How to Improve Conversion Rates for Your Website: Why Isn't My Landing Page Converting?

With over a decade spent optimizing landing pages for various businesses, I’ve seen it all. I’ve been on the front lines of conversion rate optimization (CRO) at companies that spent hundreds of millions of dollars on A/B testing (also known as multivariate or split testing). Through these experiences, I’ve developed an intuitive feel for what will work and what won’t. However, before you dive into A/B testing, it’s crucial to establish a solid baseline. This means diagnosing and fixing the most common conversion rate issues, as outlined below. Once these are addressed, you can use A/B testing to gauge the impact of your optimization efforts, which will most likely yield significant improvements.

Conversion Rate Optimization Tips

Optimize Site Performance. Prioritize fast loading times for your site to avoid frustrating visitors. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to assess your site speed and recognize areas needing improvement. To speed up your site, consider compressing images, minifying code, implementing a content delivery network (CDN), and caching static resources.

Make Customers Feel Safe. Provide a secure connection (HTTPS) on your site to assure visitors of their safety when providing personal or payment information. Get a free SSL certificate from providers such as Let’s Encrypt or Cloudflare and install it on your site to encrypt data exchanged between your server and your visitors’ browsers. If you use Shopify they will provide you with one. Display trust badges from respected sources like McAfee Secure, Norton Secured, or BBB Accredited Business to assure visitors that your site is verified and trustworthy.

Engaging Product Descriptions. Develop clear and compelling product descriptions that accurately portray the benefits and features of your products. This guides visitors to understand what they’re getting and why they should purchase from you. Make use of bullet points, headings, and white space to increase readability and scanability of your copy.

High-Quality Product Images. Incorporate large, high-resolution product images to assure visitors of the quality and appearance of your products. Display your products from various angles and in different contexts. Enable zoom functionality and provide multiple images for each product variant, such as color or size.

Social Proof. Showcase testimonials, reviews, ratings, or case studies from your existing customers to boost visitor confidence in your credibility and value proposition. Collect and display positive feedback from your customers, highlighting how your products have fulfilled their goals or solved their problems. Integrate social media widgets or plugins to display your online presence and engagement on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Incentives and Offers. Propose incentives or urgency triggers to motivate visitors to take immediate action. Create limited-time offers, discounts, coupons, free trials, or free shipping promotions that can entice visitors to purchase before they miss out on a great deal. Implement countdown timers, stock indicators, or social proof notifications to showcase current customer activity and purchases.

Seamless Checkout Experience. Simplify and streamline your checkout process to prevent cart abandonment or second thoughts. Reduce the number of steps, fields, and pages required to complete a purchase. Offer multiple payment options such as credit cards, PayPal, Shop Pay, Apple Pay, or Google Pay, and allow guest checkout without requiring account creation.

Enhanced Post-Purchase Experiences. Set up automated follow-up communication or support for your customers after purchase to maintain their satisfaction and loyalty. Send confirmation emails, thank-you messages, tracking information, feedback requests, or cross-sell recommendations after an order is placed. Provide easy access to customer service channels like phone, email, chatbot, or live chat for any potential questions or issues with their order.

Consistent Ad and Landing Page. Ensure your ad aligns with the offer, headline, and design of your landing page. This consistency prevents visitor confusion or disappointment, promoting a smooth user experience. Deliver a message that’s relevant and matches the visitor’s intent.

User-friendly UI/UX. Design your landing page to be user-friendly and visually appealing. This can enhance visitor’s perception of your brand and product quality. Use clear and attractive design elements, such as colors, fonts, images, and videos that resonate with your target audience and product niche. Implement a responsive design to ensure your landing page is visually appealing on any device.

Use FOMO. Create a sense of Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) on your landing page to increase visitor’s urgency and desire to buy from you. Use psychological triggers like scarcity, social proof, or exclusivity to induce a sense of urgency, encouraging visitors to act swiftly or risk missing out on an excellent opportunity.

Compelling CTAs. Feature clear and compelling Calls to Action (CTAs) on your landing page. These direct visitors towards the next steps, such as “Buy Now”, “Add to Cart”, or “Claim Your Offer”. Use strong and specific verbs that communicate the value and benefits of your offer, and strategically position your CTAs for maximum visibility on your landing page.

Product-led Blog Content. Include blog content on your landing page that showcases how your product can address your visitors’ problems or needs. This can enhance their interest and conviction to purchase from you. Create and link to blog posts highlighting your product features, benefits, use cases, testimonials, or case studies. Use keywords that align with your visitors’ search intent.

Quality Traffic. Attract relevant and high-quality visitors to your landing page. This can boost your conversion rate and optimize your ad budget. Tailor your ads to the right audience segments based on demographics, interests, behaviors, or their stage in the buyer’s journey. Use negative keywords to filter out irrelevant or low-intent searches.

The Role of A/B Testing in CRO

Once you’ve tackled these common conversion rate issues, it’s time to test your changes, and that’s where A/B testing comes into play. A/B testing is a potent tool in the optimization process. It allows you to compare different versions of a page or element to see which one performs better. By making changes to one variant and comparing it against a control, you can assess the effectiveness of different elements in real time with real users. This data-driven approach takes the guesswork out of optimization, providing concrete evidence for making informed decisions about the changes you’ve implemented. Whether you’re testing headlines, images, CTAs, or entire landing pages, A/B testing delivers valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t for your specific audience. If you’d like to get started with A/B testing, you can check out this guide I wrote on how to set up A/B testing for your online business.

Improving conversion rates is a journey rather than a destination. The common issues we’ve addressed above will set you on the right path. Once you fix these issues, A/B testing can guide the way forward, shining a light on what clicks with your audience. This continuous cycle of optimizing and testing will keep your site evolving with your customers’ needs, setting the stage for lasting success.