With the right tools and the perfect strategy, conversion optimization transforms into something of a science. The scientific method even applies as such: Beginning with a clearly defined hypothesis, each phase of the strategy provides valuable, actionable data that will produce the best results for your website.
Here, we’ll go over five tools that, when combined, can lay the groundwork for a complete conversion strategy.
A/B Testing Platform
A/B testing, also known as split testing, is essentially a way to compare two versions of a web page (version A and version B) to see which one performs better.
While the idea of A/B testing is simple, the right A/B testing service makes it fun and easy to run multiple tests quickly with immediate results.
When integrated with other services, A/B testing platforms can ignite your conversion rate optimization (CRO) strategies. By adding analytics to the mix, you can get details on exactly how each version performed. Many platforms offer integrations that allow for advanced custom tracking and goals. For the best results, it’s best to pair your A/B testing platform with an analytics service.
Analytics Services
Analytics platforms are one of the most well-developed tools for web marketing. Bonus: there are tons of free analytics tools available online that can provide data on where your traffic is coming from, the path your visitors take through your site, and how long they spend looking at each page, among other things. In the beginning, all of this data may seem overwhelming; don’t worry, it gets easier!
A few online analytics services include:
Google Analytics is one of the most popular digital analytics services in the world; plus, it’s free.
Quick reasons to Use Google Analytics
- User-friendly – new users can easily navigate the platform.
- Access to customizable reports – Google Analytics lets you create your own reports with an easy drag-and-drop interface.
- Real-time visitor tracking – The software allows you to view who is visiting your website in real time, meaning you’ll be able to see the number of active users at any given moment.
- Insights to visitors – there’s so much data available within Google Analytics that can help you determine which advertising campaign is performing well, and which one is not.
- Essential to understanding where your customers are coming from – The platform allows you to view your visitors’ behavior and their preferences.
- Google community – There is a great community of marketers who are there to help you with whatever you need.
- Its free – there’s no fee.
Once you’ve integrated an analytics service with your A/B testing platform, you’ll be able to see how the traffic segments that saw each page variation behaved. Information such as site paths, bounce rates, and time on page for each page variation are all measurable with analytics.
Marketing Automation Platform
An automated marketing machine involves automating and measuring the communication between you and your next potential customer. A new lead can be classified and added to an email program automatically, sent to the best member of the sales team, and more.
Linking A/B tested pages with different marketing campaigns will help you gauge the quantity and quality of leads coming from them. You should ask yourself the following questions when testing a lead generation page:
- How does the number of form fields impact lead quality/quantity?
- Will higher qualified leads fill out forms with more fields?
If you keep track of both metrics, the lead quality and quantity, then you’ll be able to successfully scale your business for the long term.
Heat Mapping Service
Heat mapping tools offer a direct insight into how many visitors interact with your website. By monitoring clicks and other manipulations, like scrolling, a heat map can provide you with a clearer picture of where users are spending the most time on your site.
Using a heat map will help you determine which page elements you need to optimize. Before you think about optimization, try examining the heat map of that particular page. Get a feel for how your visitors are engaging, navigating, and clicking through the page. It’s important to explore how your users are behaving.
A few heat mapping services include:
- CrazyEgg (as previously mentioned)
- Lucky Orange
- ClickTale
Social Customer Relationship Manager (CRM)
Social CRM is the last, and “newest,” tool in the toolkit. Social CRM is an expansion of traditional Customer Relationship Management that seeks to respond and capitalize on large amounts of personal data and engagement opportunities made available by the social web i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. Implementing a social CRM will allow you to turn communities and conversations into customers.
The easier it is for a visitor to connect with a company, the faster and more effectively conversion optimization will increase your site’s performance. Additionally, the amount of data collected by a company practicing social CRM will make future optimization a breeze.
Examples of Social CRM in Action
If a business creates a fan page for their company or product on Facebook, customers will be able to sign up as “fans,” creating a venue for communication, marketing, and networking. This business can then receive relevant information on who is interested in the company or its products and follow conversations about its brand for real-time market data and feedback.
With social CRM, customers have the ability to communicate what they like, and what they don’t like, about certain companies. This ease of access in turn makes it possible for business owners to respond quickly to negative feedback and maintain, regain, or rebuild consumer trust.
Conclusion
If done right, conversion optimization is not a one-time project. By effectively combining the tools mentioned in this article – A/B testing, analytics, heat mapping, marketing automation and social CRM – you will have all the information you’ll need to increase your conversion rates and turn those conversions into customers.
