websites that are packed with content.

Use Semantic Search To Improve Relevance

Semantic search is becoming quite prevalent in SEO, and it should take precedence with your on-site search.

Most people’s search queries are close or identical to everyday speech and natural use of language. In other words, today’s users search the same way they talk.

Semantic search emulates the way people speak and adjusts search phrases according to this. Google has enhanced its search engine’s semantic processing capacities to predict users’ search queries with great success.

As any good SEO agency would suggest, your on-site search engine can benefit from semantic search by gaining contextual cues and human language intricacies.

Align Your Content With Traffic Sources

When creating digital marketing and social media campaigns, it is important to keep in mind that people expect to find the content that was promised to them on your website.

There should always be a clear and strong connection between a source ad, a source post or the organic search result and your landing page. Aligning your content with these sources of traffic is crucial for building trust between you and your audience.

When users see the same content – copy or visuals – that they saw in the ad or social media post, they immediately know they’re in the right place. This so-called “information scent” will keep users on your page longer, reducing bounce rates and increasing the likelihood of conversion.

Some of the best practices to follow in this regard include:

• Match the H1 title and title tag
• Adjust the layout based on keywords
• Create a clear site structure
• Use the same imagery on both ends
• Make the copy from the ad/social media post/organic search result immediately visible

Improve Page Loading Speed

As much as 40 percent of visitors expect website pages to load in less than three seconds, and 40 percent of them will leave the website if it takes more than three seconds to load. 

Moreover, 79 percent of online shoppers that are not satisfied with website performance won’t buy from the same site again.

Page loading times are one of the crucial factors in user conversions. Websites that load too slowly will not capture leads and convert them in sufficient numbers.

To improve your page loading speeds, you first need to measure them. Use one of the numerous online website speed test tools to test your loading speeds on desktop and mobile.

Evaluate the tools’ reports to gain insight into front-end and back-end elements that may be slowing your site down.

Some of the steps you can take next include:

• Remove and tidy up the excess HTML, CSS, JS and PHP code
• Optimize and compress your image sizes
• Reduce external embedded media to the minimum
• Use a premium hosting plan, if possible

Remove Distractions

A landing page where users convert should be clear, easy to navigate and to the point. All of the non-essential elements and pieces of content should be removed so as not to distract the users from the conversion goal.

Pinpoint the pages on your website that are essential in your visitors’ user journey. These are the pages where their conversion decision is formed. 

On these pages, apply only the following elements:

• Headline
• Subheadings
• Copy about the product’s/service’s benefits
• Images or videos related to the product/service
• Client testimonials and reviews
• Call-to-action (CTA)

Services like Crazy Egg provide a heatmap that shows what your users click on the most and what they click on the least. The elements that visitors are using the least should be removed in order to simplify the page and make it more conversion-friendly.

How Does CRO Benefit Your Online Business?

Conversion rate optimization is not directly related to search engine rankings or attracting organic traffic. However, it has excellent implications for your business beyond actual conversions, such as:

• Better user experience (UX): Conversion rate optimization evaluates what works on your website and improves what doesn’t. This creates an overall better user experience that makes visitors feel appreciated, encouraging them to engage with your website more.
• Trust among users: Having a professional, helpful website that doesn’t distract or confuse visitors is the best shopping window your business can afford. A website that answers all of your users’ questions forms trust with your audience.
• Key audience understanding: In the process of optimizing your website for better conversion rates, you will gain a much better understanding of your audience. You will likely establish what kind of messaging resonates the most with them and what content is most helpful. This knowledge will help you acquire the most qualified prospects for your business and all your future marketing efforts.
• Better scalability: Conversion rate optimization grows your business at a sustainable rate, because the size of your audience may not follow your business growth. Improving conversion rates means turning more leads into customers, and by doing this, your business will scale without running out of prospects.
  

Conversion rate optimization provides more value to the user, which in itself is a good SEO signal that will result in higher search engine rankings.

These, along with your business’s revenue and sustainability, are the key reasons to follow these essential CRO best practices.