Why You’re So Over-Optimizing Conversion Rates

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It’s not just you. About a third of digital marketers consider conversion rate optimization to be among the most annoying and time-consuming tasks on their plate. 

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Review the analytics. Analyze landing pages. Spend hours trying to diagnose where the user experience is going wrong. Slip into insanity.

Make no mistake; the conversion rate really matters. But optimizing it can quickly become one of your most annoying and time-consuming tasks. Optimizing conversion rates can be tricky and research-heavy, with lots of moving parts.

What is the Conversion Rate?

Conversion rate is the percentage of website visitors who complete the desired action, like filling out a lead form or making a purchase. It’s easily calculated by dividing the total number of completed actions (conversions) by the total number of site visitors. 

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This KPI is important because it tells you how well your website or landing page is performing. When your conversion rate is up, it means your site is appealing to visitors in all the right ways. Whether you’re bringing potential customers to your page with expertly crafted ads, or you’ve designed the perfect landing page that compels them to action, it’s working.

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When conversion rates dip, that signals a problem with your strategy or website. The culprit could be long loading time, perplexing navigation, crummy content or a slew of other what-could-go-wrongs. Pinpointing the problem, and fixing it, is where conversion rate optimization comes into play. It’s also the part where you close your eyes, rub your temples and let out a massive sigh.

What Elements Affect My Conversion Rate?

Everything about your website, from your navigation to your copy, has an effect on your conversion rate. Ergo, when you need to optimize your conversion rate, you need to take a close look at all of these things:

• Navigation: it should be simple, without distractions.
• Value proposition: make it obvious.
• SEO: this had better be good!
• Copy and keyword placement: personalized, smart, and strategic.
• Call to action (CTA): inspire users to act.
• Page loading time:  the faster, the better.
• Image size and quality: bigger isn’t always better.

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This is by no means a comprehensive or fully detailed list (we’ll go into that another time), but it’s a jumping-off point that gives you an idea of what you’re in for. 

How Do You Optimize Conversion Rates?

You optimize conversion rates by analyzing your site to determine the problem or point of failure, brainstorming solutions to resolve them, A/B testing those ideas, and implementing the changes that perform well. Simple, right?

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It’s easy to rattle off the steps in the perfect conversion rate optimization strategy, but getting to work on them is another story. Generally, you’re going to need a whole team with a web designer, marketing strategist, content writer, SEO specialist, and probably a PPC manager. That’s a lot of brain power, hours and money going into a single problem. 

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And if you don’t have a team of seasoned specialists? You’re on your own, buddy! It should only take you a few weeks, on top of everything else you’re doing to run your business, to get through your website analysis.

Can I Opt Out of This?

Unfortunately, if you want your business or brand to succeed, you can’t get out of conversion rate chaos. This KPI is one that’s too important to ignore and, honestly, is your lifeline to keeping the lights on. 

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The best advice we can give you about this tedious, tiresome, never-ending process is to outsource it if you can. And for marketers, who are the outsourcers in this equation, build a team of experts that really knows their stuff—trust us, it makes the process less painful.

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