Conversion Rate Optimisation – The Lowdown

Oct 21, 2021

Conversion Rate Optimisation – The Lowdown



Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) is all about increasing the number of visitors to a webpage who perform a specific desired task such as making a purchase, clicking a link, filling in a form, or registering for a service.

Our Head of Marketing, John Hoey, explains more in this video.

CRO is important in business because essentially, someone carrying out one of these desired actions is the whole point of companies having websites in the first place – to make sales, collect data to market back to, and raise exposure to boost the company’s reputation. And so, the more people who carry out these actions, the better it is for the business in the long run.

To improve your conversion rate, it’s vital first to understand your users and their behavior. You need to look at what drives them, what puts them off, and what persuades them to go further. By doing this, you can ensure that you give them a positive user experience which will – hopefully – result in them converting and boosting your conversion rate.

So how do you calculate your website’s conversion rate?

Working out your conversion rate is relatively simple. You divide the number of desired actions taken (conversions) by the number of visitors in total and then multiply the result by 100. This will then give you a percentage – your conversion rate.

The average conversion rate is somewhere between 1% and 4%. But there’s little point in focusing on this figure too much because every website and audience is different and conversion rates vary depending on the desired task in question.

It’s much more productive to focus on what matters to your audience and look at what entices your users to convert. Only by concentrating on that will you truly have the power to improve your conversion rate.

Best CRO practices

As mentioned above, only by putting the work in and getting to know your users will you have a good shot at boosting your website conversion rate. You have to put the time in. It takes time to understand your audience. You’re not going to learn the ins and outs of what makes them tick overnight. Spend time observing and researching, and the rewards will start to show. Learn what their pain points are, their desired goals, and what they worry about, then tailor your solutions to meet their needs.

There are some other best practices to follow that can help further, including:

  • Have CTAs above the fold
  • Regular testing (3-4 times a month) to see what is and isn’t working
  • Not too many form fields on any forms
  • Boldly coloured CTA buttons
  • Imply time-sensitivity for offers
  • Make your website as user-friendly as possible

However, to reiterate, there is no better method than taking the time to get to know your users and creating a CRO strategy that works around them. That always has and always will be the one, single golden rule of CRO.

For help with your conversion rate optimisation, please contact the TechCare team.