For the majority of business owners and website operators, there is one major goal: a maximum number of visitors every month. This desire is understandable, but not fully thought through. After all, what’s the point of so many website visitors if no one converts? This article focuses on increasing and optimising conversion rates. The focus here is on User Experience: what can we do to ensure as many people as possible take the steps we expect them to on our website?
What is a Conversion Rate?
In online marketing, a "conversion" refers to a measurable transformation, meaning the change of a visitor into a potential customer. The visitor has therefore performed the action intended by the website operator. These can be many different things, such as filling out a form, signing up for a newsletter, or making a purchase in an online shop. The conversion rate describes the ratio between website visitors and the number of interactions defined as conversions. For instance, if 10 out of 1,000 total website visitors sign up for the newsletter, the conversion rate is 1 percent.
Is a high Conversion Rate good?
The short answer: yes, it is. A high conversion rate is a very good starting point for achieving stated business goals through online marketing measures. But a high conversion rate isn't everything. It is the beginning of a comprehensive customer journey that needs to be designed as effectively as possible.
However, what constitutes a good conversion rate cannot be easily defined. It depends on many, sometimes very individual, factors. The central lever for high conversion rates is the right target audience. People who are not interested in the offer will not convert. The quality of the offer also plays a central role on the path to a qualified lead. Furthermore, the usability of your website can be a decisive factor, as can the industry, your brand awareness, competition, and search engine ranking.
Do you want specific figures? We understand. There are countless statistics on conversion rates on Google; here's an initial impression: the conversion rate of banners is among the lowest, at under one percent, Google Ads average about 3.5 percent, and for dating sites, one can be pleased with a conversion rate of just under ten percent. In your initial optimisation attempts, try to set a first approximation as a benchmark. You will quickly realise whether this suits you and your business.
Why is optimising the Conversion Rate so important?
Getting the most out of painstakingly generated traffic, that is the goal of Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO). This way, we achieve more orders, prospects, and revenue. However, optimising the conversion rate is not always easy. Increasing online competition and sensory overload on traffic channels make it increasingly difficult to boost the conversion of visitors into prospects and buyers. Therefore, online marketing must no longer be solely about increasing traffic, but about improving conversion. But how can a successful CRO strategy be set up? Which levers can we operate?
What influences the Conversion Rate?
There are many factors that influence the conversion rate. Due to this large number, not all can be listed and described, but two fundamental types can be distinguished:
- short-term, controllable
- long-term, uncontrollable
While short-term influencing factors can be controlled through repeated testing and adjustment, long-term factors are difficult or impossible to control.
Among many others, these short-term factors include:
- Traffic channels
- Products & offers
- Content (diversity and adaptation to the customer journey)
- Website security
- Usability process
The list of potential influencing factors is long. Therefore, one should not haphazardly try things, swap elements, and test without a plan. It is important to look closely at a few key points at the beginning, formulate specific hypotheses, and then verify or falsify them. Meaningful and clearly defined hypotheses are the basis for successful CRO. What about the long-term factors? These are usually socio-political developments over which we, as a company, have almost no influence: changes in legislation, armed conflicts, or even societal trends can affect the performance of our conversion rate – positively or negatively. Seasonal fluctuations, such as bookings for ski holidays or sunscreen, hold a special position. This is nothing unusual but should be considered in a CRO strategy.
Methods for Conversion Rate Optimisation
Many factors necessitate many methods and approaches for CRO. Before we get to those from the field of User Experience, here's a quick reminder of which methods for CR optimisation always work:
- Generate more and better traffic
- Combine Calls to Action with suitable lead magnets
- Optimise mobile view and loading speed
- Publish better, i.e., target group optimised, content
- Refine the customer journey
- Adapt keywords
- Simplify and "declutter" the website
- Text as a UX factor in conversion optimisation
In User Experience, meaning the user's experience, text plays an important role. Unlike usability, which primarily focuses on a clear structure and smooth processes on the website, UX design aims to evoke the best possible feeling in the visitor. The right words, descriptions, and terms put the visitor in the right mood, sparking imagination and emotions. It is therefore very important to know your target audience and to understand which keywords are actually used and whether you are hitting the right tone for the buyer persona.
It can be something as trivial as the difference between "Erdäpfel" and "Kartoffel" (two German words for potato) that encourages visitors to click. Do you know where your visitors come from? Then adapt to their language.
Colours in CRO
Colours are among the most important tools when it comes to putting people in the right mood. Different colours evoke different emotions and can draw users' attention. The colour palettes we choose are more than just visual decoration; they can have game-changing effects on the conversion rate. A CTA button, for example, consists of four important factors: placement, shape, text, and colour. When these four aspects are harmonised, you have a great effect. The colour of the button is one of the longest-running debates in CRO. Numerous A/B test results show that changing the colour of a CTA button has a massive impact on the number of conversions.
Would you like to try something colour-wise? Then check out Adobe Color Reel or coolors. Typography, images, and video for better conversions. As mentioned, it's about creating a fitting mood that engages the user where they are. This applies not only to language but also to visual impressions on the website. The choice of typography (font type, font size), the imagery used, and the presentation of videos can significantly contribute to the acceptance of the offer. The goal is to get our target audience into a "buying mood," meaning to create a feel-good atmosphere.
What exactly our target audience wants to see can only be discovered step by step. The better we know our buyer persona, their preferences and habits – e.g., whether this person prefers to read or watch videos – the easier CRO will be for us.
Adjusting CTA buttons for Conversion Rate
Once we have guided our website visitors to the call to action with the right texts and images, this very button should also catch the eye. The size, placement, and colour of the CTA button should always stand out prominently. To increase the conversion rate, you can also place the button stickily, meaning it scrolls with the user at all times and remains in view. If we are to believe Google, the ideal place for CTAs is just above the "above the fold" line, and the ideal shape is vertical.
The position of the CTA button is also important. There are places where our call to click simply performs better than others. Grow & Convert have compiled an exciting table here – with reference to personal experiences with newsletter sign-ups:
- CR in the sidebar: 0.5 – 1.5%
- CR at the end of the post: 0.5 – 1.5%
- CR with pop-ups: 1 – 8%
- CR with sliders and bars: 1 – 5%
- CR with a full-screen welcome opt-in: 10 – 25%
- CR from highlight boxes: 3 – 9%
- Navigation bar: variable
Experimenting with CTA buttons is one of the first and simplest steps to change the conversion rate. It's important not to change too much at once, as this makes it unclear what actually caused the change in CR.
Forms in the CRO process
Forms are an important part of the customer journey, a point where it becomes very clear whether we have done our work well up to that stage. If the user has followed us to the form and is willing to fill it out, then we have been able to build sufficient trust. If users abandon the form, we know that we need to focus our optimisation efforts here. Generally, the fewer input fields, the higher the conversion rate. Therefore, it is worthwhile in the first step to only ask for the truly necessary fields – everything else can wait.
Conversion Rate: Conclusion
Optimising conversion rates is an iterative process; there is always something that can be tried and improved. Furthermore, our target audience's preferences also change with current trends – a real "end" to optimisation is therefore rather unlikely. Even though the topic is vast and optimisation possibilities are almost endless, it is worthwhile approaching the process strategically and thoughtfully. Supported by tangible user data (see also our article on Golden Record), the right levers for CRO can be found quickly.
