The Beginner's Guide to Onsite Conversion Rate Optimization

With  so much investment being poured into ad spend to generate traffic, 2022 will be characterized by a renewed focus and more resources devoted to conversion rate optimization (CRO) to convert new and repeat users.

Not only does CRO decrease customer acquisition costs, it can provide powerful insight to aid in data-backed decisions , and improve SEO by supporting a user-friendly website experience.

The challenge is that as competition increases in eCommerce, and with the multitude of options that consumers have at their fingertips, the harder it becomes to quell the uncertainty a buyer may have in making the decision to complete a purchase.

Depending on a number of factors like industry, product, traffic source, and business type, conversion rates usually vary somewhere between 1% and 8%. Generally, the greater the commitment or "ask", the lower the conversion rate will be. So it's not too surprising that Retail will typically have a higher conversion rate than, say, Finance.

The CTA goal can also have an impact on conversion rates, as you can see in the charts below: 

                                (Source: Statista)                                                                               (Source: FirstPageSeen)

There’s many ways brands can optimize for conversion , both on-site and off-site: Through use of compelling website imagery, with retargeting ads, A/B testing and keyword-optimized landing pages. But with new conversion technologies being developed every year, marketers are finding these tools to be less of a strain on time and resources. This is where onsite conversion tactics like product recommendations, welcome messages, countdown timers, and exit intent pop ups can come into play.  Optimizing these tools for your website and for the individual buyer, however, is critical towards achieving higher conversion rates.

In this guide we’ll discuss how to best utilize onsite conversion technology specifically, by implementing the three basic foundations of CRO: Personalization, Design, and User Experience.

PERSONALIZATION:

94% of companies experienced a rise in conversion rates after personalizing their websites.

Ninety four percent! Personalizing website content is more important than ever as consumer expectations become more demanding. The best way to meet these expectations is by using data to target users with specific content or offers based on their interests or past behavior, with the goal of being as relevant and timely as possible.

Relevance is key to keeping customers engaged, especially at the critical points of the user journey, like abandonment of a browsing session or a transaction. By making your customers feel like you are talking to them directly, instead of just displaying a generic message, they are more likely to continue interacting with your site.

To do this, it is critical to segment and target your conversion tools based on the user’s specific interests and onsite behavior. Show your customers a personalized message, visual, or promotion best suited to get their attention, and persuade them to complete their transaction.

1. Segmentation

To show relevant content and features, segment your audience with criteria filters to target your customers. For example:

• Geolocation – Promote location-specific products and events. For customers located outside the U.S., you may want point out international shipping information, for instance.
• Onsite interest and behavior – Show additional products that a customer could be interested in based on the items they viewed, or the content of their cart.
• Cart value - Offer customers a promotion or incentive based on the value of their cart.
• Stage in the buying process – Show different messages and promotions based on where in the sales funnel your customers are (bottom, middle, or top). This approach allows you to help your customer better navigate their journey and provides a better user experience.
• New vs. repeat customers - Create specific promotions for first time buyers since less than 1% of shoppers convert on their first visit. Additionally, make an effort to build strong relationships between customer and brand by showing appreciation to repeat customers with loyalty rewards and special promotions.

Along with personalizing your messaging and promotions, you’ll also want to customize your creatives. Choose visuals that will resonate with your audience segments. For example, if your client buys soccer gear on your site, show them soccer-related themes and imagery.

Accenture found that 91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands who recognize, remember, and provide relevant recommendations and offerings. 

As the relationship between customer and brand develops, it's important to personalize the brand experience with dynamic elements as customers interact along their user journey.

• Customer information – Create more personal engagement by capturing customer information in real-time and using it in your messaging. Examples of dynamic content include client’s first name, their destination, the products they viewed, their location, etc.
• Best-selling products – Promote customer favorites, trending products, or complementary items to generate interest and increase your Average Order Value. You are not only showing them products they might have missed, but also creating desire for additional items.
• Browsing history – Provide a history of what your customers viewed on your site. After browsing multiple pages, it can be useful to remind customers of what pages and products they viewed so they can easily come back to them.
• Cart content – Remind customers of what they placed in their carts to prompt them to complete their purchase.
• Stock availability – 68% of millennials have purchased due to FOMO within a 24-hour window. Create a sense of urgency by letting customers know how many items are left for the products they are interested in.
• Off-site interactions: with Cybba’s Lynk, you can personalize onsite content based on the ads they’ve viewed or clicked through, providing an additional layer of personalization to the user’s experience and giving you an edge on the competition.
  
  

USER EXPERIENCE:

To get the performance you want of your website, you need an intuitive user experience. When your customer abandons while browsing or checking out, that is a key decision point of the user journey.

Here are a few tips on how to optimize conversion rates by focusing on a seamless UX:

1. Offer an Assistive Experience

The best performing websites use helpful and intelligent tools that assists customers to navigate your site and find what they are looking for.

Below are some assistive features you should consider using and are available with Cybba’s marketing technology solutions:

• Best-Selling Products – Show highly popular products to your abandoning customers to entice them to stay and buy.
• Browsing History – Track previously browsed products to remind customers what they looked at, and bring them back to complete an online purchase.
• Cart Display – Show your customers the content of their cart when they abandoned. A reminder of the products in the cart prompts shoppers to complete their purchase and recover lost revenues.
• Personalization – Promotional messages should be personalized based on your customer’s onsite behavior.
  
  

2. Enable Responsive Design for Mobile

With more than half of internet traffic expected to come from mobile devices in 2022, responsive design for a user-friendly mobile UX is critical.

Some “pop-up” solutions often appear oversized on mobile devices and are hard to interact with. Make sure the conversion tools set up on your site are responsive across devices.

3. Load Asynchronously

Conversion tactics like welcome messages, exit intent pop ups, and product recommendation modules should all load asynchronously after the website page has loaded so as not to disrupt the user’s experience or slow down the website.

4. Manage Frequency Capping

Conversion tools should be all about improving the customer experience. Make sure your solution limits the number of times it appears – firing too aggressively can be detrimental to the UX and cause you to lose the customer’s patronage. Instead of firing every time a user tries to leave your site, the solution should simply serve to meet the customer’s needs and assist them in their navigation.

DESIGN:

38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive.

In addition to offering a great customer experience, make sure your conversion tools also offers best-in-class design. One of the primary goals of conversion optimization is to grab a customer’s attention to complete an action, so compelling imagery and expert design will be a big part of doing this successfully.

1. Visuals

• Get Your Customer’s Attention

Use quality, professional visuals that will catch your customer’s eye and make your solution look professional.

• On Brand

Of course, make sure your visuals are on brand and match the surrounding aesthetic – your conversion tools should be natively integrated with the rest of your site.

• Video Assets

If you have branded video assets available, take a snippet and use this instead of a static image. A video will do a better job at getting your customer’s attention.

• Copy Design

Copy and images should also be created and optimized to work together. You do not want your copy to lack visibility because it is of a similar color. Also, make sure to use type and formatting that directs the customer’s attention on relevant and personalized messaging!

2. Call To Action

It’s important to use clear, strong, and appealing CTAs that will grab the attention of your abandoning customers, persuade them to interact with your content, and convince them to complete their transaction. Your CTAs need to be eye-catching, placed correctly, and look natural with your brand. For this make sure to consider all the different aspects below

• Color

The color of your CTA is key for your customers to notice it. Use a color that is part of your approved color palette, and that will stand out over the rest of the content.

• Shape

Even the shape of your CTA can impact the number of clicks you get. Make sure that it works with the rest of your visual, and that it looks like a button that customers should be clicking on.

• Placement

Keep the placement of your CTA central to your design, as it is the focus of your onsite campaign.

• Size

Make sure your CTA button is big enough and easily actionable, especially on mobile! Avoid having CTAs too close to each other so customers have clear points of engagement

• Action Verbs

Last but not least, when deciding on the copy for your CTA, make sure that your one goal is immediately apparent and that it directs the customer’s attention to your key message.

Using brief and emphatic messaging will get your point across most effectively. Pairing an action verb with an implied benefit is usually the best way to go. This will create a catchy action phrase like: “buy now” or “Find nearest store”

Of course, make sure that your text is in-line with your brand’s tone of voice, whether that’s casual or professional.

WRAPPING UP:

As consumers shift more of their shopping activity online and become more digitally savvy, businesses are finding that to stay ahead of the curve they should keep an eye on the latest trends and be prepared to adapt as needed.

Keep in mind that not all of these practices are going to work for your business. Like anything else in digital marketing, a CRO strategy needs to be supported with data – so make sure you conduct thorough research on your audience. Any customer insights you can glean from this research will help guide you towards what conversion tactics will work best for your business.