Conversion rate optimization, better known as CRO, is big in the world of digital commerce. This short guide will peel back some of the layers and offer a short exposition.
What Is Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) and Why Is It Important?
Conversion rate optimization (CRO), is the process of adjusting or eliminating barriers to conversion that exist on an eCommerce website.
It also entails the process of creating incentives to conversion that otherwise might not be there – barrier or otherwise.
Running an eCommerce website with a strong online presence that is optimized for conversions is of the utmost importance because it will ensure that you’re running a tight ship, one that is as profitable as possible.
Some businesses even choose to work with a full-service eCommerce digital agency to help manage the progress of their conversion rate optimization efforts. Here’s what they can do.
How an eCommerce Digital Agency Helps
Many eCommerce digital agencies that specialize in CRO can perform the following services:
● CRO audits to determine where there are opportunities for improvements, as well as which aspects of your website design or functionality serve as the biggest impediments to conversion.
● Digital agencies can perform market research and testing to help define the ICP, or ideal customer profile within your target audience, to whom you should be leveraging your messaging and other marketing efforts.
● They can make suggestions for hosting changes or migration to make sure your website is faster and more reliable, as well as minify the code/scrub for excess code, to make the website faster and more enjoyable to use.
● They can bolster site security to increase user confidence in the brand, raising the likelihood of converting.
● Improving website messaging and design to make it look more professional, authoritative, and credible, encouraging customers to convert.
● Enhancing website navigation to get customers in front of the products and services they intend to buy more quickly, increasing the odds of converting.
● Creating calls to action and urgency plays that spurn visitors to action.
● They can leverage user-generated content that helps foster a sense of trust and credibility on behalf of the brand, helping to attract and convert new users.
● Some eCommerce digital agencies also specialize in optimizing the checkout experience, where large cart abandonment rates often occur.
● Improve the copy on your website to persuade, influence, and ultimately convert.
● Since CRO is data-driven, they can run A/B tests to see which optimizations made are having the biggest impact.
The Benefits to Your Organization
The benefits of conversion rate optimization, especially for a website that is performing poorly, can be immense.
Investing in effective CRO techniques is like the secret lever to customer retention and converting new customers that otherwise might bounce and never be back. When implemented properly, CRO can boost engagement, conversions, and overall profitability. Pairing it with an SEO strategy through a marketing agency can also help bring in more qualified traffic.
Moreover, there’s another huge prong of CRO: ongoing improvements. Research, experimentation, and A/B testing are crucial to CRO, and help continuously improve the performance of websites that enlist them.
On Hiring an eCommerce Digital Agency to Develop a Custom Strategy
While working with an eCommerce digital agency will give you the advantage of utilizing the leverage of experience and industry expertise, it is not cheap.
Therefore you’ll want to do your research before hiring an agency. It can be a great investment but it can also be a money pit.
First, make sure that the agency you’re thinking about hiring specifically offers CRO services and has active clients. Ask to read case studies that specifically deal with these services.
Do additional research, too. Companies have a vested interest in sweet-talking you before you sign on. Check their social accounts and read reviews, both on and off their website. While the benefits of CRO should not be understated, it’s also wise to vet your partner closely.
If everything checks out and gives you a good feeling, get the ball rolling on a CRO digital marketing strategy for your business. You potentially have a lot to gain.
