Less is More! How little tweaks can multiply website conversions?

Most people think of website optimization as complex science; only a few can make sense of. However, there is an interesting pattern that can be decoded when you take into account many of the successful website changes ever made.

Having just a single CTA on your page/email boosts clicks by 371% and sales by 1617% -Ellie Mirman, VP of Marketing at Toast

Add a Beard to Your Models to Increase in Cart Adds by 49% — Daniel McGaw, Founder at Fuelzee

Personalized CTAs convert 42% more! — Anum Hussain, HubSpot

These changes are small in the grand scheme of things for an enterprise business looking to optimize their site. B2C and e-commerce websites make extensive changes and go through a full-scale revamp cycle in the effort to gain conversions. They adapt new technologies and expect users to dig deeper into their revenue generating funnel.

The focus, however, should be on the basics and here are a few changes that are simple to implement yet can make a big difference. Website optimization can be simple if you want it to be!

Write Engaging Copies

Start simple! Your content drives conversions. A well-thought website copy can drive your revenue. Have multiple content copies ready and A/B test it one at a time with an original variation. Ensure that you have a decent sample size to figure out which engages better. Keep the variation that performs better and test it with the next copy. Never stop optimizing content on your site. Keep it fresh all the time!

Headline banners are ideal to place your CTAs. Make your revenue direction CTAs subtle on your homepage and NOT too pushy like a big bold ‘Buy Now’!

A good headline needn’t tell a story; all it has to do is catch attention. Capture the imagination of the user and keep testing and perfecting it until you arrive at one that gets the most attention.

Go crazy with your placements

Moving around elements on your site can have a big effect, either way. Shifting the subscribe dialog box to the bottom of the page is sentencing your mail list to the guillotine! Floating your social share buttons along with the content is bound to improve shares if that is your focus.

Heat maps can help you identify the spots on your site that already have the attention of your users. If the clicks and taps are already happening on your navigation elements or CTAs, look for slots that are not getting attention. Never leave an underperforming piece of real estate on your site to sulk there forever. Put up attention-grabbing sections in those spaces and engage with users.

For example, your ‘Featured Picks’ carousel might have 4 slots with a scroll-ticker to display more products. A dynamic heatmap might show that your audience don’t see the 4th slot, no matter which product is being displayed.

Here, it’s evident that the sweet spot is just 3 slots. The smartest thing to do is remove the slot and use it for a different slot that gets attention. This type of website optimization ensures more chance of your shoppers going onto the next stage of the funnel. They become one step closer to becoming buyers without using any extra real estate on the site.

Play with colors

The most discussed topic by UI/UX designers is definitely worth the time invested — choosing the color of your CTAs.

A QuickSprout study shows that Orange & Red CTAs boost conversions up to 32%

Identifying what works for your page is simple when you run an A/B test with the only change being the color of the CTA.

On the other hand, fixing one color scheme while website optimization is in progress can be tricky. Narrow it down to a couple, get the pages ready with both schemes and do a Split URL test to understand which one is more engaging. Pick the better performing one and test it with another scheme if you are not convinced.

Make onboarding simpler

Signups are the first step to conversions and most vital for your website optimization process. Having more signups gives you the option to nurture these users into conversions generating revenue. Keep piling on the signups by making your forms simpler. No matter how big your brand is, users will always want the onboarding process to be as simple as possible.

Analyzing user intention during your signup stage is easier with the right Form Analytics tool. Here are a few insights you can gain by testing your form:

• The percent of Starters in comparison to the Visitors helps understand user intent.
• Conversion compared to visits gives only a vague picture. Do not fret when visitors drop-off. Your form needs tweaking only if starters abandon your form.
• The average time taken to fill can be benchmarked against what you trust to be the norm for your form
• Hesitation time is how you pinpoint which form fields are problematic and need to be simplified or done away with

While all this might sound complex, with the right data and reports, it becomes a simple change to make. For example, if users are hesitating in a field which requires only a set of fixed responses, you can provide a drop-down box or have an ajax prompt. This will make it simpler and also invoke an action instead of the user having to hunt for information and fill it. Also, when given options, the drop-off number reduce drastically (people tend to randomly select an option if unsure).

Do not stop with Form Analytics for your sign-up pages, A/B test them too! One of Zarget’s earliest wins was the impact it created for Freshservice, a Freshdesk product, by improving their signups by 37%. After extensive testing, password fatigue was identified as the cause for drop-offs. An A/B test was done with a variation that included social login options, and it increased traction. Read in detail about this case study here.

Always keep optimizing! Website Optimization should never stop!

Never stop with the little tweaks! While some of the small changes mentioned here could be your big break, the realistic approach is to keep chipping off your drop-off numbers with the small tweaks on a consistent basis.

Keep optimizing day in and day out and make these changes based on data. Eventually, your site will achieve user experience ultimatum.

This article was originally posted on Zarget Blogs.