Your next lead is online right now! Are they able to find your site? If so, will they be enticed by what they find to become your lead?
Put simply Conversions Rate Optimization (CRO) is making changes to the process of converting users on your site (or other web properties - social media) into leads with the intent of generating more leads. OK…, but what does that really mean? It means having/improving compelling content, easy to fill out forms, free/discount offerings, and anything else that would encourage website visitors to convert into leads.
You and your team worked hard to attract people to your site, don’t waste it with terrible content. When you review your content consider:
As users consume your content, they should be convinced that they need your services/products, and therefore be compelled to convert into a lead.
"15% of marketers measure the success of their content programs by how many leads they generate."
(HubSpot, 2020) (Source: https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics)
Google Analytics defines a user as a person who interacts with an app or site (https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9355670?hl=en). In other words, anyone and everyone that visits your website (or app.) On the other hand, a lead is defined by Hubspot as a contact who has converted on your website or through some other interaction with your organization beyond a subscription sign up (https://knowledge.hubspot.com/contacts/use-lifecycle-stages). To further simplify, a lead is someone that you have their contact info and has shown interest in your product/service beyond just getting your blog. So how does someone go from being a user to becoming a lead?
The simplest method of converting a user into a lead is via a form submission. The reasoning for the form submission could vary from asking a question, starting a conversation (contact us), accessing more information (whitepaper or case study), or signing up for a free trial. While these reasons will show different degrees of readiness to purchase, they would all generate valid leads
While a lead and a conversion are not always the same thing, for the sake of this blog consider the terms interchangeable. With that said, your website’s conversion rate is equal to your total conversions divided by the total opportunities for a conversion. Or, your website leads divided by your website users. So, if you generated 1 new lead from 100 users your conversion rate would be 1% (or 1/100.) Like any percentage or ratio, there are two methods of increasing (optimizing) it. First, decrease the denominator - in this case traffic to your website, or second, increase the numerator - in this case your conversions or leads. If you really want to do Conversion Rate Optimization, then why not do both methods simultaneously.
While less traffic seems counterintuitive to your business growth, it is important to remember that quality is better than quantity when it comes to traffic. If your goal is to generate more conversions, then you are going to want to know what encourages your target audience to convert without having your data bloated with traffic from individuals outside your audience. In addition, think of the time, energy and money spent/wasted on acquiring traffic with a low chance of becoming a lead (being valuable to your company.) Stop wasting your valuable resource on unwanted So more (traffic) is not always better.
"Only 17% of marketers use landing page A/B tests to improve conversion rates."
(HubSpot, 2020) (Source: https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics)
While more targeted traffic is coming to your site, it is the perfect time to uncover why some visitors to convert into leads, and what could encourage more to convert. Changes to your site, content, offering and more can all be tested. However, don’t forget that everything works together. The Ad copy, email campaign, social posts, or anything else that attracts users to your site sets the expectations. Then your site needs to follow through by meeting (and hopefully exceeding) those expectations. As data is being collected, remember to pause the lower performing tested elements, and continue to improve/optimize your Conversion Rate.