Conversion rate optimization is both one of the most important and most understood aspects of digital marketing. Website design is an integral part of CRO. Poorly maintained websites tend to have very low conversion rates. Prudent business owners will update their websites regularly to ensure they keep converting.
How much of an effect can updating your website have on your conversion rates?
You might be skeptical about the effect that a website update will have. Here are some facts that might change your mind.
The average website conversion rate is 2.35%. Of course, this means that the conversion rates for poorly designed websites are a bit lower. We haven’t found a lot of data on the conversion rates of low-tier websites. However, my own anecdotal experiences with client suggests that it is probably somewhere between 1% and 1.5%.
The conversion rates for the top 10% of websites is 11.45%. A website update could account for 30% of the necessary changes to get a poor converting website into the top 10%. This suggests that your website update could improve your conversion rate from 1% to 3.5%. In other words, it would improve your ROI by 250%.
Ways updating a website can help with CRO
You need to make updating your website a key priority you’re serious about CRO. Here are some reasons that website updates are vital to your conversion rate.
Updating your website to a semi-flat design is necessary to meet changing customer expectations
The Next Web has studied web design trends for years. They recently discussed the growing popularity of semi-flat website designs.
How could updating your website from a flat to a semi-flat design improve your conversion rates? There are a couple of explanations. The first is that users will simply have a better overall experience and a more positive impression of your site. However, there is an even more significant benefit of switching to a semi-flat design.
When you update to a semi-flat design, different elements of your page will stand out better. Users will have an easier time differentiating links and buttons from other parts of the page. This should make it easier for them to complete your call to action.
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You resolve compatibility issues with various plug-ins
Every CMS has different plug-ins. WordPress currently has over 50,000 different plug-ins.
The problem is that some plug-ins are outdated or cause compatibility issues with each other. This can create all kinds of problems. Malfunctioning WordPress plug-ins can cause your website to operate slowly or crash. You might also be depending on certain plug-ins to handle your conversion flow. If certain plug-ins fail, such as e-commerce plug-ins that Connect to payment gateways, then your conversion rates will crater.
You can prevent many of these problems by updating your website.
You can revamp horrific web designs
This article talked about the nuances of conversion rate optimization. The author points out that it is sometimes best to make small tweaks to a design and see how conversions improve. However, there are instances when it is necessary to basically rehabilitate the entire page. I have run into this issue with many clients that designed their own websites without a background in the field.
Some website designs are very poorly implemented. The problem could stem from an issue with the original design template. However, the root problem often lies with the CMS or underlying infrastructure.
Bugs or design quirks in the software behind your website could be causing serious design errors that are really hurting your conversion rates. You might be able to fix them by merely updating the site.
Updating your design could be the key to fixing your conversion rates
Conversion rate optimization is a delicate art and complex science. However, some major observations have been made over the years. One of the biggest ways that you can fix your conversion rate is by merely updating your website.
