Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the process of enabling and improving the completion of actions people take when they visit your website. Its purpose is to help you get more out of what you already have – the traffic you’re generating, your existing content, etc. It involves working through how people are navigating through your site, what they’re doing when there, and why they might (or might not) convert.
If you’re getting decent website traffic, conversion rate optimization is a no-brainer — with some small adjustments, you can drive incremental improvements that can produce big results over time.
What’s a Conversion?
A conversion is when a visitor completes a certain action or goal on your website. What constitutes a conversion differs from business to business, but typically includes actions like filling in a contact form, requesting a demo or quote, purchasing a product, signing up for a trial, and so on.
Conversions can also be smaller actions that happen prior to other, more important conversions — what Moz refers to as “micro-conversions” — like downloading a gated piece of content or subscribing to a newsletter.
How Do You Calculate Conversion Rates?
Once you’ve identified what a conversion means for your business, the next step is to measure success by calculating your conversion rates. Calculating conversion rates is straightforward: divide the number of completed goals (conversions) by the number of opportunities visitors had to achieve them. For instance, if 2,000 visitors come to your site and 200 make a purchase, your conversion rate is 10%.
What’s a Good Conversion Rate?
Conversion rates differ vastly based on industry, the types of conversions you are trying to achieve, and a number of other factors. One analysis on landing page conversion rates by Wordstream found that a good conversion rate is somewhere between the 2-5% mark.
However, this isn’t set in stone. Consider your current conversion rates and industry benchmarks. Organizationally, you should be aiming to get better conversion rates month over month.
Why CRO Matters More Than Ever
E-commerce tends to get the most focus with respect to conversion rate optimization, but it’s also important for B2B organizations that don’t sell products directly from their websites — even companies with long, complex sales cycles.
Traffic to your website is an opportunity to have visitors take some action that matters to your business, instead of leaving without doing anything. Think of visitors as potential revenue – if you can get more of them to download a whitepaper or request a quote by making changes and testing what works, you can generate more leads which can turn into more business.
Conversion rate optimization is also important to B2B organizations because it gives them an opportunity to connect with potential customers earlier in the sales process. If you’re able to capture lead information through a conversion like a whitepaper download, you have a wealth of information that you wouldn’t have had otherwise: the lead’s interest based on what they downloaded; what company they’re with and what role they’re in; where they might be in their decision-making process; and importantly, contact details. Even if a prospect is in an early stage, you now have an idea of intent and a signal that they are potentially in the market for the product or service you offer.
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have transformed CRO for B2B organizations by enabling personalized experiences and providing insights through predictive analytics and automated testing. As a result, B2B marketers can now optimize their strategies to align with individual user needs, ensuring each interaction is as relevant and effective as possible.
To illustrate how the integration of advanced analytics can transform CRO efforts into tangible results, let’s delve into the Parvis project, a real-world example that demonstrates the profound impact of these technologies on enhancing conversion rates.
Source: Microsoft Clarity
Parvis + Microsoft Clarity: Project Case Study
With conversion rate optimization, the application of advanced analytics can significantly transform how businesses understand and interact with their audience. A prime example of this is the Parvis project, an initiative that used Microsoft Clarity‘s robust analytics tools to map user behaviour and optimize conversion pathways.
The Parvis Project Overview:
The Parvis project aimed to enhance website user experience and increase conversion rates by leveraging detailed insights from Microsoft Clarity. By implementing Clarity’s heatmaps and session recordings, the project team gained an in-depth understanding of how users interacted with their site, identifying friction points and areas of high engagement.
Key Outcomes and Insights:
- Heatmaps Analysis: The project used heatmaps to visualize where users clicked, scrolled, and spent time on the site. This data helped identify content that captured user interest and areas on the page that were often overlooked.
- Session Recordings: Watching user sessions in real-time offered nuanced insights into user journeys, highlighting obstacles that prevented users from converting.
- Behavioural Insights: The analytics revealed specific user behaviours and preferences, enabling the team to tailor the site’s content and layout to meet user needs better.
Impact on Conversion Rates:
By addressing the insights provided by the Parvis project, the team made strategic adjustments to the website, enhancing user experience and streamlining the conversion process. These changes led to a measurable increase in conversion rates, demonstrating the project’s success in using advanced analytics to drive better CRO results.
Incorporating Learnings into Your Strategy:
The Parvis project serves as an exemplary case study for businesses looking to improve their conversion rates through data-driven strategies. By adopting similar analytics tools, businesses can uncover valuable insights into user behaviour, refine their user interfaces, and create more compelling user journeys, ultimately leading to higher conversion rates.
By examining and applying the lessons from the Parvis project, companies can harness the power of advanced analytics to deepen their understanding of user interactions, tailor their online experiences, and achieve significant improvements in their CRO efforts.
Armed with insights from the Parvis project, let’s explore practical strategies you can implement to enhance your website’s conversion rates.
How to Improve Your Conversion Rates
Clear Conversion Paths
You’d be surprised how many websites don’t give visitors the opportunity – or at least make it very difficult – to convert. Ensure your website clearly guides visitors towards conversion opportunities, incorporating modern design principles like mobile-first layouts and interactive elements.
Drawing from the Parvis project’s use of heatmaps, we can understand the importance of strategically placing conversion elements. By analyzing user interaction patterns, similar to the project’s approach, we can optimize the placement of our CTAs and ensure that our conversion paths are clear and intuitive.
Leverage Your Blog with Updated Calls-to-Action (CTAs)
In the B2B space, where many companies are blogging and creating content, a quick way to move the needle and improve conversion rates is to create relevant calls-to-action that lead users down a sensible conversion path from your posts. Direct users to whitepapers, eBooks, reports, templates, and other content assets that are relevant to the posts they are reading and allow you to capture information.
Start with your most visited and highest value blog posts. Look at Google Analytics 4 to determine what these are, and make sure that they offer page visitors a clear, logical next step.
If you look at Hubspot’s blog post, you can see they have a call-to-action to download content that is relevant to users researching retargeting.
Enhancing this approach, the use of AI to dynamically present relevant CTAs can substantially increase conversion rates. AI technology can analyze a reader’s habits and historical behaviour to serve personalized CTAs that resonate with their specific interests and needs. This intelligent personalization ensures that the CTAs are not just relevant but are also timely, increasing the likelihood of the user taking the desired action. By integrating AI into your CTA strategy, you can create a more intuitive and responsive user experience, significantly boosting your conversion opportunities in the B2B sector.
Maximize Engagement: Voice, Mobile, and Video Optimization
Voice Search
Voice search is becoming increasingly popular, with more users turning to voice assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa to search the internet. This shift necessitates a change in optimization strategies by using conversational and question-based keywords, structuring content to answer common questions for better visibility in voice search results and snippets, and enhancing local SEO with updated Google My Business listings to cater to the growing use of voice assistants.
Mobile
With the majority of internet traffic coming from mobile devices, having a mobile-optimized website is no longer optional. Enhance mobile user experience with responsive design, implement AMP for faster loading, use PWAs for an app-like experience, optimize for speed, and design user-friendly navigation to enhance engagement and cater to the majority of internet traffic coming from mobile devices.
Video Content
Incorporate engaging video content into your landing pages and conversion funnels to grab visitor attention and effectively convey your message. Use product demos, brand storytelling, and customer testimonials to build trust and illustrate your value proposition. Ensure your videos are optimized for mobile viewing and search engines, and always include a clear call to action to guide viewers to the next step. Analyze video performance to refine your strategy and enhance user engagement, ultimately boosting conversion rates.
After implementing strategic improvements to enhance conversion rates through clear conversion paths, the next critical step is to validate and refine these strategies through rigorous testing. Testing not only confirms the effectiveness of your changes but also uncovers deeper insights for continuous optimization.
Test, Test, Test with Advanced Technique
Testing is the best way to increase conversion rates, with numerous elements on your page like headlines, CTAs, positioning, imagery, and form fields open to optimization. A/B testing is a foundational approach, allowing you to compare two versions of a single element to determine which performs better. Tools such as Google Optimize, Optimizely, and Visual Website Optimizer facilitate this process. Additionally, marketing automation platforms often include features to A/B test various components directly.
For a more granular understanding of user behaviour, go beyond A/B testing by using advanced techniques like multivariate testing, heatmaps, and visitor recordings. These methods provide deeper insights into how users interact with your site, uncovering more nuanced opportunities for improvement. Multivariate testing lets you assess the impact of multiple variables simultaneously, while heatmaps and visitor recordings offer a visual and behavioural snapshot of user engagement on your site.
If you don’t have any of these tools, you can use Google Analytics 4 to establish conversion goals, track changes, and analyze performance over time, although it may require more effort and attention to detail.
Incorporating these diverse testing methodologies can significantly boost your site’s conversion rates, providing a comprehensive view of user interaction and opening up avenues for targeted optimizations.
Conclusion
CRO has evolved significantly, with new technologies, consumer expectations, and regulatory environments shaping its best practices. By focusing on a few key areas—leveraging modern technologies and analytics, understanding and mapping the customer journey, and ensuring privacy and compliance—you can drive incremental improvements that lead to more leads, opportunities, and revenue.
Interested in turning more visitors into customers? Contact us for expert CRO strategies that boost your website’s performance and engagement.