CRO & SEO in Harmony with Responsive Websites

SEO and CRO can celebrate together for responsive website development.

Responsive websites have been around for a relatively short while in the grand scheme of online marketing, but are growing more and more valuable in terms of usability and conversion potential. The ideal “responsive website” is a site that works and views well on all digital devices from computer monitors to smart phones. A responsive site bypasses the options of creating separate websites templates for different devices like iPhone and iPad, and deploys a more intelligent site that simply adjusts to the user’s device. This is wonderful for search optimization, because it eliminates the need for tracking a mobile-specific site and maintains identical content and near-identical structure from the display url down to specific page elements. In the SEO world, a responsive website is a dream come true. In the CRO world, responsive sites open doorways into a conversion rate frontier.

Mobile traffic is rocketing forward.

Mobile traffic has increased from 4% of total web traffic in Q4 of 2010 to 13% at Q4 of 2011, according to a recent study by Walker Sands Communications. This is astounding, though not surprising. Analytics gurus across the nation have seen mobile traffic increase over the years and understand a new future in mobile potential is coming and we need to prepare.

Convert users across multiple devices simultaneously.

That is, if you prepare for it. So what does this conversion rate frontier look like? Conversion campaigns on a responsive website page combine desktop, mobile, and tablet into one comprehensive campaign. While the devices need to be segmented separately, a unity can be gathered under one campaign. Responsive websites do exactly what we want websites to do: “we just want it to work everywhere!” In this case, we want them to convert everywhere! For example, lets say you have a business that generates online leads and you notice a growing potential with mobile users from your analytics data. Building a responsive landing page would allow you to continue testing and converting your current desktop visitors and your mobile users with the same page URL, content, message, call-to-action, and more. Google recently commented about responsive websites on their blog saying that “Creating two sites would allow us to better target specific hardware, but maintaining a single shared site preserves a canonical URL… and simplifies the sharing of web addresses”. Responsive website pages are a win-win for SEO, CRO, and PPC advertising campaigns alike.

Adapt or die

If you are considering a separate mobile version of your site, you may want to reconsider. Building a responsive website that works across multiple devices will serve you better in the search marketing landscape. Quite honestly, the timing for planning a responsive website is better than ever. Start diving into your analytics now to uncover historic mobile data. Has the percentage increased or decreased? Why? Are mobile users increasing on your site and do they have a high bounce rate? Responsive website development, under the close eye of conversion optimization, will capture your users and provide new opportunities for website growth.

If you find this as interesting and inspiring as we do, contact us and let us know.

Start Converting Your “Misbehaving” Landing Pages.

Conversion optimization is a lot like getting a 2 year old to go where you want them to. You have to eliminate all distractions and point them down one path they can follow. Even then they can surprise you. I have 3 kids under 3 and they all need directions to follow. Chances are, your landing pages could use some direction as well. Consider these tips below to get your landing page at its peak optimization level.

If you’re still trying to imagine what it’s like to have 3 kids under three, the word “chaos” sums it up. So how do you control all that chaos? One step at a time:

Step 1: Diagnose your landing page.

Just take a look at where your page stands from a user perspective and in your analytics. Neither one lies! Is your landing page easy to use? Have you tested it with your target demographic? What is your current conversion rate? Do you know your current conversion rate? Uncover the facts first then start thinking about where you need to be. When I see my kids misbehaving, I can’t just let it continue to happen – I do something about it. Do something about your misbehaving landing pages!

Step 2 : Make a hypothesis

Ok, so after you diagnose your landing pages and uncover areas for improvement, it’s time to make a hypothesis on what changes could potentially increase conversions. Before you immediately say “Just redesign it!”, consider the following. I can’t very well approach my wife and say, “can we just start over with these kids?” I could, but she would laugh and say, ” just start small” – so that’s what we do. Start small by making the easiest corrections first. Those small changes could make a huge difference in conversion rate. This could be as simple as creating a stronger call to action or reducing the number of form fields. Here’s a quick fact for you: Did you know – in a past study of course – each form field you add to a form could potentially cost you about 3-4% in conversion rates?! Now, deciding what to actually change on your landing pages requires a clear goal and call to action. For example, if your goal is ecommerce sales, you may consider removing friction from your checkout system. If your goal is qualified leads you may choose to focus on conveying impeccable trustworthiness and credibility. After you develop your hypothesis, it’s time to test.

Step 3: Plan your strategy

So what’s it gonna be – negative or positive reinforcement? The answer always depends on your demographic and no, that’s not the only question you should be asking yourself. Let’s just say there is greater fear in the possibility of losing something than the possibility of gaining something. My little 3-year-old doesn’t always understand that if she does something right she will be rewarded in return. However, if you show her what she might lose, she immediately pays close attention. Now by all means, I would rather use positive reinforcement, but it doesn’t work at this time in her life! Every landing page is different and it all comes down to knowing the needs of your target demographic. So how will you get your customer’s attention? Consider a clear message that both resonates with your target and leads them confidently down the conversion path. In order to do this, you need to get to know them!

I know everything about my kids. I watch what they do and play with them every chance I get. When I’m not around, my wife fills me in with new stories and I learn even more. You can do the same with your target market. Ask your sales team about your current customers. Have conversations with your customers. Dive in and learn as much as you can. This information is literally priceless and is exactly what you need to know in order to provide tailored solutions. After you put together a great plan and develop concepts to test, what’s next? Let’s test it! If you have two completely different ideas, do an A/B test. Likewise, if you have many small changes to test, do a multivariate test. This is where your testing plan takes shape. Notice we haven’t touched a design program yet?

Step 4: Hand-off to the development team… it’s time to test

Ok, now you can hand it off to the designer & programmer. As a designer myself, it pains me to say that it takes more than design alone. With that said, landing page design that improves the user experience is hands-down the most important element when it comes to conversion optimization. Now, when optimized landing page design meets clear messaging, wedding bells ring, fireworks explode, and champagne falls from the sky. Well done team.

Never stop testing! Whether you receive negative or positive results, never stop testing. There is always room for improvement and the investment is well worth the return. Just because I’m successful at teaching my daughter how to walk, doesn’t mean I’ll stop there. No way! I will continue teaching her and improving her life. Do the same with your landing pages by continually pursuing increased conversion rates. You’ll be impressed how a few course corrections can make huge improvements.

Simple Tips for Conversion Optimization

You may very well have one of the most interesting websites in the world, and you might have some great products or services that you are offering through your site. You probably already know how important SEO friendly content is for your website, and you have taken pains to ensure that you have a wealth of content for your visitors. All of this work on your part, and maybe even with the help of a web site promotion agency, has helped your rank raise among the search engines. Everything looks like it is going well, but you still aren’t making the kind of money you’d imagined.

What could be wrong? Your conversions simply aren’t happening. Even though you have all of those people coming to your site, they aren’t buying. Unless you work hard to convert them to customers after they have come to your site, they will move on to the next. Internet users hop from site to site unless there is a compelling reason to stay. You have to not only give them that reason but also convince them that they should buy from you.

The following are a few conversion optimization techniques that you might want to employ.

1 – Let the customer know what it is that you have to offer, and make it easy for them to find out the information they need, including the price. Most people today aren’t going to take the time to send an email for that “special pricing offer”. Web users are smart enough to know that you are trying to get their email address from them, and they don’t like when people go about it in a tricky way. Instead, let them sign up to a newsletter through their email. It’s transparent, and both of you get something you can use. Also make sure that you keep their emails an information safe and away from spammers.

2 – Your site should be simple to navigate and understand. Let people know what you are selling, and let them know how they can use it in their lives. A simple site with solid information is going to be far better at converting people than a convoluted site that is hard to decipher.

3 – Your call to action is important. In fact, it is one of the most important parts of your site. It should be clear and easy to understand. Look at your site and call to action as though you were a customer. Is everything easy to find? Would someone be able to understand your site’s content and how to buy your product? Does the call to action draw people in and make them want to buy?

4 – Offer something to your customers free of charge. You might want to offer an e-book, which has information relevant to your site. You can add another call to action in the e-book. People always like free things.

These are just a few of the simple conversion optimization ideas that you and your online business consultants will be able to try. When you find something doesn’t work, change it and try again!

Improve Conversions And Rankings With An SEO Redesign

Many people who build websites believe that the most important aspect of the site is the design. They want the look of the design to be attractive and to hold the attention of the user without becoming obtrusive. They believe that the site should be highly functional and simple to navigate. All of these things are very important in the design of a good website, but something that many business owners and web developers often forget is the importance of proper SEO web design.

Why is SEO important? Search engines use the information and content on your website to place you in their results and to rank you among similar sites. The web crawlers could care less about the beauty of your design and the nice graphics that you include. Content is king, and if you want to remain one of the top ranked sites in your specialty, then you need to make sure that your content and site are SEO friendly.

You will still be able to have that beautiful and highly functional website. In fact, it’s a great idea that you do. However, with an SEO redesign, you will be able to boost the high quality content on your site, which should help to move you up in the rankings on the search engine result pages.

Search engines are, of course, the main way that people find sites on topics they are exploring. These search engines are more important than word of mouth for most companies. That is why it is so important to your business to get on top of the rankings, or at least show up on the first page. Many users of the search engines will only look at the first page or two when they are researching. Consider how many times you have looked beyond the first few pages. It’s probably not very many!

What are some of the things that you can do to help with the SEO web design, even if you aren’t a web designer? The most important thing is to make sure that you have good content on your site no matter the topic. When you have great content, it is far easier for the search engines to find you and catalog your site. This makes it easier for all of those potential clients and customers to visit your site. Unless you have great content on the site, content that is SEO friendly, you will not be able to keep those customers there, and your call to action will be wasted.

Not everyone knows how to get their SEO web design up to par on his or her own. This is especially true in the small to medium sized companies out there. In order to contend with larger companies and competitors, it is important though. If you don’t have the knowledge or the time to redesign your site to optimize it for the search engines, you may want to hire some outside help. Many Internet marketing companies have SEO plans that are affordable for those smaller companies.