A company’s website is an important platform for customer interactions – as stated in The Institute of Customer Service’s January 2017 report, customer interactions via website, webchat, apps, text but especially by email, has increased from 4.9% to 9% in the last year.

The increasing preference for websites as a communication platform between customers and brands has become particularly significant as 15.3% of all retail spending from 2016 came from online sales according to the ONS.

Companies seeking to improve their website and conversion rates are adopting a structured approach as highlighted in Econsultancy’s Conversion Rate Optimisation report – produced in association with RedEye. The percentage of companies taking a structured approach to conversion rate optimisation has steadily increased since 2009 to over 35% today. Amongst those companies using a structured approach, more than 50% recorded a substantial increase in sales.

To capture customers’ attention and improve their experience, and conversion rates, companies need take a structured approach and remember three key things – be bold, precise and smart.

Be bold

Company websites need to stand out to captivate customers, improve conversion rates and increase sales – and to do this, companies first need to identify what aspects of its website can be improved. User Interface (UI) designers can offer invaluable insight into the design of a website, and feedback from user testing can be extremely useful pinpointing the lacking areas of websites. Companies should use this information to make bold decisions, which can include introducing new designs, functionalities or even restructuring the whole customer journey if that might lead to improved customer experience and conversion rates. To become an industry leader, companies need to lead by example and showcase innovative ideas by being brave and not being afraid of making big changes.

Be precise

Part of having a structured methodology is being clear with what you are measuring, companies should define their key performance indicators (KPIs) before implementing any changes, and create an ROI calculator to track the significance of any changes. This will help companies measure the success of the CRO activities and add value to the process.

Be smart

Testing is a vital part of having a structured approach to website optimisation and improving conversion rates, and A/B testing was proven to be one of the most effective methods in Econsultancy’s Conversion Rate Optimisation report 2016. A/B testing is popular as it allows companies to select a percentage of website traffic to be diverted to a test website, where customer journeys can be monitored and KPIs are tracked. Although this may vary on the traffic level and existing conversion rate, companies should always run tests for a minimum of two weeks to collect enough data for the results to be statistically significant. Using the data collected from research and testing tools will allow companies to ensure that these bold ideas are working with the end users, and they can fully implement them to achieve the business objectives.

Having a structured approach equips companies with the techniques and processes needed to improve customer interactions and conversion rates. When tackling website and conversion optimisation, companies must remember to be bold, precise and smart!

 

By Tasin Reza, CRO Director at RedEye

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