10 Reasons Why Your CRO Methods Are Failing You

Still seeing no conversions despite pulling in tons of traffic on your website? Then you may be missing or getting a few conversion rate optimization tactics wrong.

While it’s great that your ads are getting a lot of clicks, increasing conversion rates is still the main goal – whether it’s to increase your email subscribers, book appointments or sell products. Keep in mind that more traffic doesn’t always mean more conversions.

A high traffic with little to no conversions means there is something missing in your strategy. It’s possible that you’re not attracting the right audience or your calls-to-action are not compelling enough. A reputable conversion rate optimization agency to help you find the missing piece of the puzzle.

RELATED READING: Top Conversion Optimization Metrics for Digital Marketers

It’s time to get to the bottom of your “clicks but no conversion” problem. As the saying goes, “90% of solving the problem is realizing there is one.”

10 reasons your conversion rate optimization efforts are failing

1. You don’t know and understand your audience well.

Conversion rate optimization experts say that the true goal of our optimizations is understanding the true behavior of our consumers. And it’s the holy grail we’re after for one key reason: Understanding consumer behavior without flaw, leads inevitably to conversions.

With a thorough understanding of your audience you can craft accurate buyer personas your ideal customers can relate to. And will set the tone for how you communicate your business and products in such a way that encourages them to transact.

Note that this is where your business data is critical. Because buyer personas that aren’ built on it tend to be inaccurate and ineffective.

Make sure to conduct market research and check your analytics to uncover patterns in your visitors’ site behavior. Are there similarities among how different visitors engage with your content? What devices do they use when viewing your site? At what point do they abandon their journey?

Answering these questions through analytics can help develop an initial idea of who your customers are. But remember: Engaging with your audiences directly and getting feedback through surveys or focus group discussions will provide you with unmatched, quality data regarding your audiences.

Make the active effort to get to know them, and take their similarities to develop a persona that can guide your technical and content implementations.

2. You don’t understand search intent.

Search intent is the golden key to ranking high on search engine results pages (SERPs). Search intent is the “Why” behind every search and the purpose behind the keywords entered into the search bar.

If the content on your pages is not aligned with the search intent, you won’t convert visitors to paying customers. That’s because the mismatch will throw off and turn away your visitors before they even begin considering a transaction.

RELATED READING: A Complete Search Intent Guide for Marketers

What you offer is not what visitors need at the time they conducted their search, resulting in a “no conversion” scenario.

Conduct your own search using your target keywords. Then, analyze the top pages that already rank for those keywords. Check the type of content (is it an article or an app?), the information shared, and the angle. Create new content or improve existing content that match these top-ranking pages.

But more than that, make sure to assess how the top results page looks like – are the top ten results feature more of a navigational intent? Or informational?

Optimize your pages in accordance to your findings.

3. You’re not speaking the right language.

Another reason why your conversion rate optimization efforts aren’t working is because you’re not getting your message across. You might be using too much jargons or vague wording that isn’t resonating with your audiences’ desires or pain points. The point is, you’re not speaking the right language.

Revisit your interactions with your target audience such as past surveys and inquiries. Take note of the following:

• terms they used to describe their problems and the solutions they need;
• decision-makers – is the language you use understandable to the persons who make the decision to sign up
• how your competitors communicating to your shared audiences.

How to improve your conversion rate? Incorporate in your ads and landing pages the language used by your ideal customer.

4. You’re attracting the wrong type of traffic.

Is your high traffic not bringing in sales? It’s likely that you’re acquiring the wrong type of traffic; meaning the wrong people are visiting your website.

Keep in mind that your page visitors should be part of your target audience who are looking for the solutions you offer. If you’re offering consultancy services to start-ups, you would want entrepreneurs to visit your website, and not anybody else just poking around.

To acquire the right traffic, select better keywords by conducting extensive keyword research. Focus on keywords that convert or those that match your target audience’s search intent.

The, improve your content to ensure that it aligned with your conversion funnel

5. You have no clear conversion funnel.

The reason behind your low conversions might be the lack of a clear conversion funnel on your website. A conversion funnel is the user flow that maps customers’ journey on your website from the landing page to the page where they convert or take a desired action.

If your visitors don’t know what it is you want them to do, they will likely abandon your page and move on to your competitor.

Develop ideal conversion funnels for your website. The stages in each funnel may be with different paths but all should provide helpful information that will guide visitors to the next step.

You must also take note of UX design which ensures that your visitors would be able to move down your funnel easily.

6. You don’t maintain contact with your leads

You’re getting a lot of visitors to your website, but why are they not abandoning their shopping carts? Why are they not moving to the other sales stage? You might not be nurturing your leads.

You need to devise a strategy to invite back leads who didn’t proceed to the checkout page. Here are some tips:

Send emails to re-engage your visitors and offer assistance to help them move down your funnel.

Launch an ads campaign on social media that targets your audience. If your email list is segmented by signup location, you may set your ads to display to users in these locations.

Include a Live Chat feature on your pages for instant help to your visitors.

Your leads are already convinced that they need the solutions you offer. They just need a gentle nudge to convert.

7. You don’t highlight your product/service features well

You have good products/services and you’re getting high traffic on a daily basis. But why is your conversion rate not improving?

The problem is likely that you’re not presenting your offer well. Your offer isn’t compelling enough to visitors. You’re not convincing your visitors that the solutions you offer are better than others.

You can remedy this issue by highlighting the features of your products and services that your visitors really need. If your offer is similar with your competitors’, put emphasis on what makes you different – this can be a 24/7 customer service or discounted delivery fees for succeeding orders.

8. You’re not providing the right calls-to-action

A call-to-action (CTA) is a directive that encourages visitors to take a desired action. But it’s not always that visitors will follow these directives, hence not convert. You might not be providing the CTAs.

Analyze the content of your page and decide the right CTA that will lead visitors to the next sales funnel. For instance, if the content provides introductory information, the suitable CTA is “Know More” or “Watch A Demo”. This will build a value proposition instead of rushing visitors to sign up without giving them all the information they need to make a buying decision.

You may also check out your successful competitors and what CTAs they use on their pages.

9. You’re not providing alternative CTAs

Today’s customers are not easily amused. They have the luxury of scouring the internet to compare and contrast products and services. Another possible reason that your conversion rate optimization efforts aren’t leading to conversions is that your CTAs are demanding commitment from your visitors.

The fact is, only a percentage of your visitors will actually convert into customers. They may need more information to help them decide or they might have reservations about the checkout process. Instead of rushing them into signing up – which will likely end in them abandoning your pages – you may provide alternative CTAs with lower commitment than your primary CTAs.

For instance, you may include “Talk to Us” or “Watch Demo” as an alternative to “Buy Now”.

10. Your ad’s message does not match the landing page

On one hand, a case study suggests that matching the message in an ad and the landing page can boost conversion rates by more than 200%. On the other hand, a mismatch between the message in your ad and the landing page will unlikely lead to a conversion. It might even irk your visitor and move to your competitor.

Your visitors have an expectation on what to see on your page. They expect to see solutions to their problems. Your ads will appear as clickbaits if they’re not aligned with the content on your landing page. Make sure your ad’s message matches the content on the landing page.

Now that you’ve identified the missing piece of the conversion puzzle, it’s time to explore effective ways on how to improve conversions in every page of your website – not only in landing pages of your ads.

5 pro tips for conversion rate optimization

• Understand your audience better – Using your email list, you may segment your audience based on the stage they belong in the sales funnel. Visitors who are just browsing around might need more information about your offer, so they belong at the top of the funnel. Returning customers who might just need assistance in the checkout section are at the bottom. Reach out to them accordingly.
• Choose the best version of your landing page – This goes without saying that you should create different versions of your landing page with varying sales pitches. You may make a version that highlights certain features of the product and another that focuses on its appearance. Then, conduct an A/B testing to choose which will best result in conversions.
• Maximize the power of social proof – People don’t typically take the first offer. They browse around, ask family and friends for recommendations, and reach customer reviews. Help them make that buying decision by featuring case studies, customer reviews, ratings, a list of your well-known customers and partners, and other social proof.
• Let your visitors judge your offer by themselves – Consider offering free trials, if possible. This will ease the pressure on visitors to commit and let them test different products/services before signing up for the best.
• Optimize your landing pages – The landing page is where the conversions will occur, so it should be optimized well. The design should promote user experience and the content must be unique and valuable. It’s also important that the content on the landing page is responsive to your visitors’ pain points and able to address objections.

Overall, aim to make your visitor’s sales journey convenient and satisfying.

Key takeaways

Getting a lot of clicks on your ads is good, but it’s better to convert these into sign-ups and sales. While a high traffic is beneficial to your brand awareness, what truly matters is the increase in your balance sheet. In boosting your conversion rate, remember the following:

• Identify the problem with your ads and landing page. You’re not converting enough because of a missing piece of the puzzle;
• Nearly all conversion issues can be traced back to your knowledge of your audience. Know their pain points well to allow you to effectively nurture a meaningful connection with them.
• Optimize your landing page. The landing page is where the conversion occurs. Make sure it has all the information your visitor needs to make a buying decision.

Did you notice any of these missteps in your conversion rate optimization process? Or are you hearing about these for the first time? Shoot us a message if you have further questions, and we’ll gladly help out!

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