When you launched your website, you had big dreams and ideas. Presumably, you didn’t get a website just for the sake of having one. You wanted to use it to persuade visitors to take some kind of action. The percentage of visitors who took that action represents your website conversion rate and it’s much more than just another number. It tells you whether you were successful in achieving the goal you set out to reach.
Once you have a baseline website conversion rate figure, you can work to improve it. But before we explore ways in which you can do this, let’s take a closer look at the metric itself.
How to Calculate a Website Conversion Rate
The formula for calculating website conversion is very simple indeed. If your website had a thousand visitors, and fifty of them went on to take the action you wanted them to take, you can use straightforward maths to work out the percentage of visitors who converted.
50/1000 x 100 = 5
So, in our example, the website had a five percent conversion rate. Is that good or bad? Actually, it’s pretty good. The average website conversion rate is between two and five percent. But who wants to be average? Presumably, not you!
However, this is a very simplified example. Making a purchase or paying to subscribe to a service are big steps. Most people will think things through before taking the plunge. As a result, you may have offered an intermediate step, a micro-conversion. You might persuade them to sign up for a newsletter, for example, or you could offer a free download in exchange for their contact details.
In this instance, your conversion rate includes two metrics. One for macro-conversions from users who made a purchase, and one for micro-conversions from users who are interested enough to interact, but aren’t ready to buy just yet. Play your cards right, and a percentage of these people will move through the sales funnel to full conversion.
Analysing Your Website Conversion Rate Helps You to Understand Your Customers
Why don’t more people convert? It could be that you’re targeting the wrong market segment, or your messaging or information can be improved. What you think our customers want and what really makes them tick may be two different things.
Even when you’re using the right hooks, you may be failing on the follow-through. If you’re getting visitors who are showing some intent to purchase, but you aren’t getting the conversions, you may be failing to address doubts that stand in the way of a purchasing decision.
How to Improve Website Conversion Rates
You’ve probably already picked up a couple of tips from what’s been said so far. For example, you can allow for micro conversions and then develop a strategy targeting the leads you’ve generated. Or, perhaps you’ve already identified the possibility of fine-tuning your messaging to remove obstacles to conversion. But there’s more.
Consider UX in Relation to Your Website’s Design
UX stands for “User Experience” and it’s one of the most often-overlooked reasons why website users fail to convert. The basic website design principle that lies behind it is easy to grasp. Your aim is to make it easy, and even pleasant, for users to convert.
Have you ever visited a website with high hopes only to become frustrated because you couldn’t find what you were looking for, it took a long time to find, or because you found it but can’t figure out what to do next? Perhaps everything went smoothly right up until the moment of truth when you tried to make the purchase.
Your website should be strategically designed to optimise the user experience from the moment visitors arrive until the moment they leave. Each page on your website has a purpose and should be designed to fulfil it from a user’s perspective.
It begins with knowing what sparked visitors’ interest and how they found your website. Next, you need to know what they do once they arrive there and at what point they leave. What pages do they spend the most time on? Are there specific areas where they leave instead of following through with the next step? Use this information to find out what works for your users (and for you), and what doesn’t.
Know What You’re Up Against
If you aren’t watching your competitors, you can’t beat them. If their websites are leaving yours looking clunky or unattractive by comparison, you need to up your game.
Consider the products they offer when compared to yours too. If yours are better, you need to be able to make that clear. Are you making the most of your competitive edge? Without competitor analysis, you’ll never know.
Understand and Analyse Your Website’s Conversion Funnel
Your website should be purposefully leading users through a series of steps that lead to conversion. If it isn’t, you’ve just spotted one of the problems it may have! If you already have a strategy, it’s time to assess how well it works, and what you can change so that more users will move closer to conversion after completing each step.
Your “funnel” is funnel-shaped for a reason. At each step, you’ll lose some prospects, and knowing the reasons why this happens can help you to combat them. The fewer people you lose as they move through the funnel, the more conversions you’ll ultimately get. Small percentages can translate into big gains, so it’s worth working on.
Include Social Proof
Whether it’s reviews or case studies, showing your visitors examples of happy customers encourages them to get their slice of the pie. For some businesses, this can be a decisive factor. Up to 58 percent of users who examine a case study or read reviews will convert. Build trust by being trustworthy, and keep it genuine.
Designing Websites That Convert
There are plenty of website designers out there, but only a few of them know how to design websites that convert. Yellowball does just that, and that’s why so many leading companies have entrusted us with their website design. We get to know you and your business inside-out. We work to understand your customers, and we help you to succeed by beating your competitors.
For many of your customers, your website is their first opportunity to interact with your business. Choose Yellowball to make that interaction count.
