How to Improve Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) and Turn More Clicks Into Customers
You're doing all you can to rank well in Google and get more traffic. You're probably even using social media to bring in more traffic and maybe you've been successful at both, but your visitors aren't filling out forms, hitting the buy now button or calling you.
SEO content isn't the same as copywriting or conversion focused content. The days of writing for the search engines is over. Ranking means nothing if it doesn't lead to sales.
Ask yourself this; Would you hire your content writer as a salesman for your company? The answer is probably no. That isn't their skillset. You need people with real-world sales experience because your website isn't there just to look pretty and rank well in Google. It's there to help you make sales.
What Is Conversion Rate Optimization?
If you are talking about the full process, it involves competitor research, an analysis of all of your social media profiles and posts, a review of all of the ads you've run in the past and more, before we even get to On-Page CRO.
In this post, I'll give you tips on how to vastly improve your conversion rates. For a free 15-Minute Consultation, Click here.
For the purpose of this post we'll stick to On-Page CRO
Your website copy should be a closer, not a greeter. Anyone can say “Welcome!” But if that’s all your site is doing, you’re basically waving people in and then letting them wander out without buying anything. In CRO terms, the magic isn’t in the hello, it’s in the handshake that seals the deal.
That’s where the real sales flow comes in.
If you run a business, your web pages are a sales pitch. They aren't there just to tell everybody about your company. It is your website, but it's not about you. It's about your visitors and what problem you are going to solve for them.
Just like a good sales pitch offline, your page needs an introduction, the body of the pitch, and the close.
You Need A Great Introduction If You Want A Chance To Make The Sale
That top paragraph, the stuff above the fold, is the most important content on the page. Your visitors will decide in the first paragraph whether or not they are going to read anything else or give you a chance to close them.
If you start with something like "Our company is the best such and such in the world and we've won these awards and we have this and that and did I mention we are the best such and such in the world?" then you've already lost them before you get a chance to pitch them.
They don't really care about your company as much as you'd like them to. They don't care if you like to take long walks on the beach with your dog or those awards you won. If they are one of the few who do, they will click over to your About Us page where all of that stuff belongs.
Instead start with the reason they came to your page. What are you saying on social media, in your ads or your emails? Why are they coming to the page? Don't worry about the people that randomly find you, write to your ideal customers and continue whatever conversation you started in those emails, on social or in your ads.
This post is mostly about optimizing your web pages, but if you have an email, ad or social media campaign and need a professionally designed landing page, visit Professional Landing Pages.com
If you are writing to everyone, you are writing to no one.
In this post, my first paragraph says this; You're doing all you can to rank well in Google and get more traffic. You're probably even using social media to bring in more traffic and maybe you've been successful at both, but your visitors aren't filling out forms, hitting the buy now button or calling you.
If none of that applies to you, then you're not my ideal customer. Maybe you'll still read my post. I hope so, but I am writing to those of you who are struggling with getting a higher conversion rate.
And if you are still reading this, then my introduction did it's job.
The Body of Your Sales Pitch
Some SEO pros will tell you that Google says EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Trustworthiness and Authority) isn't a ranking factor so you can just ignore it. Some will even say site speed, AI Search and even your content doesn't really matter as long as it has the right keywords and you build lots of inbound links.
2010 called and wants their SEO strategy back.
They can get pages to rank with that strategy, unfortunately, because Google is still using an outdated system. But when people get to your page, you aren't going to sell anything and maybe that's the reason you're having trouble with conversions right now.
If your SEO is ignoring EEAT they are doing a disservice to you. Period. Of course we want to talk about your expertise, your experience, what makes you trustworthy and what makes you an authority on the topic. Anyone with sales experience knows that.
The body of your page/sale pitch needs to establish EEAT and why your solution is the best choice for the problem they came here to solve.
Of course it needs to also be visually appealing. Use bullet points, blockquotes, images, video, infographics, and more.
Since we're on that topic, what makes me think I know anything about conversion rate optimization?
My name is Chris McElroy, known as Chris McElroy SEO online and that's the name of my SEO Agency. I built my first website in 1996. So I've been doing SEO and CRO for more than 28 years.
And that isn't all. I'm 66 and my first sales job was at age 16, selling subscriptions to a magazine called TV Guide. So I'm a salesperson that learned how to do SEO, not some SEO guy trying to learn how to sell.
I established expertise, experience, and authority, now for trustworthiness; If you'd like to chat with me, book an appointment here. I don't show slides, do demos or presentations or any of that. We share screens and pull up your website and I give you free tips on how to improve it.
I won't even give you a quote unless you ask for one.
Now Let's Close Some Sales or Generate Some Leads
Clear, confident calls-to-action that make it nearly impossible to walk away without taking the next step are the key to closing the sale. Don't just think buttons or text links. Large bold CTAs with images work great but don't overdo it.
Look back through my post again. This is Tumblr so I have some limitations, but notice that every single CTA is worded differently. If your 1st CTA said "Contact Us For A Free Quote" never say that again on that page. If that didn't get them to click the first time, it won't get them to click it when they see it again. Your next CTA can say "Click here to get started" or just "Get Started".
Imagine the person reading your page as you write your content. Keep them interested.
You don't necessarily need a ton of content on your page. Just enough to tell them what you need to tell them. There is no magic number of words per page for SEO and certainly not for CRO.
When all three of these pieces are in sync, your website doesn’t just “inform” anymore. It strategically turns your visitors into buyers.
There are 3 types of people who visit your page. The first knows exactly what they want and all they need is the introduction and a CTA. The 2nd type needs a little more validation. That's where the EEAT and other info about your offer comes into play. The 3rd type is going to read everything on the page and maybe even check out your about us page and more before making a decision.
Write your content to satisfy all 3 types of Visitors.
The principle of "Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them" is a fundamental public speaking structure, often referred to as the Aristotelian triptych.
In Toastmasters, the opening serves to introduce the topic and outline the speech (the first part), the body delivers the main content (the second part), and the conclusion summarizes key points and provides a memorable closing (the third part)
So, the principles I'm telling you about when applying the same thing to content is not new. It's a tried and true practice.
If you have any questions I'm happy to answer them. You can contact us here or book a free 15-minute consultation.
You can also use the ask me anything button here on the blog or make a comment.
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