Excellence in conversion rate optimization gives organizations an opportunity to engage more immediately with their customers by getting users to take specific actions on the websites in question. Whether the goal is a sale, to have somebody fill out a form or something else, a conversion is always valuable, and the process to creating that conversion is complex. As such, conversion rate optimization is playing a growing role in the ecommerce world. The CRO sector continues to grow as organizations begin to prioritize the practice. Within this evolution, a few key best practices are emerging as critical essentials in the industry. These include:
Don’t neglect process standardization
With more businesses engaging in CRO practices, organizations must establish strategies to put themselves in a position for continual, sustainable success. At this point, many companies are showing a clear need for progress here, as process standardization and documentation is fairly rare in CRO practices.
“It is becoming increasingly necessary to formalize CRO processes.”
Among smaller organizations, just 32 percent of companies have structured and documented CRO practices in place, a Conversion XL study found. Another 42 percent of businesses do have formal CRO processes established, but they have not documented or structured those tasks. Twenty-six percent of small companies haven’t structured or documented their CRO practices. Those figures are fairly similar among large businesses as well, with 42 percent of corporations having structured and documented CRO practices in place, 37 percent having the processes in order, but not documented or structured, and 20 percent falling into the final category of not having formal CRO processes in place at all.
It is becoming increasingly necessary to formalize CRO processes to keep pace with the leaders that are pushing the industry forward. Many organizations are starting to move forward on this standardization process, and companies that move quickly here could get ahead.
Don’t take shortcuts in CRO research
CRO testing has been gaining a great deal of momentum in the sector, with many organizations running consistent tests in order to evaluate how their strategies are performing and identifying next steps. However, a Practical eCommerce report explained that companies often neglect the research prior to testing, limiting the benefits of their assessments. The problem with this strategy is that performing a test without doing research leaves companies running an assessment without necessarily knowing what they are looking for.
According to the news source, taking on strategic research on essential site elements such as industry best practices, technical expectations and trends in key performance metrics will allow organizations to develop expectations for how their sites should function. With this backend work done, companies can get more value out of their tests because they’ll understand what they are looking for.
“CRO is becoming a greater priority for ecommerce companies.”
Don’t fall behind
This may sound simple, but businesses are moving quickly to improve CRO functionality, and one clear trend coming out of 2017 is the need to get moving if you want to keep up. The Conversion XL study mentioned earlier found that organizations are consistently putting more resources into CRO processes. When asked to compare how their companies focused on CRO processes in 2016 compared to 2015, approximately 68.5 percent of respondents said their organizations increased how much they are prioritizing CRO. In terms of spending, 55.5 percent of respondents said they spent more on CRO. Just 3 percent spent less than the prior year. Essentially, businesses are continuously putting more effort into CRO, and retailers that don’t work to keep up risk falling behind.
CRO is becoming a greater priority for ecommerce businesses. Businesses that want to keep up, but need some help, may want to consider consulting. Strategic support can help organizations keep up with the demands associated with a focus on CRO.
Whether you need help with your CRO processes or want to make some site upgrades because of what you’re learning through CRO testing, Pixafy can help. We are a full-service e-commerce consulting agency that has worked with a variety of clients launching new sites or going through major design and development transitions. Contact us if you want to learn more.
