conversion rate optimization

8 Awesome Things Kids Can Teach Us About Conversion Rate Optimization

Wait, did she just say kids can teach us about conversion rate optimization (CRO)? Does she actually think that children can fathom the mysterious world of A/B testing and landing pages? That they have the capacity to navigate the jumble of red buttons versus blue ones, the seemingly arbitrary changes that result in a 30% higher conversion rate, or any other attempts to increase revenue? In other words, does this crazy writer really think that a child could possibly understand something that challenges the comprehension ability of most educated adults?

Yes and no. Yes, you can learn something from kids about how to improve your CRO. No, it’s not because they understand conversion rate, the Internet, business, or any other factors that play into it. (Well, I suppose some of them might, but most such exceptional children tend to focus their talents elsewhere.) What I’m really trying to say here is that you can learn a lot from kids about how to improve your conversion rate. Don’t believe me? Just have a look at the following list.

1. Be a copycat.

Remember when everyone told you it was rude to mimic other people? Or that being original, being creative, was the most important thing? Well, forget about that. When it comes to conversion rate and website optimization, it pays to stick with what works. Do you have some pages that are converting at far better rates than others? If so, try to break down what makes those pages so much more successful. What’s different about those pages? What do the calls to action (CTAs), the design, or the writing style look like on your more successful pages? Take these differences and apply them to your less successful pages. The benefit of being a copycat in the context of website optimization? No one is going to tell on you.

2. Be sticky.

Someone once said that kids insist on being sticky at least 76% of the time, a statistic that, though technically not grounded in any kind of scientific reality, is true nonetheless. (Yes, that someone may have been my mother.) Whether they’re covered in paint, glue, juice, or other leftover food substances, it seems almost impossible to get children clean and keep them that way. When it comes to CRO, you want to be as sticky as a toddler covered in peanut butter. Making your visitors stick to your site—also known as reducing bounce rates—can be difficult. This infographic from HubSpot gets into bounce rate in greater detail, but here’s the bottom line: if your site hasn’t been designed and your content hasn’t been written for your specific users, they aren’t going to stick around.

You need to know who it is you are trying to attract to your site so you can create content for those viewers. This content includes the landing pages you will use to (hopefully) convert your visitors into leads. This means that if you have more than one kind of target consumer, you should have more than one type of landing page. Children may cover themselves in goo because they enjoy testing their parents’ sanity, but visitors stick to websites when they cater to their personal needs.

3. Sharing is caring.

If you have children, you’ve probably told them time and time again that nobody likes to play with someone who doesn’t share. Sharing is also a great way to make new friends. Just as sharing helped you out on the playground when you were young, social media sharing will kick-start your CRO now that you’re all grown up. Make sure that all your pages, including landing pages and thank you pages, have icons that allow users to share their content on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. This is also great for your site’s search engine optimization (SEO)! Sharing is nice. So is improving your CRO.

4. Show off.

Kids know how awesome they are, and they want the whole world to know too. And while I don’t encourage you to tell your visitors just how amazing you and your business are, I do think you should show them. If your website has any certifications or awards, make sure the badges are displayed in relevant areas of your site. If your blog content is doing really well on social media sites, make sure your shares are included with your social media icons. How will everyone know how cool you are if you don’t show them?

5. Go, go, go.

Ever watch an energetic child try to sit still? Or, better yet, ever see a kid have to wait for an activity that’s really exciting? Kids are all about action. They want to be in on everything, and they want to be in on it now. Your website copy can reflect this action-driven motivation by employing as many action words as possible while still maintaining a natural flow in the text. Using lots of verbs in your copy can significantly increase your lead conversion, as it encourages your visitors to follow through with your CTAs. This is a simple but effective way to improve your conversion rate.

6. Listen to your parents—tidy up!

The presence of a child in a room is often accompanied by a tornado of stuff. Toys, clothes, books, bananas, you name it—kids are messy. Moms and dads are constantly telling their kids to tidy up their bedrooms and play areas. Why? Because friends and family members shouldn’t have to navigate a war zone when they come over for a visit. And neither should your website visitors. While parents have desperately tried to explain this concept to their children for centuries to almost no avail, it seems much easier to grasp in the adult context of CRO. This article gets into greater depth about how improving your website’s navigation can improve your conversion rate, but the bottom line is simple: the easier it is to get around your website, the higher your conversion rate will be. (Translation: If you keep your room clean, your parents will be happy and your friends will be allowed to come over. Everyone wins!)

7. Learn your ABCs.

Do you remember learning the alphabet? At first, you didn’t really get the point. Sure, you learned the song. You could sing all the letters, and your parents were very proud. But it wasn’t until you actually started learning to read that you began to understand the real importance of your ABCs. Similarly, people new to A/B testing may become frustrated with what sometimes seems like the futility of these tedious tests. But once you learn the real purpose of testing, it doesn’t seem so bad. That purpose, of course, is to improve conversion rates. The thing is, no matter how many great changes you make to your website, you won’t know which of those changes have been effective unless you do some testing. If you’re trying to make your site stickier by changing your landing page copy, it’s important to know that the changes you have made are actually helping to achieve your initial goal. That’s why A/B tests lead to more conversions. You might even say that A + B = C. Now I know my ABCs, next time won’t you convert with me?

8. If at first you don’t succeed…

Try, try, try something different. If you can be as persistent with increasing your CRO as a child who is determined to shove his entire first into his mouth, you will be successful. (Regrettably, probably much more successful than the boy, unless that boy happens to have the snake-like ability to unhinge his jaw.) If you try something new on your website only to discover that it does not, in fact, increase your conversion rate, do not despair! Instead, learn from your mistake, and try something new. If you had given up every time you attempted to learn how to ride a bike—or how to walk, for that matter—you would have had a far less adventurous childhood, indeed.

Landing Page Optimization for Your Website

Seven steps for creating an effective landing page

A landing page is the page that customers are directed to when they click on your advertisement or search engine result. It is the first page they will see, and it can have a major impact on whether they choose to explore your website or go back to the previous page. For successful landing page optimization, it is therefore essential that your business’s landing page makes a good impression to get the highest possible return.

To effectively use landing page optimization on your site, follow these seven easy tips when designing a page:

1. Target a market

Before you create your landing page, you need to figure out what demographic your business is directing its marketing toward. This affects the types of visuals you use, the language, and your keywords. Be sure to research landing pages that are popular among a similar demographic to figure out which techniques you should use for your landing page optimization.

2. Make a recognizable landing page

When your customers first see your website, you want them to know they’re on the right page before it fully loads. If your customers question for even a second that your ad has led them astray, you’ve lost a bit of their trust. Therefore you need to match your webpage to your ad and build a recognizable branding strategy. To better improve your landing page optimization, include relevant keywords in the page’s content for search engine spiders to find.

3. Make your landing page appealing

The first thing your customers will notice about your page is whether it looks good. To make a good first impression, be sure your site’s design is attractive to your customers. It also helps landing page optimization to use visuals and to keep your pages well organized.

4. Show your customers how your product will benefit them

A great way to sell your product or service to customers is to show them how it will benefit their lives. This is the ultimate message you want them to take away from your webpage, and hopefully it will result in a sale. The best place to do this is on the landing page. Also, consider using a video to convey your message in a quick and compelling way.

5. Include a call to action

As with any content used for search engine optimization, you should include a call to action to direct your customers to engage with your site. The same principle goes for landing page optimization. In creating an effective call to action, you direct your customers to engage with your website the way you want. This can give you the best possible results.

6. A/B testing

A/B testing is a technique that uses analytics from two versions of a landing page. Each version is posted, and then data are collected based on how many hits the website receives and how many of those hits lead to a sale. Once you have this data, you can improve your landing page optimization by choosing the page that yields the best results.

You can also use the data that you obtain from your business’s landing page to improve your website on an ongoing basis. By tracking your results, you can figure out which techniques you should, or should not, use for your webpage in the future.

What Web Content Should You Include on Your Website?

Today, it is crucial that every business has a presence in the online world. Whatever type of business, service, or product you have, there must be information about it online. Otherwise, you could be overlooked in a competitive market. This is why it is essential that your business has web content that is up-to-date, relevant, and reflects what your business is and what it has to offer. Here are seven elements you should include when you are setting up a website.

1. Home page

Like the outside of a store, the home page is the first impression a customer gets when visiting your website. It needs to be aesthetically pleasing while also answering all the essential questions. It is also important that this page’s content contains important keywords, such as your business’s name and the product or service you are offering.

2. About Us page

To ensure your business’s credibility, it is valuable to have a section of your website dedicated to explaining what your service or product is. This web content describes how the business was founded, what its goals are, and its future direction. This allows the reader to learn more about the company and creates a deeper connection with the product or service.

3. Team

It’s also valuable to have a section of the website dedicated to short biographies of the main players in your business. This web content gives your business a face, makes the product or service more personable, and reassures the customer that real people are behind the webpage. This way, the customer can connect with the business even further.

4. Product/services

Obviously, the website needs to provide details about your product or service. Customers will primarily visit your website because they want more information so they can decide whether your product or service meets their needs. The web content must be written in a way that provides all the necessary information while also acting as a sales pitch so the customer will be persuaded to engage with your business and purchase your product or service.

5. Resources

It is also valuable to have a section titled “Resources” that contains constantly updated information. This can include many types of information, such as product reviews, user comments and questions, and a blog. As long as this web content is consistently updated, your business will be a viable competitor in its market. In addition, this page will allow customers to engage with your website by either seeking more information or producing some content of their own for your site. It’s also a great way to keep customers constantly checking your website to see updates.

6. Contact information

To ensure your customers know your business is not a sham, make sure contact information is on the website and is easy to find. By making yourself open to questions, concerns, complaints, and other customer inquiries, you will convince customers that you care about their user experience. This also reassures them that you want them to engage with your product or service and are open to criticism should there be problems.

7. What to do

Customers need to be directed to ways of taking action with your product or service. Simply presenting them with information is fine, but if you do not provide any instructions for using that information, it’s useless. To make sure your users engage with your product or service, tell them clearly how they can access it.

8. A blog

Surprised? Don’t be. A blog can be a critical factor in your long term success. To find out more, check out our free guide to website optimization below.