Conversion Rate Optimization, or CRO, is the process of optimizing the landing page of your website to give you added conversions from your website traffic.
Where CRO comes handy is in getting the most out of your current website traffic. As an example, improving your conversion rate from 1% to 2% will double your conversions, all the while maintaining your website’s current traffic.
Let’s say you managed to get a good CTR, but most of the clicks did not convert.
So, in order to maximize your conversion, you should be focussing on optimizing your conversion rate.
Here’s how to get started.
Improve your Quality Score
As per Backlinko.com, the top 3 positions receive 75.1% of total SERP clicks.
You need to improve your QS (Quality Score), which is used by Google to calculate the Ad-Rank in every auction to determine the position of ads participating.
Ad-Rank = QS x max. CPC bid. The ad with Ad-Rank 3 gets the no.1 position, Ad with Ad-Rank 2 gets the 2nd position and the ad with Ad-Rank 1 gets the 3rd position.
There are three sub-factors that make up the quality score:
1. CTR: Google considers the CTR the most when determining the QS in search ads. The CTRs considered are Account CTR history, Ad-Keyword history, Geographical history, Display URL history.
2. Relevance: Google loves to see how much relevance there is between ad & keyword, between keyword & query, and between ad & landing page. So, to optimize for it, make all these things aligned.
3. Landing page experience: In order to create an unforgettable landing page experience, you will need to optimize it for: the best page load speed, making all the information easy to find on the page, making your page transparent by showing your privacy policy and terms & conditions on your page so that visitors feel secure when visiting your page and setting up the robots.txt file so that the Google spiders read it only.
Experiment and adjust your keyword match types
Among the 4 keyword match types available in Google Ads; Broad, Broad match modifier, Phrase, and Exact, you need to choose the one which is right as per your goal, budget, and where the searchers lie in the funnel.
BMM, Phrase, and Exact match types have the lowest cost per click. CTR is maximum for exact matches and least for broad matches. But, broad matches get the most impressions and exact matches get the least.
CPC: Broad<BMM<Phrase<Exact
CTR: Exact>Phrase>BMM>Broad
No. of impressions: Broad>BMM>Phrase>Exact.
In this case, you should experiment with the match types to see which one improves your conversion rate and then use the one that gives you the highest conversion rate and lowest cost per conversion.
When using smart bidding strategies, you can create different ad groups for different match types or consolidate match types with the same search intent into a single ad group.
Right grouping of keywords
For better conversion rates in your Google ads, you need the right grouping of keywords according to where your audience is in the funnel.
Here’s how you’ll know where your audience lies in the funnel: People search for their answers differently based on how they feel about a problem.
So, based on their queries you have to understand where they lie in the buying funnel, whether in awareness or interest or desire or action.
Group your keywords for each level of the funnel and then target the relevant audience.
Use negative keywords
Negative keywords can help you get rid of bad clicks.
Use as many negative keywords as positive keywords if you’re using broad match keywords, or else your ads will appear on irrelevant searches.
Negative keywords are also included in BMM and phrase match types.
But, in exact match keywords, you can go well without negative keywords.
It’s a good idea to add some irrelevant search queries as negative keywords in your campaign while analysing search terms on a daily basis. By default, Google will ask you to add the search query as exact match negative keywords for bad clicks, but you can change that exact to broad match negative.
Choose the right bidding strategy aligned with your goal
Choosing the right campaigns and bidding strategies for each goal is crucial. Also, you will be experimenting with manual and automated bidding strategies for better results.
There is no way to tell which one would work best, either manual or automated. As an example, the target CPA is semi-automated and maximum. Conversions are a fully automated strategy, and which one will work best depends on your campaigns and your goals.
In order to get the most conversions under a specified cost (called target cost per conversion), the max. conversion strategy will be more effective than target CPA bidding.
Remarketing strategies for your campaigns
Research shows that only 3% of visitors convert on their first visit to a website, which means 97% don’t convert on their first visit.
On average, customers visit a website six times before converting, according to research conducted by Nielson and Google.
It means that you must run remarketing campaigns to keep your brand and products in front of your visitors and to give them special offers to entice them. Remarketing campaigns have a better conversion rate than simple display campaigns.
You can use Standard display remarketing, Dynamic remarketing (for shopping), Remarketing for video viewers, and Remarketing for app users.
A/B testing of each element of the campaign
Campaigns, ad groups, and ads all require A/B testing. You never know what will work and what won’t. Trying to guess may result in a loss of time and money, so check variations at all three levels as soon as possible.
You can check the following variations: bidding strategy, bids, audiences, locations, ad scheduling, match types, headlines, and descriptions.
Effective ad-copy
Your ad copy is the heart of your campaign. Without an effective ad copy, it’s impossible to persuade one to click on your ad.
7 important tips for great copywriting:
- Create a customer persona. Don’t write a single word until you know your ideal customer well.
- Set a clear-crystal goal.
- Evoke emotion in your ad copy.
- Write as you speak. Never robotic writing.
- Use a combination of features and benefits.
- Avoid jargon and try to write not more than 12 words per sentence.
- And, be helpful.
Leverage Social Proof
Online marketing relies heavily on social proof.
For some reason, not everyone does it, even though everyone knows about it.
63.64% of consumers look to Google for reviews on products and businesses:
So the faster you can put your social proof in front of your audience, the better off you are trying to get them to click your ad and convert into a customer.
You can add them with extensions, or directly in your copy, which means you don’t need a Ph.D. in Google Ads to start taking advantage of their benefits.
Improve click-through rate (CTR)
How do you engage with prospects and receive that critically important initial click? Here’s what you need to do to optimize your Google ads and increase CTR:
Lead with value. Make your offer’s unique value proposition (UVP) unmistakably clear in the headline and ad copy. Add enticements such as social proof or a free trial.
Include a catchy CTA. You’ve got your visitors’ attention. Now include a well-written copy for your call to action (CTA) to get them to click. It helps to use actionable words and make the benefit clear.
Use ad extensions. You can increase your CTR by several percentage points by using ad extensions. Google’s ad extensions provide additional information to your ad, giving people more reasons to click. You can add call buttons, location information, links to specific pages on your website, and additional text with extension formats.
Improve ad relevance
Your visitors are interested in your offer when they click on your ad, but you need to hold their interest, which is why you must use ad-to-page relevancy. Ad-to-page relevancy ensures that your messaging is consistent throughout the advertising journey. In order to build brand trust among potential customers, this consistency is crucial.
Message matching is the key to making click-to-conversion experiences relevant. From the user’s perspective, certain things should remain the same. You should carry over the look and feel of your design, the copy’s voice, and the offer you present in your ad from the ad to the post-click landing page.
If you tinker with these elements too much, users will get confused or aggravated and up goes your bounce rate.
Improve landing page experience
The post-click landing page is your last opportunity to woo prospective customers and convince them to accept your offer. There are a number of things you can do to minimize bounce rates and ramp up conversions. Here are some tips.
- Check load speed. A fast-loading page is essential for optimization. If it’s slow, prospects will lose patience and leave.
- Write an engaging, relevant headline. Make sure your USP is clear in your headline so visitors who have clicked your ad know they’re in the right place.
- Make CTAs stand out. Prominently feature CTAs using contrasting colors and easy-to-read text.
- Personalize your page. A personalized post-click landing page specifically targets an audience segment and shows users highly relevant content.
- Stick to one conversion goal. Your page should highlight only one offer. Remove any distracting, extraneous content.
