It is time to look at your website as any other physical store or office. A website does not exist merely to occupy the digital space. It must be bringing in business whether in real dollars, email signups or whatever you define as “conversions.” Your job is to boost your conversion optimization strategy with a combination of traditional marketing tactics and e-commerce trends.
Conversion rate optimization or CRO is a common term in e-commerce. It is a process of improving customer experience to drive a key performance indicator such as online sales or social media interactions. Take for instance a case study involving European cosmetics brand L’Axelle. The original headline in its homepage, which features its underarm sweat pads, displays the text “Feel fresh without sweat marks.” After changing the headline to the action-oriented “Put an end to sweat marks!” its conversion rate improved by a staggering 93%. With a few marketing tweaks, you can do wonders to your conversion rates.
Here are conversion rate optimization trends for 2019.
Catch attention with the right images
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Watching Don Draper, the fictional character of the award-winning US drama “Mad Men,” seems to make advertising easy. Catchy tags flow smoothly from storyboards to marketing channels. How we all wish that we have the creative genius of Don Draper and his team! But do not worry. There are ways to increase your e-commerce conversion rate without hiring an expensive ad agency.
Internet users have a short attention span. Very few read long articles; many are used to 140 to 280-character tweets. One of the most effective ways to catch their attention is through appealing photos. Are you targeting millennial entrepreneurs? Go for images that show strength and motivation. If you are selling retail products, use photos that will allow your audience to visualize themselves using your product. Instead of showing a photo of a dress, use an image of a model wearing the product. Remember to give the photos a realistic touch.
Use the power of testimonials
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With the Internet, people can easily compare and contrast products and services. Your competitors will surely showcase the best of their offering, but what will help yours stand out? Boost your conversion rate with customer reviews and testimonials. Job marketplace Wikijob placed testimonials, in the form of quotes, at the top of its page and saw a 34% increase in conversion rates. Media analytics company ComScore displayed customer testimonial next to the product description. Its number of leads rose by an impressive 69%.
Mobile-friendliness is the gate to the world
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As of January 2019, about 3.9 billion people access the Internet via their mobile phones. This is equivalent to more than half of the global population. No wonder mobile-friendliness is one of Google’s 200 ranking signals. The search engine giant started migrating sites that observe mobile-first indexing last year. “Mobile-first indexing means that we’ll use the mobile version of the page for indexing and ranking, to better help our—primarily mobile—users find what they’re looking for,” it noted.
Reach more people and boost your conversion rate by creating a mobile-friendly website. The mobile version of your website should have the same information as those in the desktop version. This includes text and media content. Speak to a web specialist to help you out.
Videos are in 2018. Explore image sliders
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Everyone is saying that the video is the future. In 2018, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that it is betting the future of its company on video. But there is something better for your retail conversion strategy: image sliders. A revolving carousel will allow you to showcase your products or services while saving space. It can also keep website visitors engaged as they tend to linger on the page while giving them control over the content. Mobile software provider Device Magic saw an increase in signups by 35% after using an image slider on its homepage.
A customer-centric optimization strategy
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While AI has revolutionized digital marketing, not everything can be quantified by algorithm. At the end of the day, it is about how you know your customers. “It’s important to design a research process that uncovers actionable insights through both qualitative and quantitative analysis, while not forgetting that we have to see beyond numbers and behavioral patterns,” said CRO specialist Robert Jones.
Understand their pains and gains, then identify their thought process. This will allow you to align all the information your visitors need. “This way, you can establish a better connection with them and, eventually, lead to them to convert,” advised digital marketing firm Propelrr. Always go for a customer-centric CRO strategy.
Mere presence in the Internet superhighway is not enough. Your website, as well as social media channels, is an extension of your shop, if it is not your major store. It should be able to bring in traffic, deliver your message, win new customers, and essentially, boost your bottom line. Speak with conversion rate experts today!
