This is a hefty post, so it’s split into these sections:

“What is Conversion Rate Optimisation?”
“How does it work?”
“How long does it take?”
“How do you decide what to test?”
“How much traffic do I need for A/B testing?”
“What if I don’t have much/any data?”
“What are your rates?”
“Which industries do you work in?”
“What tools do you use and how much will they cost me?”

“What is Conversion Rate Optimisation?”

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) is about growing your business.

Maybe that’s more revenue, more users, more signups. A scientific approach, with analysis, testing and measuring at the heart. Because I use data to find out where your website is leaking visitors (and money). And then work out how to fix the holes. With a healthy flow of the right words in the right place. Alongside generous portions of website usability.

So your website or landing page is optimised based on evidence, rather than relying on “try this and hope”. This is why conversion copywriting works. What’s more, it’s the easiest way to generate ROI. Here’s why.

Imagine your website or landing page gets 1,000 website visitors a week. From those 1,000, you get 10 sales. Giving you a 1% conversion rate.

Let’s say you want to double your sales.You can do this in 2 ways:

1. Double the number of visitors, so you get 2,000 visits and 20 conversions
   An extra 1,000 people. I don’t know about you, by my knees, back and brain are already aching at the thought of all that effort. You have to go out and find these people that are ready to buy, and get them to visit you. Not easy – it’s usually 4–6 times more expensive to acquire a customer than it is to retain them. You’re looking at a lot of investment (in SEO), time (unless you go viral in some way), and hard labour (blogs, social media, video production, and who knows what else).
2. Double your conversions, so you get 20 conversions per 1,000
   An extra 10 people. Is that all? Yes. You work with what you’ve got. And optimise it. And once those extra 10 people have converted, they’re more likely to return and recommend you to others. That way your business grows naturally, with no artificial stimulants from temporary, expensive and unreliable SEO tactics.

“How does it work?”

1. Objectives
   First, we establish your goals. Obviously you want to grow your business, so it’s a case of seeing what needs doing so that you can reach these goals.
2. Data health check
   It’s scary how many people are making massive strategic decisions based on data that’s wrong. From including bot traffic and not filtering out internal staff, to having the code in the wrong place, or 2 versions of the code on the same page. I get the shivers thinking about it. So I don a white coat and stethoscope, and start inspecting your data. After all, to diagnose a patient, the doctor has to carry out some tests.

Diagnose>hypothesis>test>repeat

3. Heuristic analysis
Your website visitors have 3 questions when they land on your website. To convert them, you need to come up with the answers – within milliseconds:– ‘what is this website’
– ‘what can I do here’
– ‘why should I do it’Your copy and images need to answer these questions in a way that gets your visitors to take the next step towards your goal.I assess based on the following:– Is it clear?
– Is everything on the page doing a job?
– Is there anything preventing or distracting them from taking the next step?
– Is there anything giving them reason to doubt or trust you?

Hypothesis time

By now there’ll be some data to dig into. So it’s a case of combining the heuristic analysis with the data. And working out:
– What to test
– The expected result
– What this will mean for your business

Technical implementation

I map out what’s needed. That may be building a new page, adding code, or generating a series of analytics reports. If one of the recommendations involves creating or designing a new page or section, you’ll need a developer or a designer to do that.

1. Run the tests
   These run until they reach “statistical significance”. This is when you can be sure the results are because of what’s been changed, rather than because of chance.
2. Gather results
   You get these in a spreadsheet (Excel/Google Sheets/bit of paper – whatever works for you). These are split into columns. Depending on the project, these show the test, hypothesis, recommendation, urgency of implementation.

You can also get a live version of the report, with me doing an online Q&A with you and your team

“How long does it take?”

Ideally, a minimum of 28 days. This gives 4 full weeks to see how people behave (think how office workers behave differently on a Monday morning compared to a Friday night). Naturally, it depends on your business and your schedule, so this is adapted to whatever works best.

“How do you decide what to test?”

I use a simple PIE formula:

• Potential (how much of an improvement can be made)
• Importance (how important is the traffic to the specific pages? Are they ready to buy?)
• Ease (how easy will it be to carry out the test or complete the optimisation)

This varies from project to project, so to weigh each factor correctly it’s a case of assessing your market, competition, and factor in any internal pressures you’re under (such as needing to show positive results to your boss quickly).

“How much traffic do I need for A/B testing”?

As a rough guide:

• Minimum 1,000 unique visitors to start the test (if you only get 500 per month that’s no problem, we can just run it over 2 months)
• Minimum 250 conversions per variation before considering declaring a result
• Needs to run over a full business cycle

“What if I don’t have much/any data?”

I can set up your Google Analytics and start getting you data. While I’m doing that, I can get on with stage 3. If you’re just starting, the initial CRO review is based on conversion best practice and what I know works. Any tests can come later, once you’ve built up your customer base and have enough traffic to work with.

“What are your rates?”

As for pricing, each CRO project depends on:

• The nature of your business
  – What type of website (obviously, the more complex the site, the more time it will need).
  – What type of CRO can be done (if you’re running SEO, PPC or digital marketing campaigns this can affect the results, and how the tests are run).
  – How much growth can be achieved through CRO (making sure the potential boost in performance is worth your investment)
• Your website/landing page performance
  – How much traffic (the more traffic there is, the more time it takes to analyse, assess and measure)
  – How much work it needs, whether it needs a designer or coder to implement changes
• How much uplift I expect to deliver
  I only take on projects where there’s real potential for growth. After all, CRO is all about results. So if I think you’re better off investing in another part of your business, I’ll say so.

“Which industries do you work in?”

Because the principles of CRO work across industries, I work on most types of businesses.

Previous clients include private jet hire, e-commerce, technology, FMCG – so I’m open to most types of business. Although if you sell arms (as in the things that kill people, not the limbs), then I’m not interested.

“What tools do you use and how much will they cost me?”

I only tools which:

• Have minimal impact on your site performance
  (after all, slow speed is a conversion killer)
• Are free or ridiculously good value
  To make sure you get the most ROI out of working with me
• Are low maintenance
  No headaches, no problem. Once the tracking code is installed, they run happily in the background

So that means:

Hotjar

This little gem gives you so much insight for so little investment. You get videos showing your users interacting with your site. You can run survey and popups to get instant feedback. You can see heatmaps showing how far people scroll, and where they click. You can create enquiry forms and see how far people get, and where they give up.

Google Analytics/Tag Manager/Optimize

Great for A/B testing. And for tracking clicks on any part of your website. Buttons, videos, menus… you name it, Google can track it.

Human beings

Testers can give you real insight into the functions on your site. Although they’re doing this for spare cash, a fresh pair of eyes will always give you real insight. Around 10 testers is usually enough to identify anything we need to fix or test.

And finally…

If you made it this far, then firstly – thank you. I realise that’s a lot of words, for what is a complex service. And secondly, I’ve got one question for you… how can I help grow your business with CRO?

A picture can paint a thousand words…

Words are free; it’s how you use them that can cost you.

Timeless phrases, all true, but…

…when it comes to your website, pictures and words are nothing without usability (UX).

A great website is the digital equivalent of walking into a boutique shop, having an attentive assistant carry your bags, bring you a glass of champagne, and ensuring you leave with exactly what you need. Plus maybe some things s you didn’t know you needed.

You might have Pulitzer prize-winning copy. A photo worthy of National Geographic’s photo of the year award. But if your website isn’t easy to use, you’re always going to finish runner-up.

Usability is the glue that holds your website together, converting customers, and attracting eyeballs.

And with so many connected devices, with so many different-sized screens, UX is only getting more important.

How to recognise a website that works

You need a different approach to measuring visuals or text.

Let me explain.

The brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text. That’s a pretty quick first impression…

When it comes to visuals, you might not be a designer but you know the style you want.

You might not be a copywriter, but you can recognise powerful words when you read them.

But knowing a website’s usability? That’s a 64-million-dollar question.

After all, the only people who really know… are your users. And they probably have other things they’d rather do than give you feedback. And in any case, how would you know if they’re saying what they think, or what you want to hear?

Unless you’ve got a two-way mirror and plan to monitor how users interact, you need to think of alternatives.

A plan for launch

Gather five people you can trust to give you an honest opinion.

Get them to view your website for five seconds and ask their opinion. Did they understand what it offered? What do they remember about it? What emotions did they feel? Reassured? Roused? Revolted?

5 people will find 80%+ of most problems on a website

Get them to complete a transaction. For example, make a purchase, find your services and then contact you, or search for some information.  Watch how they interact with your website. Look for any signs they’re struggling or unsure of what to do or where to click.

You need to know how to get your users from where they start, to where they want to finish.

Otherwise your users end up making a wrong turn, or getting lost. Your website has to be the guide.

Talking of guides…

These are road signs. Do you know what they mean?

If you’re a driver, then hopefully you do.

But if not, then you probably don’t.

How about these?

You don’t need to be a driver to know, or at least make a good guess.

Because alongside symbols, you have clues.

It’s the same with online.

Here’s a popular icon.

This is called a hamburger, and signifies a menu. People who regularly use mobile devices will recognise it.

But what if your target audience aren’t regular mobile device users? You may need to test. For example by adding ‘menu’ underneath.

Measuring success

Of course, after launch, you need to know if these changes are making a positive impact.

Have you ever seen Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Four possible answers per question. Starts off really easy, and then builds up the tension as you approach the one million prize.

You know the “phone a friend” lifeline? When it comes to usability (UX), Google Analytics is your phone a friend.

Here are some of the metrics you’ll rely on for the right answers:

Bounce rate

If you have a high percentage of visitors arriving and then leaving without going anywhere (your bounce rate), this tells Google: “This website is not working well – don’t rank it highly.”

What causes a high bounce rate?

Maybe it’s not what your visitor expected to see.

They took a wrong turn and ended up on your website.

But if they arrived on your website after clicking on one of your ads, then review your messaging. Is it consistent? Is it clear? Even better, test out your funnel on a few people and get their feedback.

Usability

Check to see if the bounce rate varies between browsers. If you notice a particular high bounce rate on a certain browser, it may be that your website has a bug, preventing visitors from converting. Here’s how to check. Open up Google Analytics, click Audience > Technology > Browser. Look under the bounce rate column, and compare the percentages against each other, and against your site average. Notice anything unusual?

Speed

Your website visitors are impatient. If your website takes longer than 3 seconds to load, expect a large proportion to give up and go elsewhere. Use this free speed testing tool rate your website against the competition.

Without fast page speed, forget about ranking high in Google

When is a high bounce rate good?

Maybe you’re giving visitors exactly what they want. For example, if a visitor wants to contact you, they might Google “company name phone number” and go straight to your contact us page. If that has a phone number, then your visitor has succeeded with what they want to do.

Exit rate

Are there particular pages where your visitors are dropping off? If the page is a thank you page, perhaps after completing a transaction, that’s no problem.

But if it’s high on a pre-conversion page, for example your “view checkout” page or a “contact us” page, it’s time to investigate.

User flow

Where do people land on your website, and which pages do they go to? Are they going to the pages you want? If not, it’s time to look at your funnels.

Prioritise your pages

That means deciding what are the main sections. And then analysing their visibility. Can you get there within one click from your homepage? Or is it buried under a pile of other pages? Ideally you should be able to get anywhere on your website within three clicks.

Hyperlink

Make it easy to get around your website. That means hyperlinking to different pages within your text. Adding calls to action that show the user where to go, making use of sidebars to show off other parts of your website. This is also important for SEO, because it guides Google bots to all your pages, for better indexing and ranking.

To scroll or not to scroll

There’s an internet’s worth of discussion about whether users scroll or not. You might get told to keep content above the fold, give them the important information straightaway, clearly mark menus. All good solid advice, but what if you’ve got a one page design? Or what if you’re displaying a large portfolio, or collating content?

The Guardian website is a great example of how to do it. Some stories are aligned in a row, but look at the two bottom-left columns. These run at different heights, signalling that there’s more information underneath:

Colour me bad

What does the colour red mean to you? Stop? Danger? Love? You can find hundreds of colour theory studies that come to all sorts of conclusions.

But you know the problem with colour theory? It’s… well… theory.

And here’s the thing: your website is unique. And so are your visitors. So you need to forget theories, and run your own tests. Find out what your audience thinks of your colours. And then decide whether you need a rethink. Here’s a brilliant guide (from Forty Nine Stories to help start you off:

You can use colours to signify sections. For example if you’re running a property website, a for sale section is one colour, and the for rent is another. Subtle, but because you’re likely to receive lots of repeat visitors (at least, if you’re offering properties in an insane market like London), it helps guide your visitors.

Visual impairments

Around 8% of males are colourblind (one in 200 women). Most people have some form of astigmatism. If your website gets 1,000 visitors a month, that’s potentially 80 male customers you’re turning away.

So make sure your colour schemes are accessible. White text on black background may look cool to some, but to others it’s impossible to read. Sounds simple, but if your brand relies on an unconventional colour scheme, here’s where you may need to make a judgement call.

For example, look at Nespresso’s website.

Branding is key to their success.White text (milk?) on rich dark colours (coffee). Not so good for accessibility, but essential for branding, particularly at the luxury end.

Accessibility

Try using a screen reader to get an idea of what the internet is like for a blind person. This reads what’s on the page, left to right (or right to left, depending on your language).

If you’re using tables for your products, avoid using <table> in your code, because a screen reader won’t make sense of it. Use div tags instead.

And if you’re using images, make sure you use alt tags. These describe the image, so if a user can’t see the images, or if their browser blocks them, they still understand what’s on your page

It’s a challenge to get this right, and with many websites it’s just not possible to recreate the same experience with and without a screenreader. But even the little things will make a difference. And it means that you open up your part of the web to more people. And that’s got to be a good thing, right?

SEO image tip

When uploading your images, save them with descriptive names. This makes them more likely to show up in images searches, and can bring you extra visitors.

And always compress images, ideally to below 100kb. This makes sure your website loads fast. If you don’t have Photoshop (go to File > Save for web) then use a free online tool, such as Image Optimizer.

And breathe…

The above is a lot to take in. And if you’ve got a business to run then you’ve got a million other things to deal with. But if you can get your head around the basics, and make use of some of the free tools included above, you are on the right track.

You definitely can’t afford to ignore UX. After all, your website designer may come up with a design that takes your breath away. But if it only works properly on 24” Apple screens, it’s also going to take your profits away.