This is a two-part article on CRO (conversion rate optimisation). In the last post, we talked about how conversion works and how important it is to your business. We also discussed how user behaviour affects conversion. In this post, we look at the benefits of CRO to your business. If you’re still on the fence about your conversion rate optimisation, then you should read this.
Benefits of CRO for Small Businesses
Now, if you’re a small business owner you’re probably wondering if CRO is of any use to you. If you run an eCommerce site, or your business has any online presence, then successful CRO can save you lots of stress and resources.
Below are some of the ways CRO can benefit your business.
It helps you understand your customer better
As a business, you probably have an ideal customer. However, the reality might be far from the buyer persona that you’ve developed. Tracking your conversion rate will help you understand who your real buyers are and their needs.
CRO makes it possible for you to get to know your customers quite well so that you are aware of what motivates them.
CRO results in a direct increase in sales
As a business, this is probably the main goal of every action you take. Your online presence serves one purpose, and that’s to increase sales. It might increase your brand visibility and perception, but the end goal is to lead to more sales.
CRO provides an efficient way to do this. Because you are delving into your buyer’s psyche, understanding his needs and motivation, you can tweak your site (and product) to meet those needs.
Also, A/B Testing, as well as the other CRO strategies, help to limit the time between when a visitor lands on your page and when they complete a sale. You already have the traffic, and with CRO, you should get more sales from that.
It helps you get better quality leads
Now, you’re no longer shooting blind when you buy advertising. It can be frustrating to pay for advertising, see the surge in traffic but very little conversion. CRO takes out the guesswork and gives you real data to work with so that you can get better quality leads. The direct result is a higher ROI on your advertising budget.
CRO puts you ahead of the competition
Generally, CRO makes your website friendlier for your visitors. Several studies have shown that though there are many reasons why buyers abandon their carts, having too many steps before a sale is completed is chief among them.CRO can help you optimize your checkout process to be more intuitive and user-friendly.
Simple data-based tweaks can do a lot for your user experience, putting you ahead of your competition.
Better brand perception
As you consistently carry out CRO on your website, your site becomes faster, more intuitive and looks legit. A site that does not look secure or legitimate is going to hurt your conversion rate. This is because online users are careful about how secure their details are. If they are not sure that your site is secure, they will not make that final purchase.
Another way CRO helps with brand perception is that when customers have a seamless experience on your site and are satisfied with the overall process, chances are they will spread the word. And, if they recommend your website to their network, it is going to result in more sales/subscriptions.
Finally…
CRO is an important cornerstone of your small business. It allows you to leverage existing traffic and make efficient use of future traffic as well. If you have a decent amount of traffic but they are not converting to sales (or whatever goal you prefer), then it is time to optimize your conversion rate.
