Now What? How to Get Started Optimizing Your Site (Part 6 of 6)
In the world of digital marketing, conversion rate optimization is the great frontier, the new kid on the block. But it’s not just going to change how companies market online…it’s going to change business altogether: the way companies view and measure success, their company culture and philosophy.
If you aren’t doing CRO, you should be worried.
Chances are your competition is (or soon will be) and you’re falling behind. Don’t lose your edge.
Convinced you should add CRO at the center of your online strategy? Great!
Now that you understand that CRO is crucial to running a healthy business, it’s time to get started!
Where to Begin
First-timers can find CRO a little daunting, so focus on these 3 simple areas to get your tests underway:
1. Top pages with highest bounce rate: If your analytics show visitors leave certain pages within seconds of landing there, get those pages in triage, stat. Test different versions of your content or design elements to determine why people leave so quickly and what will persuade them to stick around. And make sure to include clear CTAs to draw them further down the funnel.
2. Top fallout points in your conversion funnel: Know where your missed opportunities are. Maybe your ad campaign brings people to your landing page, but the lackluster copy bores them to tears. Or maybe they don’t know where to sign up for your email list, so they navigate away in frustration. Plug these holes before your leaky conversion funnels sink the whole ship.
3. Top most valuable pages on your site: Your landing pages, product pages, and shopping cart should be among your top converters. These are the pages where visitors are making the decision to continue down the conversion path or not, so focus your optimization strategy around these pages and always test for ways to improve their performance.
Sign up for a CRO service such as Optimizely or Visual Website Optimizer (VWO). These services will get you started on testing and provide insight into your site’s strengths and weaknesses, and they’re intuitive enough to learn even without prior experience. If you do need help, we happen to be Optimizely Certified Partners.
It Takes Two (To Do CRO)
OK fine, it probably takes more like four or five, but you get the point. Two (or more) heads really are better than one when it comes to CRO.
Successful CRO strategies aren’t just about testing button colors — they go deep on user habits and experience. The best CRO teams leave their opinions at the door and humble themselves in the face of the data.
You might love the plum colored background on your landing page, but you probably don’t love the repellent effect it has on visitors.
You need a CRO expert on your team to tell you that your instinct is wrong and implement a test to reveal what will work better.
You can spend months trying to create your CRO strategy by yourself, but why would you? Unless you thrive on the tedious trial and error of fixing site breaks and figuring out which tests mean something and which are useless, find an expert who can help. CRO teams exist to help businesses work smarter, faster and release you to what you do best. And you know what the best part is? CRO has a direct and tangible ROI, so you can easily determine the benefit of doing it yourself vs having a professional do it for you.
The Metacake Way
At Metacake, we offer CRO clients expertise in all the relevant areas: design, development, branding, marketing. We take companies from ideation to market, from a brand concept to a fully realized and successful business. We also help running businesses grow significantly. We don’t just figure out whether a test succeeded or failed — we dig into why it did and what needs to change through deep user behavior analysis.
We have extensive experience working with brands large and small. Whatever service or product you offer, we’ll help get it in front of your audience. We’re a customer-focused company. That’s why we love CRO, because it allows us to give users exactly what they want, exactly how they want it.
CRO is written into Metacake’s DNA. By working with us, you get our customer-centric philosophy, which grows brands and increases your long term business.
A True Game Changer
CRO is a true game changer. Whether you work with us, work with another CRO partner, or take on the CRO challenge yourself, CRO will help you get ahead and stay ahead of your competition.
