Here are 8 Reasons Your Conversion Rates Are So Low
Nearly all businesses have a website, which is no surprise. After all, a website is the cornerstone of any successful enterprise in today’s world. But it’s not all good news. Many websites built by small business owners and marketing teams are ineffective and poorly optimized for conversions.
What are Conversions?
Conversion refers to the instant when the target user takes a desired action. Websites that have been created to convert customers are optimized made to persuade and lead them on. As such, the end goal of this persuasion is what’s known as conversion. The percentage of users that take the desired action defines the conversion rate.
Conversion rate is an essential metric that marketing departments use to evaluate the performance of advertising campaigns, among other things. These rates go high or low depending on many factors. Then again, conversion rates will vary in relation to industry, offer, and individual goals.
What Is a Good Conversion Rate?
Whether you are selling products online, collecting emails, looking for signups, or getting people to download content, you will essentially have an estimate of how many of these actions will be taken. When this number is achieved or surpassed, it shows your conversion rates are good. In terms of actual numbers, an analysis showed that a 12% conversion rate is considered good. So, what do you do when your conversion rate is lower than 12%? In the following section, we will highlight 8 causes of low conversion rates.
#1. Prospects Can’t Find the Call-To-Actions (CTAs)
A call-to-action is the specific action a visitor must take to achieve a certain outcome or action on the website. Let’s use “Sign Up Now” as an example. Usually a button, it’s created so that the user knows what to do, has a clear expectation of what they’re getting into, and has a real reason to go there. When these expectations aren’t clearly displayed and strategically placed on the page, the web user will leave without signing up or taking any other desired action. Eventually, the number of signups generated will be too low.
#2. The CTAs are NOT Specific
Asking the web visitor to do three things consecutively will often result in confusion. You only have a few seconds to attract and maintain the visitor’s attention to your website. Therefore, if they end up using most of this time, contemplating what to do, you will most certainly lose their attention. This is one of the most common reasons for high bounce rates. Having specific and clear CTAs tell the customer exactly what is most important for you and them. If applicable, include only one call to action for every web page or section.
#3. Your Current Offer Might Not Be Working
When you have created an offer, say a free trial for a product, and people are not taking it, they probably don’t need it or want something else. Inasmuch as you want the user to take the desired action, prioritize how it benefits them first. In most cases, businesses focus on what they get in return and plan advert campaigns based on this. Such an approach leads to the creation of offers that aren’t needed. Accordingly, the best way to create desirable offers is by A/B testing different offers. These tests will reveal what’s working and what’s not.
#4. You Are Not Remarketing
Remarketing is a form of Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) technique where a subsequent marketing strategy is used to persuade prospects who fail to convert at the first instance. This method is highly effective if a user shows interest, but they failed to act as expected. Remarketing can be done using Ads, follow-up content, and many other methods. However, this CRO method works best when you have a way to contact the prospect or accept cookies from your website.
#5. The Website’s User Interface is Not Friendly
Website design has a huge impact on conversion rates. Given that User Interface (UI) is an essential element of web design, you need to ensure that it’s intuitive, simple, direct, and aesthetic. In other words, you should aim to make web visitor’s jobs seamless and enjoyable. That’s how they stay on the website and get converted effortlessly. If your website’s UI is not inviting, the visitor will get frustrated and look elsewhere.
#6. Website’s Loading Speed Is Low
If your website takes more than 3 seconds to load resources to a user, they will most likely leave the site. In essence, the slower the website loads, the higher the probability of losing the user’s patience. There are many reasons websites why websites take longer to load. Here are performance enhancements to improve your website speed. So, if you are trying to get a user to download a free template, make sure the process is fast and seamless.
#7. Your Website Is Not Optimized for Mobile
You have heard or read it this time and again — mobile-friendly websites are the future. Based on the current trends, this is accurate. Your ideal customer is visiting your website using their smartphone. If the website is incompatible or unresponsive, they will leave, contributing to low conversion rates. Mobile-friendliness means that the website can be easily accessed and used on the go on devices like iPads and smartphones. Reach out to a professional web designer to help you make your website mobile responsive.
#8. The Copywriting Is Off
Copywriting is an essential factor that contributes to the conversion rate. You might have the perfect solution to solve a prospect’s problem, but if you can’t convince them, they’re gone. This is where excellent copywriting comes in. Copy that doesn’t apply formulas like Pain-Agitate-Solution and AIDA will struggle to persuade or drive customers from point A to B. Good copywriting will also make sure your website ranks on search engines to promote discovery and web dominance.
Conclusion
Getting a fair ROI from websites requires a good conversion rate. This, as you have seen, is not easy to achieve without putting in a great deal of effort. Conversion rate optimization addresses most of the points we have discussed above. Even so, don’t rush into changing and tweaking things and expect overnight success. Instead, outline strategies for improving conversion rates and roll them out gradually. Ultimately, you will see the rates go up, and your business getting back on track.