{"id":27837,"date":"2016-08-30T21:01:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T13:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?p=27837"},"modified":"2022-10-14T20:48:48","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T12:48:48","slug":"overcoming-cro-barriers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/overcoming-cro-barriers\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Online Marketing Tips for Conversion Rate Optimization"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ultimate goal of website design is conversion<\/strong>. Conversion Rate Optimization<\/strong> or CRO<\/strong> is a common practice followed by successful marketers aiming to convert visitors into paying customers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Contrary to the common misconception that online marketing is costly and only high-profile entrepreneurs can afford it, CRO boosts conversion rates without implying unreasonable expenses<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In this post, I\u2019ll show you five well-researched online marketing tips that will help you increase your conversion rates<\/strong>, and boost your business<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tRead Also:<\/strong>\u00a0\n\t\t\t\t\tHow to Increase Newsletter Engagement Rate<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

1. Reduce Page Load Times<\/h2>\n

Back in 2009, Google conducted a research<\/a> in which they analyzed users\u2019 reaction to slower search result pages<\/strong>. They found that when Google\u2019s search pages were slowed down by 100-400 milliseconds (less than half a second), the searches reduced by 0.2%-0.6%.<\/p>\n

This might sound like a small number, but it amounts to a loss of 14,400 searches per minute<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Google assumed that other sites dealt with similar rates \u2013 and they warned website owners against ignoring low speed<\/strong> for a considerable time so as to not further detach users.<\/p>\n

By 2016, the general intolerance towards slow websites<\/strong> has become even worse. With a plethora of options available to users, page loading time has turned into the most important KPI<\/abbr><\/strong> to measure conversion rates.<\/p>\n

If your website fails to load within 3 seconds, 40% of your users abandon it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Many other data sources prove the same. Amazon found<\/a> that for every one second delay, conversions dropped by 7%, which amounts to a loss of $1.6 billion.<\/p>\n

Walmart came to a similar conclusion \u2013 they measured 1% revenue increase for every 100ms of site speed improvement.<\/p>\n

\"Impact
Walmart\u2019s conversion rates with respect to page load time<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Apart from the poor UX, low page load time also limits the crawling ability of Google bots<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s John Mueller pointed out<\/a> in his reply to a user question at Webmaster Central Help Forum, that a delay of over 2 seconds in fetching a single URL limited the ability<\/strong> of spiders to display the page in Google search results<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

How to Make Your Pages Load Faster<\/h3>\n

Compress and optimize images<\/strong> especially on the home page, in slideshows and hero sections. Above-the-fold information must load as quickly as possible, but you can use lazy-load effects for other less important features such as carousel images.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tRead Also:<\/strong>\u00a0\n\t\t\t\t\t12 Plugins to Speed Up Your WordPress Website<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Find the right place for your tracking script<\/strong> according to the needs and the type of the script. Use a single tracking script<\/strong>, as multiple scripts for different analytics tools can considerably slow down your loading time<\/a>. Also don\u2019t forget to optimize dependencies<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Use Gzip encoding<\/a><\/strong> for data compression, as it considerably compresses the size of webpage and its elements.<\/p>\n

\"Effect
IMAGE: Radenko Zec\u2019s blog<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Consider loading background images using unconventional CSS methods<\/a><\/strong>. If you can avoid don\u2019t use inline CSS and JavaScript. It can also significantly improve performance if you use CDNs<\/abbr>, specialized fast network servers for static components<\/strong> such as Javascripts, CSS, forms and images.<\/p>\n

\"Site
Load times of different site components with and without CDN<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Optimize caching<\/strong> and minimize cookie size<\/strong> for better loading speed on subsequent visits. You can use Google PageSpeed Insights<\/a> to analyze the content of your website and generate suggestions.<\/p>\n

The Site Speed feature of Google Analytics<\/a> (Google Analytics > Behaviour > Site Speed<\/strong>) allows you to measure real-world load times instead of the lab results.<\/p>\n

2. Reduce Complexity of Your Design<\/h2>\n

Your website needs to be as simple as possible<\/strong>. When you try to stuff all the services of your trade onto a single page, it disastrously affects conversion rates<\/strong> \u2013 the most important KPI<\/abbr> of your business.<\/p>\n

GravityDept\u2019s case study<\/a> quantitatively explains the impact of a website redesign<\/strong> from a more complex to a simpler interface.<\/p>\n

Before:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Website<\/figure>\n

After:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Website<\/figure>\n

The changes were subtle but profound<\/strong>. Besides improvements on the backend, the new site got a responsive design<\/strong>, a multifaceted navigation<\/strong> with structured attributes such as color, fabric, and pattern, and high-quality images<\/strong> that helped achieve a cleaner look.<\/p>\n

The performance also improved<\/strong>, the uncached initial page load time became 63% smaller. As a result, the conversion rate significantly increased, and the revenue sharply grew.<\/p>\n

\"Interaction<\/figure>\n

How to Simplify Your Site Design<\/h3>\n

Your home page should only contain the most important things<\/strong> such as the logo, the headlines, and CTAs<\/abbr>. Make your services easily available with intuitive navigation using dropdown menus if necessary.<\/p>\n

According to the Baymard Institute\u2019s statistics<\/a> 68.63% of online customers abandon their cart due to various complications, so if you have an online store make checkout as simple as possible<\/strong> to reduce the drop off, and also use the guest checkout option<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Recommended Reading:<\/strong> How to Reduce Cart Abandonment Rates on your e-Commerce Site<\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t place ads on your home page.<\/strong> Websites embedded with ads look very unprofessional, and generate high bounce rates. Consider simplifying the registration and login processes by using social logins<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Make user feel better by making your forms smaller and simpler. Autofill forms<\/strong> based on past purchases and user history. Also ensure that error messages do not contain technical jargon<\/strong> as it deters many users.<\/p>\n

3. Have a Single Focus<\/h2>\n

What is the use of being jack of all trades but master of none? The goal of your website must be clear and exclusive<\/strong>. It must serve a unique and single purpose<\/strong> in the user\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Unrelated information on a single website makes it hard to trigger the interest of visitors. They get distracted<\/strong> from the original goal, hence your conversion rate suffers.<\/p>\n

How to Keep Your Site Focused<\/h3>\n

You need to clearly establish the goal<\/strong> of your website. Don\u2019t give users other actionable options apart from the single goal. It creates confusion and hesitation, and negatively affects your conversion rates.<\/p>\n

Use social media buttons carefully.<\/strong> Sometimes they are distracting<\/strong>. Perform A\/B testing to see if they increase CTR<\/abbr>, or the other way around.<\/p>\n

In case you have an e-Commerce store, display the availability of products with the help of SKUs<\/abbr> in order to take leverage of the urgency factor<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Multiple CTAs<\/abbr> can create confusion<\/strong> such as in the image below. The ensuing hesitation can result in lower conversions, so it\u2019s better to use only a single CTA<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Single<\/figure>\n

4. Get Rid of Dullness and Redundancy<\/h2>\n

The first<\/em> impression is commonly also the last<\/em> impression. The competition is fierce, as interesting information keeps flowing from all over the web. A study has proven that due to the wide usage of the internet, humans now have an attention span of 8 seconds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hence you need to grab users\u2019 attention in a very short period of time<\/strong>. If you fail to make an impact within the given time period, they will simply walk away from your product without a second thought.<\/p>\n

These days, a quirky headline<\/strong> is much more important than the content itself. To make a headline more appealing<\/strong> you can infuse it with the following features:<\/p>\n