Conversion rate optimisation is essential to convert inbound traffic into actual paying customers. CRO, as it is commonly known, is not widely practised as it should, especially by small businesses. Even for businesses that do so, mistakes are typical. Here is a list of all too common mistakes small business marketers make with regards to CRO with potential fixes:

Focusing Too Much on SEO

The first and foremost CRO mistake small scale marketers make is not doing it at all. Understandably, small businesses start out with limited budgets. If funds are available, companies use it all on search engine optimisation. For effective results, marketing funds should be evenly split between SEO and CRO. Or, spend more on SEO only if landing pages are seriously lacking inbound traffic. It does make sense to bet it all on the traffic, but it’s equally important to ensure the page is optimised to retain incoming visitors and compel them to make a purchase. If you currently don’t have a CRO plan, hire a reputable digital marketing firm like Shout Agency to get on the CRO train before it’s too late.

Not Prioritising Site Speed or Responsiveness

One of the most important components of CRO is speed. Rather, site speed. If the website is slow, both SEO and CRO can suffer. Most marketers overlook this aspect. Well, don’t. Slow loading pages, which are sites that take three seconds or longer to load, are penalised by search engines and naturally have high bounce rates. Therefore, formulate an actionable plan to speed up the site by upgrading the design and cleaning it up. At the same time, do consider how responsive the website is as well. That means the site should seamlessly load on smaller screens of handheld devices. If a mobile user clicks on a PPC ad and lands on the page, if the page doesn’t load properly, then that’s a potential customer you are losing. Therefore, start investing in making your landing pages speedy as well as responsive.

Invisible CTAs

You have written a great call to action for the page, but no one is clicking on it. Have you checked how visible the CTA button is? Obviously, interested visitors cannot click on a CTA if it’s being obscured by images, text, or the colour. Choose a colour for the CTA button that contrasts with the rest of the web page. The CTA button should stand out prominently to grab a visitor’s attention.

Using Widely Distributed Stock Images

It’s common for marketers to include a lovely image on landing pages. However, did you choose this image from a free stock photo website? Then the chances are high that visitors have seen the same stock photo dozens of times on other websites. If the photo seems fake, then visitors will not be particularly intrigued by the rest of the content on the page. Therefore, make sure you choose unique images. You can still use stock photos, but make sure the photos are rarely used elsewhere.

Interstitials!

Interstitials or pop-up ads do not really belong on landing pages where visitors make purchase decisions. They discourage visitors from proceeding further even before they have seen the rest of the content. Therefore, avoid pop-up windows or interstitials unless you are obliged to show a legal declaration.

Pay careful attention to the above mistakes and make sure your marketing team doesn’t continue to make the same mistakes. Learn and perfect your strategy for the best results.