Conversion Rates Are Plummeting

What can you do?

A recent Econsultancy report put forward the staggering statistic that for every $92 spent acquiring customers, just $1 is spent on converting them to sales.

The answer as to why this is may surprise you – it would seem it all comes down to people.

According to the report, the four variables most strongly correlated with improved website conversion are:

• Perceived control (it is seen as a priority and something that is within the control of the business, so more resources are directed at achieving the goal of conversion)
• Having someone directly responsible for the outcome, and incentivising them
• Incentivising other staff to follow the lead
• A structured approach (planning to succeed at converting customers through careful planning and eventually increasing numbers)

This appears to be counterintuitive to the way the industry has been running itself, using a complicated mix of A/B testing and continuous customer feedback – but not a lot of staff involvement.

While these are positive steps, if the mindset of your company isn’t just on getting the customers to the front page, you might as well forget it.

So what can you do? 

To move your organisation from clueless to clued up, it starts with viewing conversion as a process, not a one off project. Given time and involving staff directly in the ways outlined above, incremental changes in conversion will become noticeable. 

Check out the findings here