Conversions, Part Four: How to Optimize the Conversion Process

If you’ve followed the advice in our earlier pieces, hopefully you’ll have started to get a stream of conversions. Once the pump is primed with these first visitors, the next step is to optimize the process so you can scale upward. Here then are our best practices for conversion optimization. 

Follow through on the promise

The single most important thing you have to do is to follow up on what you promised in the conversion. If your offer is too pie-in-the-sky and the customer is disappointed at the end, that’s a lost lead. Worse, it’s very easy for a company to get a bad reputation online thanks to social media. So, do what you say you will!

A/B testing

You would be surprised at how much a little tweak will increase or decrease conversions on your landing pages and website. That’s what A/B testing is for. A/B testing lets you compare the performance of two (or more) variations of your site and see which ones perform better. A/B testing is a discipline all to itself, but learning how to do it will let you test new things without destroying what you’ve built on.

Talk with your leads

Reaching out to the leads that converted through email is a great way to get feedback on your business. You can get testimonials, discover problems, and learn what new things your existing customers might want or need next. Funnels don’t end at the first conversion. Each product and service that you can get an existing customer to convert on extends the lifetime value of that customer.

Ask for and respond to reviews

There are lots of places where customers can leave reviews about your business. You should find where they are leaving reviews (e.g. Google, Yelp, Facebook, Twitter), and give a response to them. This will show others that you’re actively communicating with your customer base, which creates a powerful positive impression. Don’t be afraid to ask for reviews or referrals either!

Do Regular SEO Audits

Search Engine Optimization is part of the conversion process. Anything you can do to improve SEO will bring in more leads. A once-a-month check for things like broken backlinks and keyword rank checks will serve you in good stead.

Consider PPC

Organic lead generation methods will take you part of the way, but to get the maximum visibility it’s best to turn to paid advertising methods such as pay-per-click. If your conversions are bringing in enough revenue that you have some left over, you can really explode your number of leads with a good PPC campaign.  Do your research beforehand so you can get the most bang for your buck.

Scaling a funnel is like building a fire. It takes time and care not to extinguish it, but once it is going well you can add new things without destroying what worked. By optimizing your funnel as you grow, you’ll be prepared for the increased traffic and gain even more business.