Every online store owner wants a higher conversion rate; the conversion optimization plan makes you one step closer to your dream conversion, but why do you need this plan in the first place?
It turns out that despite numerous Youtube videos on conversion optimization delivered by self-taught eCommerce gurus, store owners still struggle to identify website issues and implement appropriate changes.
The conversion optimization strategy (plan) will help you set your assumptions aside and do it like a Pro!
What is the conversion optimization plan, and why do you need one?
A conversion optimization plan is a prioritized list of changes you would like to test and implement in your store to achieve a good conversion rate.
Online store owners and self-taught conversion experts often jump into conversion rate optimization without a real plan or a methodology.
CRO is not a one-off quick fix but a comprehensive process that requires these key elements to be successful:
- Analyzing qualitative and quantitative data on your customer behavior
- Identifying areas of the website to optimize
- Testing, evaluation, implementing changes based on controlled experiments such as A/B tests.
As you can see, CRO requires a methodological approach; simple guesswork will give little to no results.
When you optimize your store for conversions, you need to go through all five stages of the design-thinking process if you are looking for excellent results.
Simplified Conversion Optimization Plan For Online Store Owners
The professional Conversion rate optimization (CRO) process takes time, requires professional tools and knowledge.
Nevertheless, there is still something you can do to create your personal CRO plan that will WORK!
Step 1: Define your business goals and KPIs. Do you want to increase the conversion rate? How about your average order value (AOV)? Or perhaps reduce your cart abandonment rate?
Step 2: Getting and Analyzing Data. You can use Google Analytics and Hotjar. Hotjar is a great tool that allows you to see a heatmap and video recording of your on-site activity. Note: you need to have strong analytical skills and some understanding of consumer behavior.
In the ideal situation, you would segment your audience based on the user personas and acquisition channels. But even if you omit this step, you will still get positive results. At this stage, you need to correlate the data to your KPIs.
Step 3: Forming hypothesis. A hypothesis helps you define what changes you would like to test, what outcome you would expect, and why these changes will result in this outcome. This stage serves as your conversion rate optimization proposal. You can use this formula to create your hypothesis.
“If
For example, if we show a personalized promotional offer based on the user's behavior, then we will increase the conversion rate because the offer will be more attractive to the user.
Step 4: Compiling Optimization Plan. Based on your hypothesis, start preparing the plan and materials. You will have:
- Prioritized list of changes to test (your hypothesis)
- Alternative copy or design to test.
Step 5: A/B testing. You can use a free tool called Google Optimized. You can easily create a variant version in Google Optimize without actually changing anything on your site. Follow the tutorial below to set it up properly.
Step 6: Analysis. It is the moment of truth! In Google optimize, you will see a conversion rate optimization report with winning elements and their significance. You need to decide whether you want to implement them or test other ideas.
Step 7: Implementation. At this stage, you or the developer need to implement those changes. In our conversion rate optimization deliverables, implementation is included (for the CRO booster plan only).
I know it sounds like a lot and IT IS a lot! But your effort will pay off. If you want to remove the guesswork from your conversion optimization process, use our professional CRO help designed for online brand founders.