How To Increase Conversions, Get Higher CR And Reduce Site Abandonment

Understanding the way visitors act on your site is crucial for a successful campaign. Low conversion rates, click-through rates, and a high percent of site (and especially cart) abandonment can hinder your business immensely. Affie is here in order to show you how to increase conversions, get higher CR, and reduce site abandonment.

Conversion Rate Optimization Tactics

Every advertiser‘s goal is to have high conversion rates. To get to that goal, you have to optimize your site to be as enticing to potential customers as possible and increase conversions. Users should enjoy using your site, and it is in your best interest for them to return and buy again. This is achieved through thorough optimization. At affie.com we believe there truly isn‘t an element of any website too small for improvement. You‘d be surprised by how big of a difference a small tweak can make.

Understanding your users

You need to understand your userbase to be able to convince them to buy from your site, which will increase conversions. Learn what drives people to your site and how they interact with it. Then emphasize your strengths and work on removing any hiccups that may hinder your business and lessen consumer enjoyment.

For this to be possible, you will have to do some research.

Do quantitative analysis to increase conversions

Quantitative analysis will show you user experience on your site through exact numbers. This phase of research includes getting a tracking system, such as Google Analytics, and observing interaction with your site over a period of time. It will enable you to see how users see your site, and also discover weaknesses that don’t let you increase conversions. Important things to look for include:

Point of entry

Where does a visitor enter your website? What page do they see? Is your service clear and advertisements placed well? What would your first impression be if this was the first thing you saw on an unknown website? These are all good questions to start on.

Behavior on the site

Another set of questions important for conversion rate optimization is in relation to the way the average session goes. What do users click, and which features go unnoticed? When and where do the visitors leave?

Statistics about the users

Every advertiser should know their target audience, and optimize their site to that audience. Your service, as amazing and life-changing as it is, isn‘t meant for everybody. Find out who is most likely to buy your product, and optimize for that ideal customer. Some metrics you should take into consideration are:

• Gender
• Age
• Location
• Device they use
• General interests

but you can add more criteria depending on your niche.

Do qualitative analysis to increase conversions

Now that you know who is buying your product, you should ask them why were they attracted to your site. There are no facts or exact numbers in this part of the research, but it is equally important as the first phase. Qualitative analysis is achieved through surveys and tests.

Survey to increase conversions

The easiest way to find out what is your strongest suit is asking the users why they decided to visit your site. This way you can discover your strengths with certainty, which is important for further development. It is best to conduct short surveys, that don‘t take a long time to fill. Your survey should focus on the aspects of your service that make you stand out from the competition. Additionally, keywords used to find your site and to describe your services are crucial for SEO optimization.

Test to increase conversions

A/B testing is one of the most important methods in conversion rate optimization. It allows you to compare how two versions of your site are doing. This type of testing is done through tools like visual website optimizer or optimizely, which will split web traffic to your site in half, and direct 50% of users to a current version (A) and a version with a certain change implemented (B). This way it will be clear which version does better, and you can choose if you want to implement the change permanently.

There are many variables you can change in A/B testing. Here are just some examples:

• Color of links and buttons
• Position of links and buttons
• Headlines
• Copy
• Calls to action (CTA)
• Themes and layouts
• Inclusion of videos

Whatever you may choose to change, don‘t go with your gut feeling. Secondly, don‘t do something because your competitors do it. Lastly, repeat A/B tests periodically to see if you‘re still on track

Understanding CTR and CR

Figuring out your metrics is very important. Here‘s a distinction between CR and CTR

CR stands for Conversion Rate, which is the number of completed conversions compared to site traffic. In this case, ”conversion” means a goal you want to achieve. So, if you are a seller, the main conversion means a visitor has purchased an item. You can calculate your conversion rate simply by dividing the number of conversions by the number of sessions for the same period of time.

CTR is a different metric, and it stands for Click-Through Rate. This parameter shows the number of clicks you got compared to the number of ads you are paying for.

Both CTR and CR are important for your campaign. CR shows you how successful the program is as a whole because it measures your final goal. On the other hand, CTR indicates the effectiveness of your ads. This is important because if you‘re in an AdSense program, Google will determine if and when your ad is shown on the base of your CTR. Basically, the higher your CTR is, the less you‘ll have to pay for advertisement.

CR and CTR can be connected, but they don‘t have to be. For example, you can have a relatively low CTR, but many people could still buy from your site. This can mean you‘ve found your target audience and your business is growing. On the other hand, low CTR accompanied by low CR means you need to change your advertising strategies. Shake things up! Write a new copy for your ads, or pay for their better position.

How can abandonment rates be reduced?

Imagine this: You come into a store, spend some time inside, fill your cart, and when it‘s time to go home – you leave your full cart in the middle of an aisle. This is not something anyone would do in real life, yet the problem of cart abandonment on the internet is rampant. It is estimated that 80% of internet shopping sprees end up with visitors abandoning the site without buying anything. However, there are some things you can do to reduce site abandonment and make the process of purchasing from your site as enjoyable as possible.

Shorten the shopping process to reduce site abandonment

Many potential customers are scared away by lengthy transaction forms and steps they need to take to buy something. Make transaction forms as short as possible, and ask only for truly necessary data. Also, if you make signing up obligatory to be able to make a purchase, you’re making users rethink buying from you. It is an unnecessary step and dwindles your chances.

Progress indicators

Adding a progress indicator for the shopping process can make all the difference. People like being able to tell when they‘ll be finished shopping. Additionally, if the number of steps needed for the final purchase is low, you‘re more likely to make a sale.

Be transparent about additional costs

Seeing the total rise just before that last step can have a sobering effect on people. If your customers are aware of shipping or any other additional cost from the start, they can plan accordingly and there‘s a smaller chance they‘ll bail at the last minute. A carefully curated cart that goes through the checkout still makes more than an impulsive buy left before completing the transaction.

An additional tip

Even if your visitors abandon your site, you can always retarget the items they have put in their cart to them.