Conversion Rate: How to Build and Test Your Optimization Plan

Planning and Analysis: Keys to Conversion Rate Optimization

– It’s a simple fact that anyone with the slightest bit of business savvy can develop a passable Inbound Marketing Strategy and turn a few Prospects into Customers. However, if you have no interest in letting your company settle for ‘adequate’, you need an optimization plan which will turn your content into a Conversion Machine.

Only by carefully analyzing every step will you discover what works and what doesn’t. We’ll discuss how to build a strategy for Conversion Rate Optimization, how to test your Content Strategy at every point, and how to improve Conversions once you have accurate data in hand.

Understanding Your Business

You should optimize for enticing high value Customers

To address Conversion Rate Optimization, you need to understand your business and how Prospects interact with your content at a fundamental level. The secret of developing a powerful conversion chain lay in understanding that you should not optimize for moving as many individuals as possible from one page to the next; rather, you should optimize for enticing high value Customers.

A narrow view of your business and conversion rate may lead to content which pushes many people from Page 1 to Page 2 but not from Page 2 to Page 3, with the problem hidden on that first page. For this reason, it pays to spend some time immersing yourself in the Customer experience and gathering information from potential users on how they interact with your site. Which content funnels lead most effectively to conversions? Which funnels start promising but ultimately fail?

Conversion Architecture??can assist you in understanding the basic foundation?don’t rely on your gut when facts better serve. Knowing that a vast majority of web users consider navigability more important than appearance, for example, can greatly inform where you focus your optimization efforts.

Once you understand your business on this level, you can build a comprehensive list of the factors to be tweaked, tested, and analyzed for Conversion Rate?Optimization.

Testing

Nothing compares to effective split testing when it comes to conversion rate optimization, so long as you have the resources to create, implement, and track alternative content tracks. Platforms such as Optimizely, analytics tools such as KISSmetrics and Google Analytics, and various forms of software with narrower focuses can all assist in the process.

It is important to understand which factors you will be working with, so you can utilize the best tools for the job and properly configure your website for testing. Conversion Rate Optimization ideally begins before the first change, with site architecture that lends itself to testing and improvement.

Depending on the nature of your business and how difficult implementing changes into your current website will be, it may be most efficient and effective to engage the services of a Conversion Optimization Consultant or Agency. Alternatively, the services of a consultant may be most useful after you have exhausted Conversion Rate Optimization efforts and need fresh insight.

Conversion Rate Optimization

The details of what to change, how to change it, and what gains you will see will vary between business models, target audiences, and industries, but the methods for developing a plan that enhances Conversion Rate Optimization rely upon fundamental concepts of the conversion chain.

If you’re looking to improve your conversion rates, find out how your website stacks up:

Marketing Matters Inbound?is an inbound marketing firm specializing in online conversions, content?strategy, call-to-action mapping and traditional media placement. Our experience in?B2B digital?marketing?and traditional media allows us to deliver results through a strategic media mix. We believe in?aligning and merging marketing and sales/operations for optimal return on your marketing investment.