What Is Conversion Optimization?
At SeoTuners, we understand that the ultimate goal of business is to achieve positive performance of the bottom line. Website conversions have a direct affect on that, which is why it’s so imperative to properly identify conversion points, including sales and leads. Conversions can also be defined as less-immediate brand wins including sign-ups to a mailing list, catalog or newsletter, and steps along a purchase-oriented conversion path that may lead to brand loyalty, recommendations to friends and future sales. A company’s website is the primary tool for creating that opportunity and it should be engineered in such a manner as to easily allow conversions to take place. These site conversion factors can range from high-level site architecture to details as small as the color of a call-to-action button. Through the use of tools such as Google Analytics and targeted market research, we can improve a site’s ability to turn browsers into buyers.
Our Approach
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the process of increasing website leads and sales without unnecessarily spending money on attracting more visitors by reducing your visitor “bounce rate”. A conversion rate is defined as the percentage of visitors who complete a goal, like filling out a form, as set by the site owner. Some test methods, such as split testing or A/B testing, enable one to monitor which headlines, images and content help one convert more visitors into customers.
There are several approaches to conversion optimization with two main schools of thought prevailing in the last few years. The first methodology is more focused on testing as an approach to discover the best way to increase conversion rates for a website, campaign or a landing page. The second school of thought is focused more on the pretesting stage of the optimization process. In this second approach, the optimization company will invest a considerable amount of time understanding the audience and then creating a targeted message that appeals to that particular audience. Only then would it be willing to deploy testing mechanisms to increase conversion rates. At SeoTuners, we combine these prevailing methodologies into a singular approach defined by market research to save time and money while achieving maximum results.
Optimization goals
We begin the process by taking a look at the existing sales funnel of the company via the website. In order to improve conversions, we need to understand how the current process attempts to achieve the stated goal. After our team of experts has had an opportunity to review the existing process, we’ll schedule a call to discuss with you several items, not the least of which being your target audience, data from your Google Analytics and your direct competitors in the marketplace. Understanding your goals and how you currently pursue them will be integral to the optimization process.
Data Collection and Processing
The official definition of optimization is the discipline of applying advanced analytical methods to make better decisions. Under this framework, business goals are explicitly defined and then decisions are calibrated to optimize those goals. By employing our usability testing platform, we’ll create a customized study to solicit the information necessary to help you make informed decisions that will get your target audience to respond the way you want them to.
After creating the questionnaire, we’ll put together a focus group comprised of your target audience. Prior to conducting the survey, we’ll “test the test” to make sure the questions are formulated in such a way as to solicit the right information. After the questionnaire is refined, we’ll send it out for the final testing.
Once the data has been collected, we’ll create a report detailing our findings and we’ll even provide video clips of some of the participants in action so you can hear straight from the people who performed the analysis to provide context to our recommendations. Crowd sourcing this information prior to our team of experts applying their analysis is crucial as the target audience has an unbiased approach that delivers unfiltered responses. These subtle yet profound comments can make the difference between an average optimization and an extraordinary one. At SeoTuners, we don’t believe in pulling punches when it comes to optimization, so you’ll get the good, the bad and the ugly as we deliver our conclusions. Some of the recommendations can include dropping irrelevant or redundant content, changing submission form fields and adding product reviews as appropriate.