Metrics and Perspective – The Data You Need to Improve Conversion Rates

Going with What Works – Optimizing Your Web Design and Content

Conversion rate optimization tools can help you find the format that works best.

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is a process designed to maximize web sales, but it can also help websites maximize other types of traffic. It’s designed to ensure greater click-thru rates, but it doesn’t matter if that click goes to a product you’re selling or information you want users to know. It could be subscribing to your newsletter or signing up for regular emails to encourage customer engagement. Maybe it’s a new advertising campaign you want to promote. Whatever the web destination, CRO can help you get more clicks and reach your objectives.

Metrics and Perspective – The Data You Need to Improve Conversion Rates

A few important pieces of information will help you get the click-thru rates you want. Different tools are available to help you find this information. Let’s look at those data points and then help you discover the right tool for your needs.

• Current conversion rate – Your starting point, needed to measure success. Divide the number of visitors who click-thru by the number of visitors to your site.
• Bounce rate – Percentage of visitors who didn’t click through – who didn’t even stick around to find out more about it. They bounced right back out to another website.
• Exit rate – Percentage of visitors who visited your site, stuck around long enough to know what it was about, but didn’t left the site anyway.
• Time on Sight – Average time a user spends on your webpage. More time means more chances to convert.
• Average Page Views – Number of pages a visitor looked at during a visit.

These numbers will help you develop theories about why certain metrics are high or low. You can identify pages with high bounce rates and figure out why that is so by looking at it from a user’s perspective. Certain tools can make both data gathering and user perspective easier to obtain:

Optimization Software Tools

Google Analytics offers more than just traffic counts. You can also test different page layouts and types of content using Content Experiments. But many other tools can help as well.

Clicky is a tool similar to Google Analytics, but it also allows you to see heat maps of your pages to understand where the action is (or isn’t). CrazyEgg offers a similar tool. But the most insightful of them all is probably ClickTale. This tool lets you view videos of actual user sessions, offering intuitive information you can’t get through data gathering.

Optimizely has emerged as an affordable A/B testing tool for businesses of all sizes. A single line of code added to your site’s HTML lets you design, test and apply changes within Optimizely’s interface. Unbounce offers a similar service, but with a drag and drop feature that some users might find more appealing. E-commerce sites might prefer Qubit, a tool designed specifically for that type of platform.

Get expert help optimizing your web design with efelle.

These tools are certainly helpful for the DIY website owner, but web design has advanced greatly in the past few years. For help with advanced design and testing, look to the web design experts at efelle. Call 206-384-4909 or use our online contact form for a free consultation.