7 Proven Strategies to Boost Website Conversion Rates 2024

Welcome to Your Guide on Improving Website Conversion Rates

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If you're here, you likely understand the importance of improving your website's conversion rate and its impact on business growth. You may have also heard about Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO).

But what exactly is CRO? Simply put, it's the process of increasing the percentage of visitors to your website who take a desired action—whether that’s signing up for a newsletter, making a purchase, or filling out a contact form. CRO involves testing different tactics to convert more visitors into customers.

This guide is designed for website owners, marketing professionals, and entrepreneurs to get up to speed with CRO. Whether you're seeing plenty of traffic but few sales on your e-commerce site, or you're attracting visitors through ads but failing to secure conversions, you'll find essential insights here.

We’ll share actionable strategies and data-backed insights to help you understand and implement effective CRO tactics. Our goal is to provide clear, easy-to-understand explanations along with practical steps you can take to start improving your conversion rates today.

Let’s dive in.

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Here's an overview of what we are going to cover:

1. The Need for Speed: How Website Performance Affects Conversions
2. Make Your Value Crystal Clear
3. Embrace A/B Testing
4. Optimising Your Sales Funnel
5. Write Like You Talk
6. Address Objections Proactively
7. Building Trust

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🔗 By the way, I'll be updating this blog post every week, adding new strategies to increase your conversions. So bookmark this tab and be sure to come back later for more effective strategies.

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1. The Need for Speed: How Website Performance Affects Conversions

You’ve probably heard this before and may be thinking of skipping forward to the ‘sexy’ stuff but I would urge you not to. Website speed is a critical factor in online success. It directly influences user experience, your search engine rankings, and your conversion rates, so getting this foundation right is essential.

A study by Google found that for every second delay on mobile, conversions can fall by up to 20%. 

Considering most websites take between 5-8 seconds to load, if this sounds like your site, it could be significantly harming your conversions.

The shift to a mobile-first world also means page speed plays an even bigger role. Why? Because mobile users are often on the go and have less tolerance for slow-loading pages.

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‍Need more convincing?

Walmart discovered that for every one-second improvement in page load time, conversions increased by 2%. While that might not seem like much, even small increases in conversion can have a huge impact on your revenue. Let’s say you run an e-commerce site that does €5 million in sales per year. A 2% increase in conversion rate translates to an additional €100,000 in revenue.

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💡 The bottom line is: If your website is slow, people won't stick around, so optimising speed is a critical first step.

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How To Measure Your Website Speed

The most common tool to use is Google PageSpeed Insights. You simply enter your website URL, and it will analyse your site and give you a score out of 100.

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Interpreting Speed Scores

Understanding what constitutes a good vs. bad speed score helps in prioritising efforts for improvement:

• 90-100 (Fast): Your website is well-optimised, offering excellent user experiences.
• 50-89 (Average): There’s room for improvement, but your site is performing reasonably well.
• Below 50 (Slow): You have significant issues that could be negatively impacting user experience and conversions.

These scores are based on various factors, including how quickly the first contentful paint (FCP) occurs and how long it takes for a page to become interactive.

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8 Simple Steps to Improve Website Speed

Here are actionable steps that anyone can manage to enhance their site's performance:

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1. Optimise Images: Compress your images to significantly reduce load times. Tools like TinyPNG make this easy.
2. Keep Content Minimal: Every element on your page sends an HTTP request. Keeping your page clean and simple will not only speed it up, but improve the overall user experience.
3. Use tool scripts sparingly: Popular tools like Intercom significantly increase a website's data size, which can detrimentally affect the site's overall performance.
4. Remove Unused Plugins: Plugins can not only delay the loading time but also result in frequent crashes and security issues.
5. Limit Fancy Animations: While animations can make your site look dynamic, they can also slow it down. Keep these minimal.
6. Choose a Reliable Web Host: The foundation of your page speed is your hosting provider. Hostinger, SiteGround and NameCheap are all highly rated for their speed performance.
7. Minify HTML, CSS, and JavaScript: If you are using Webflow, you can easily check these options before publishing.
8. Use lazy loading: Implement lazy loading so that only the content visible to the user loads initially. Other content loads as needed, which speeds up the initial page load.

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Starting with these steps should put you on the right track to significantly boost your conversion rates.

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Why Speed Matters Beyond Conversions

Fast-loading websites not only hold potential customers' attention but also rank better on search engines, enhancing visibility and further boosting the chances of conversion. A fast website also gives a sense of reliability and competence, qualities that users value in digital transactions.

Speed Is Integral to User Experience

Improving your website's speed is not just a technical challenge; it's a critical business opportunity. Fast loading times lead to happier users, lower bounce rates, and higher engagement and conversion rates. Start with simple optimisations and consider more in-depth technical improvements if necessary.

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2. Make Your Value Crystal Clear

A value proposition is a clear statement that explains how your product or service solves a customer’s problem or improves their situation. It explains the benefit it delivers, and tells the customer why they should buy from you and not from your competitor. 

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Take Evernote (a note-taking app) ,as an example. Their value proposition is:

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“Tame Your Work, Organize Your Life” 

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Why is this good? It clearly communicates a promise to help users optimise their work and personal lives.

💡 Notice that they aren’t talking about taking notes. They understand that for the user, notes are just a tool to get more control on their lives so they focus on the core benefits.

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What to avoid when writing your value proposition

The most common mistake when it comes to value propositions is focusing too much on the features of the product or service rather than the benefits it offers to the customer. Make it about your customer, not about you.

Many businesses struggle with their value propositions by being vague, overcomplicated, or failing to differentiate from competitors. Another pitfall is using jargon, buzzwords or technical language that makes it difficult to understand.

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Characteristics of a Good Value Proposition

A strong value proposition is clear, specific, and relevant.

• Clear: It communicates your value clearly and concisely.‍
• Specific: It highlights the specific problems you solve for your customers.‍
• Relevant: It’s tailored to your target audience and their needs. It should address their pain points, desires, or aspirations.

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5 Steps For Crafting the Perfect Value Proposition for Your Business

1. Know Your Audience: Understand their needs, pain points, and language.
2. Identify Customer Benefits: List how your product or service improves the customer's situation.
3. Use Clear Language: Make it straightforward and jargon-free.
4. Analyse Your Competitors: Find your unique angle.
5. Test and Refine: Use A/B testing to find the most effective.

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You can also use  the Steve Blank method to help you get started: 

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"We help [target customer] (X) do [desired outcome] (Y) by [solution] (Z)."

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By following this formula you'll connect the target market and their pain points to your solution.

With a well-crafted value proposition, you're not just selling a product or service; you're offering a solution that stands out in a crowded market, thereby significantly improving your website's conversion rate.

Get this right and you can increase your conversion rates by over 80% according to a recent Marketing Experiments study.

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3. Embrace A/B Testing

A/B testing is a method where two variations of something are tested to determine which one performs better in terms of conversion rate. 

We are so used to testing when it comes to performance marketing but its arguably more important to do to your website.

It offers concrete evidence on what actually works to improve conversions, moving you closer to your goals. Rather than relying on guesswork or intuition, A/B testing allows you to make data-driven decisions, leading to better experiences for your customers, and more sales and revenue.

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The Benefits of A/B Testing

• Increased Engagement: Identify content that maximises user interaction and time spent on site.
• Lowers Bounce Rates: Keep visitors on your site longer, which in turn can help your SEO.
• Increases Conversions: Identify and implement strategies that increase purchases or sign-ups.
• Enhanced Customer Insights: Gain a better understanding of your customer.

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How to Decide What to A/B Test

One of the biggest mistakes people make when optimising websites is what Conversion Rate Experts call “meek tweaking”. 

They set up A/B testing software, then they make random changes, like changing a headline or button colour. While this may give you small improvements over a long period of time, it will not give you the results you desire. 

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Start by diagnosing potential problem areas. Look at your website analytics and use the data to identify issues that need to be fixed.

• Are users bouncing quickly from your homepage?
• Do your product pages generate fewer views than expected?
• Is there a point in your sign-up process where people are dropping off?
• Does your payment screen have a high abandonment rate?

Perfect. Start here.

These insights are your starting points. Focusing on problems like these will have the biggest impact on your success metrics.

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How To Decide What To Test First

Now that you have a list of problems to fix, you need to come up with a list of experiment ideas (hypothesis) to test. To help you do this, we have designed the following framework. 

Conversion Rate Optimisation Experiments Framework | Conversion Haus

Click the link and you can make a free copy for yourself.

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This framework allows you to organise and rank all your ideas.

Each hypothesis is evaluated on these four points and given a score between 1-5:

• Velocity: How fast can the test be run and reach statistical significance?
• Impact: How much will the test affect key growth metrics?
• Confidence: How much confidence do we place in the test working?
• Ease: How much effort/resources/time will the test take to build and run successfully?

Hypothesis with a higher score should be prioritised. Using this framework will allow you to identify and focus on experiments with the most potential.

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What to Avoid When A/B Testing

• Testing Too Many Elements at Once: This can make it difficult to determine which change impacted the conversion rates.
• Short Testing Periods: Not allowing enough time for a test to gather significant data can lead to inaccurate conclusions.
• Ignoring Statistical Significance: Make decisions based on statistically significant results to ensure that the observed changes are not due to random chance.
• Neglecting Small Wins: Even minor improvements can lead to significant gains over time, so it’s important to recognise the value of small increases in conversion rates.

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Tools you can use for A/B Testing

• Optimizely: extensive A/B testing features, best-suited for larger enterprises with more complex testing needs.
• VWO: Provides a suite of A/B testing and conversion optimisation tools that cater to businesses of all sizes - Free up to 50K users per month.
• Verify.io: A beginner friendly tool with a visual editor that allows you to do unlimited experiments with unlimited traffic - €99 per month.
• Unbounce: Specialises in testing landing pages and also offers tools for creating them - $112 per month for their experiment plan
• Google Optimise: You may have heard of this free tool offered by Google but it’s been discontinued.

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A/B testing is a cornerstone of CRO because it takes the guesswork out of website optimisation. By methodically testing changes to your website, you can incrementally improve user experiences and conversion rates. 

Successful A/B testing is about continuous learning and iteration. Start with clear hypotheses, conduct regular experiments, and use the insights gained to inform your strategies.

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4. Optimise Your Sales Funnel: Build Relationships Before Making the Sale

Timing is crucial when it comes to converting prospects into customers, especially for products that require a significant investment or have a complex value proposition. 

Asking for a commitment prematurely can deter them, particularly if they are in the early stages of their buying journey and are "just browsing."

Take Salesforce as an example. Salesforce offers complex Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. Because purchasing CRM software is a major decision for any business, Salesforce uses a multi-step engagement strategy to gradually lead prospects to a purchase.

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Here’s how Salesforce effectively builds its sales funnel to develop relationships and guide potential customers:

• Provide Value First: Salesforce offers extensive educational materials such as webinars, white papers, and guides on CRM best practices.
• Incentivise Email Sign-Ups: Prospects are encouraged to sign up for emails to receive further specialised content, updates, and insights.
• Engage Through Drip Content: Email subscribers receive customised content that meets their specific business needs and guides them through the funnel stages.
• Introduce Soft Touch Conversions: Before asking for a major commitment, Salesforce offers softer conversion options like signing up for a free trial or watching demo videos. These lower-commitment actions allow prospects to experience the value of the product without a full commitment, easing them further into the sales cycle.
• Make Your Ask: After providing significant value and building trust, Salesforce then guides potential customers towards more commitment-heavy actions, like scheduling a consultation or making a purchase.

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The Rule of Seven Touches

The old marketing rule of seven contacts before they are ready to buy is particularly relevant in B2B contexts like Salesforce's. You may need much less depending on your business, but the core idea is true.

Sometimes you need to slow down to speed up conversions.

Each interaction, from downloading a PDF to attending a webinar, builds trust and familiarity, which are crucial for making a high-stakes purchase decision.

By taking the time to build a relationship and gradually guide prospects through the sales funnel, Salesforce maximises its conversion rates. This approach of offering value and results long before asking for the sale ensures that by the time the sales pitch is made, the prospect is well-informed, engaged, and much more likely to convert.

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5. Write Like You Talk

The clarity of your website's content can make a significant difference in its effectiveness. Just like your value proposition, if visitors struggle to understand what you're saying, they're unlikely to stay engaged, much less convert into customers or subscribers. 

Clear, accessible writing helps ensure that your message reaches and resonates with your audience, ultimately leading to more conversions.

A simple technique to ensure you write easy-to-read copy is conduct readability tests. A readability test is simply a user test carried out on a piece of writing.

If you run readability tests on everything you write, you’ll quickly become aware of how your readers struggle. Make a note of every point at which they falter, and then fix it. 

Tools like the Flesch-Kincaid readability test can help you gauge the accessibility of your content.

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Other Free Tools to Help You Write Clearly

• Grammarly: A tool that helps with grammar and style, ensuring your writing is error-free and clear.
• Hemingway App: This app helps identify overly complex sentences, passive voice, and other issues that affect readability.

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Clarity is Key

Visitors come to your website with varying levels of understanding and expectations. The challenge is to write in a way that is both informative and easy to understand. 

By focusing on clarity, you ensure that your site communicates effectively with its visitors, regardless of their prior knowledge or expertise in your subject matter. Clear writing not only improves usability but also enhances the overall effectiveness of your digital presence.

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6. Address Objections Proactively: Turning Doubts into Decisions

As customers browse your site, they will naturally have questions, concerns or objections to your offer. Whether it's concerns about your price, confusion about features, or a lack of trust, these objections often lead to your customer existing the site in search of an alternative.

Rather than leaving them unanswered, it's better to address them openly. Proactively handling these concerns within your website content not only demonstrates transparency but also builds trust and encourages conversions.

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Identifying Common Customer Objections

To effectively address objections, you first need to identify what they are likely to be. This involves understanding your customers deeply—knowing their pain points, motivations, and hesitations. 

Common objections include:

• Features: “What does this actually do?”
• Price: "Is it worth the cost?"
• Effectiveness: "Will this actually work for me?"
• Trust: “Do I trust this company?”
• Complexity: "Is this product too complicated to use?"
• Compatibility: "Will this product work with the other tools/systems I already use?"

Your customers will have these questions. And your ability to convert them will depend on how well you answer them. So it's important to start from the start and address these objections like a checklist.

• Clarify the Product's Function: If it's not immediately clear what your product does, revise your content to make it straightforward and easily understandable.
• Justify the Price: If your product is on the pricier side, be transparent about the reasons. Explain the quality, craftsmanship, or the unique benefits that justify the cost.
• Focus on benefits: Beyond what your product does, highlight the specific problems you solve for your customers.
• Build Trust: To counter scepticism, provide customer testimonials, reviews, and case studies. Use certifications, industry awards, or press mentions to bolster credibility.
• Show it in Action: Create video demos, how-to guides or other resources. Use thorough descriptions that explain how your products work.
• Create a dedicated webpage or FAQ section on your product's system requirements and compatibility. Be clear about any guarantees you offer.

By removing barriers to purchase, you will directly improve your conversion rates. Customers who feel their concerns are adequately addressed are less likely to leave for a competitor.

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Two Additional Strategies for Addressing Objections

1. FAQ Sections: FAQs sections are an extremely effective way to answer common questions and alleviate concerns. This will not only help boost conversions but will alleviate the amount of time spent answering customer questions. 

2. Live Chat Support: Live chat features are an excellent way to open communication with your customers and address objections in real time. 63% are more likely to purchase from websites with live chat widgets. Live chat allows customers to get immediate answers, making them feel more secure in their decision-making process.

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Foster Confidence Through Clarity

Addressing objections isn't just about salvaging a potential sale—it's an opportunity to deepen trust and commitment with your customers. By proactively discussing potential concerns and providing reassuring information, you transform doubts into decision points that favour your offerings.

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7. Building Trust: The Cornerstone of Increasing Conversions

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Trust and credibility are a fundamental part of business. People buy from brands they know and trust. So when it comes to converting website visitors into customers, establishing trust is absolutely crucial. 

In fact, it is often the deciding factor for many potential customers when it comes to making a purchase or taking any other desired action on a website. HubSpot reports that 81% of consumers consider trust a decisive factor in their purchase decisions.

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The good news is that there are various tactics you can use to build trust throughout your website. So to help you prioritise, we’ve broken this section down into 4 parts:

1. Essential 🔴
2. Important 🟡
3. Nice to have 🟢
4. Bonus ⭐️

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🔴 Essential Elements to Build Trust on Your Website

• HTTPS Protocol: Secure your site with HTTPS, signalling to visitors that their data is protected.
• Professional Website Design: This is a broad description but first impressions matter. Ensure your site is well-designed, easy to navigate, and up-to-date.
• Clear Contact Information: Visible contact information reassures visitors that you are reachable and transparent.
• Privacy Policy and Terms of Service: Clearly communicate how you protect visitor data and comply with privacy laws.
• Social Proof: This can come in many forms but the goal is to display genuine customer feedback demonstrating the reliability and quality of your offerings.

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⚡️ Pro Tip: Make sure there is some form of social proof in the 'Above the Fold' area of your landing page. Studies show that 85% of visitors decide to stay or leave within the first five seconds on a website, so make sure you have a trust signal visible without scrolling.

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🟡 Important Trust-Building Elements:

• Customer Testimonials or Reviews: Short quotes from your customers sharing positive feedback on your product.
• Ratings: That could include Trustpilot, Google, Facebook or Yelp. Whatever is most relevant to your audience.
• Payment Options: Offer multiple, well-known payment methods to reduce security concerns.
• Trust Seals and Badges: Display security badges or affiliations with reputable organisations.
• Clear and Transparent Pricing: Avoid hidden costs to prevent last-minute buyer hesitation.
• Social Media Links: Showing that you are active on social media will boost your credibility, especially if you have a following there.

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🟢 Nice To Have:

• Blogs or Resources: This not only builds credibility and demonstrates your knowledge of the industry, but makes your website feel more complete and trust worthy.
• Client Logos: A simple logo wall can demonstrate credibility without taking up too much space.
• Industry Accolades or Certifications: Highlighting awards and certifications can differentiate you from competitors.
• Business Stats: Use relevant statistics to validate your business’s success 
• Real Photos and Videos: Authentic imagery > stock. This
• Team Pages: Who are the people behind your brand? Introduce your team and humanise your brand.

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⭐️ Bonus: Innovative Trust-Building Tactics

• Live Chat Feature: According to CrazyEgg, 38% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company if they offer live chat support.
• Virtual Tours: Provide virtual tours of your physical locations to make your business more tangible and reliable.
• Behind-the-Scenes Content: Share videos or articles about your business processes to build a deeper connection.

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⚡️ Pro Tip: Don’t stop building trust!

Don't forget to continue building trust on the payment or signup page. This critical juncture is where many carts are abandoned.

You have worked hard to get them to this point, so make sure that trust signals like payment security badges or clear return policies are clearly displayed to reassure customers as they complete their purchases.

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Trust Translates to Transactions

Building trust is more than just a good practice—it's the foundation for online success. By implementing these trust-building elements thoughtfully, you can not only enhance user confidence but also significantly boost your site's conversion rates.

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