It’s easy to rush into CRO to get your website converting as quick as possible, but it’s important to remember that a lot of conversion optimisation techniques aren’t magic tweaks to make to any website in any context and you’ll instantly get more conversions. If you don’t think about what you’re doing, you stand to waste a lot of effort.
We’ve compiled a list of the most common mistakes we’ve seen, in the hopes you’ll be able to avoid them!
Focusing too much on traffic quantity over quality
While it’s important to drive traffic to your website, it’s equally important to ensure the traffic you’re driving is high-quality and relevant to your business. Simply increasing traffic without focusing on improving the user experience or optimising for conversions is unlikely to result in significant improvements in conversion rates.
Not conducting user research
Conducting user research is essential for understanding the needs and preferences of your target audience. Without understanding what motivates your users and what they find frustrating or confusing, it can be difficult to optimise your website effectively.
Neglecting mobile optimisation
With more users accessing websites on mobile devices, optimising your website for mobile is crucial. Neglecting mobile optimisation can lead to a poor user experience and a significant loss of potential conversions. Find out what devices your customers are viewing your website on by reviewing your GA data.
Making assumptions instead of testing
It’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that certain design elements or marketing tactics will be effective without actually testing them. A/B testing and other forms of experimentation can help you to show what’s working and what’s not, so you can make data-driven decisions.
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Using generic or overused CTAs
Calls-to-action (CTAs) are a critical part of any website designed for conversions. However, using generic or overused CTAs (such as “Click Here” or “Buy Now”) can make your website feel less engaging and less trustworthy. Instead, focus on creating CTAs that are customised to your specific business, manage expectations and clearly communicate the value proposition to the user.
Ignoring analytics data
Analytics data can provide valuable insights into how users are interacting with your website, which can help you to find areas for improvement. However, many businesses fail to take advantage of analytics data and miss opportunities to optimise their websites for better conversion rates.
Overcomplicating the conversion process
A complicated or confusing conversion process can lead to high bounce rates and low conversion rates. Simplifying the conversion process by reducing the number of steps or required fields can help to improve the user experience and increase conversion rates.
It’s not the end of the world
If you’ve just realised you’ve been making some of the same mistakes, that’s ok. It’s just as easy to remedy these errors as it is to make them. It’s about making small consistent changes and after that, growth is an eventuality.
To learn more about optimising your website’s conversion rate, check out our post explaining CRO and the most effective techniques to help your website generate more for you.
BY CRAIG RUNDLE
Director at Tin Soldier
Craig, Founder and Director at Tin Soldier lives and breathes digital. Being slightly geeky, since the late 90’s he has been involved and watched the internet grow from one page websites through Web 2.0 and more recently with the advent of AI technologies. Craig’s passion is ecommerce, in particular creating great customer experiences through personalisation, content and connected systems.