How to Improve Your Conversion Rate
Seeing your website experience great gains in traffic can be very exciting. After all, it is validation that your SEO strategy is working. However, many webmasters are soon brought back down to earth when they see the ratio of people converting against the number of people visiting.
Too little focus on conversion rate optimization (CRO) versus the idea of ranking is often to blame for this. But what is a conversion rate, and how can you ensure you create content with both SEO and CRO in mind in 2021?
This is something we aim to explore below, where we provide tips on optimizing your content and SEO strategy for conversions.
What is Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)?
So, we have previously delved into conversion rate optimization on RankMovers.com, so we won’t go too deeply into rehashing the same content here. Basically, your conversion rate is the number of people performing an action you want them to do on your site versus the number that visits your site. Actions could include:
- Signing up for a newsletter.
- Purchasing a product/service.
- Subscribing to a podcast/YouTube channel.
- Clicking on a link.
There is no one-size-fits-all for what is considered a good conversion rate because the goals of websites vary. For example, an e-commerce site is going to have different numbers to a personal blog, etc. However, overall, it is suggested that anything above 10% is a good number. This means 1 in 10 people who visit your site need to covert.
While there may be reasons why you miss this target on occasion, there are some issues to address if your site if you continue to see abysmal numbers. So, how can you address this issue?
5 CRO Tips to Improve Conversion Numbers
1. Focus on Quality Versus Quantity (Clicks and Keywords)
Often, when we mention this idea, we do it in reference to content creation, i.e., you should never create content for the sake of content because it doesn’t rank.
Rather, in this case, we mean you shouldn’t view gains in click figures as a true measure of your success. Your site could see a 1000% increase in clicks from month to month, but if it’s for the wrong set of keywords, it means nothing.
For example, let’s say you have an e-commerce site focusing on sneakers. Your homepage saw a massive month-on-month gain in clicks. However, when you check search console, you see that the reason for the increase in clicks is that you suddenly rank for a highly-searched (but completely irrelevant) keyword, such as “yellow teddy.”
Perhaps, the reason you rank for this keyword is you have a pair of shoes with a yellow teddy graphic, which is mentioned in the product description. However, chances are, people aren’t looking for shoes when searching the keyword, which means you won’t see the increase in conversions you would like.
So, you should always investigate how people are finding your page organically. Ways you can check which keywords your content is getting clicks for include:
- Google Analytics
- Google Search Console
- Google Search Console Insights
If you have visited our blog before, Analytics and Search Console need no introduction. However, Search Console Insights is a newly launched tool that gives you an overview of how people find your site, including which pages and keywords you get the most clicks for and how much time people spend on high-performing pages on average. This is a cheat code for helpful insights.
2. Understand User Intent Behind Search Queries
Sometimes, it isn’t easy to identify scenarios where you aren’t getting the right traffic. For example, you could still be ranking for sneaker-related keywords, but not keywords that will push conversions, such as “how to tie laces.”
Generally, the Google algorithm will quickly rectify the issue if it determines people are spending less time on your page than the rest of the content. However, if you are getting picked up for the wrong keywords, it’s a good sign that you need to adjust your content.
Remember that anyone can create content and rank – it’s ranking for the right keywords and getting profitable traffic from these sources that is the challenge.
If you spend the time researching your target population, how they search for products, why they want the product, and the best way to appeal to them, you will see better results.
3. Experiment with Ideas
As much as we love tools to make our lives easier, they don’t always give us a complete understanding of a picture. Sometimes, we need to make our own deductions about how to use data to get results.
You could make inferences on the following areas:
- Keywords to use
- Keyword placement
- Content style
- Topic ideas
- Headings
- Banners
- Imagery
- Website design
Then, you can adjust your content to test your theories. Quite simply, you are going to have a lot of hits and misses. The important thing here isn’t really getting the conversions, but rather getting information from your experiment.
For example, will a change of tone lead to more conversions? Or, will list titles lead to more traffic? Maybe you have an idea of how emotive headings can lead to more clicks.
4. Create Quality Content
The only way to build trust with someone consuming your content is to show them that you actually understand what you are talking about. You need to be an expert in what you are selling, or else people won’t trust what you are peddling.
Part of writing good content understands the psychology and needs of your target audience. For example, you can’t expect to get conversions if your content features glaring fictitious statements. Why would your target market trust anything you say thereafter?
So, again, before creating content for the sake of content, ensure you understand what you are writing about and why you are writing about it. If you don’t understand why people want to use your product (or how your product works), how can you expect to sell other people on it?
5. Focus on Clarity
Sometimes, things that are obvious to us are not obvious to those around us. If you’ve been writing about a product for a long time, chances are, you know all the ins and outs of the product. However, this leaves you prone to writing in a way that assumes some level of knowledge from the reader.
This can be both a good and a bad thing. If done correctly, consumers gain the idea that you know your stuff and will possibly convert. However, if done badly, consumers will be confused about what is on offer.
Rather than take hard stances on your work, ask for the opinions of others who know little to nothing about the market you are focusing on. A fresh set of eyes may provide valuable insight into how first-time viewers see your work.
With these tips in mind, you should see some improvements in your conversions. At the very least, you may start thinking of better ways to create content for conversions and SEO instead of just for SEO.
