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Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Mistakes You Might Be Making (And How to Fix Them)

conversion rate optimization (CRO)

Driving traffic to your website is important. But what is all that traffic doing once it gets there? Are you making sales? Getting people to take the action you want them to take? In short — are you converting?

Conversion rate optimization (CRO for short) is the process of increasing the number of visitors taking a specific action — whether it’s filling out a form, signing up for a free consultation, downloading an eBook or, yes, making a purchase.

There are plenty of ways to do CRO well, and there are plenty of ways to mess it up. If you’re trying (but failing) at the conversion rate optimization game, here are some common mistakes you may be making and how to fix them!

Problem: You Don’t Know Where Your Traffic Comes From

If you’re like many small businesses, you probably market in a number of ways, from various social media platforms to email marketing to direct mail. But when a visitor arrives on your website, do you know where they came from or why? Do you know which marketing initiatives are working, and which aren’t?

Solution: Consider creating separate landing pages for each marketing channel (like social or newsletters). This makes it simple to see where your traffic is originating and what they’re interested in — which means you’re performing CRO across the entire board, not just on your website!

Of course, you can also simply install tracking codes on your website pages and link it up with Google Analytics. Not only can you tell where your audience is coming from, but you can also see what readers do on your site once they get there.

Problem: You Change Too Much at Once

A/B tests are crucial to the success of any CRO campaign — but A/B tests only test … well, A and B. Doing a complete website overhaul and relying on simple testing to prove which changes were successful won’t give you reliable results. In fact, it can actually sabotage future testing efforts, since it can be difficult to keep track of what changed and what didn’t.

Solution: Perform A/B testing on one component at a time, and make sure you’re spacing your tests far enough apart to allow you to successfully interpret the results.

Problem: You End Tests Too Early

Stick with A/B testing — it’s important that you give the run the tests long enough to be provide effective data. But how long is “long enough?” Unfortunately, there’s no magic number. It all depends on the amount of traffic your site sees on a daily basis. So — what now?

Solution: This free calculator will give you the number of days your test needs to be live based on the number of visitors your currently get, your expected conversion rate improvement and other variables.

Problem: You’re Confusing Your Audience

If you click on an offer on Facebook for 25% off a vintage AC/DC tee, you expect to be directed to that specific tee — or, at the very least, the vintage tee section of the website. But if you’re dropped in the middle of a random clothing section, chances are good that you’re not going to sort through 300 pairs of pants and 1,800 hoodies to score the deal. Because they offered too many choices, the website lost a sale.

Solution: Again, landing pages save the day. Each “special offer” or promotion should have its own separate page, and it should make it easy for the customer to understand how to proceed.

CRO needs to be the SOP for your small business. Know how to avoid the more common mistakes, and you’ll be closing more deals in no time.

The biggest CRO mistake of all is giving up! The solution? Call Mischa Communications! We’ll walk you through the process and help ensure that your website is converting visitors into VIPs.