Want to know the quickest way to get a better ROI on your digital marketing activities?
I’ll give you a clue – it’s got nothing to do with changing how your Google ads campaigns are set up or making new creatives for social media ads.
Nope, it’s increasing the conversion rate on your website.
What is conversion rate on a website?
Put simply, conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who take a valuable action (that you specify) on your website.
When us marketing folk talk about conversion rates, often it’s in relation to eCommerce brands, where a “conversion” pretty much means the sale of a product (or basket of products).
But for service based businesses, the conversion process is a little more complex. A “website conversion” typically means converting visitors into leads (rather than the end “sale”.
A high conversion rate indicates that your website effectively persuades visitors to engage with your business, but of course you also need to “convert” them to customers once they’ve made that enquiry.
What’s the average conversion rate on a service based website
While there are lots of factors that can affect conversion rates, across the board, conversion rates on “service-based” sites are between around 2.3 and 5%.
This is slightly higher than on ecommerce websites where average conversion rates sit between 2% – 3%.
However, rather than get bogged down in industry benchmarks, your best measure is against yourself – look to improve YOUR conversion rate rather than worry about averages.
Remember averages use LOTS of data from some pretty large sites, so comparing your conversion rate to an industry leader is like comparing your average running pace with Usain Bolt.
What conversions should I measure on a service-based website?
Most service-based business websites are designed with the primary goal of generating leads. This means that the main objective is to convert visitors into potential clients by encouraging them to take specific actions.
These actions could range from filling out a contact form to calling the business directly. Understanding and optimising the conversion rate on your website is crucial for maximising your lead generation efforts and in turn, your business growth.
Common Conversion Actions for Service-Based Websites
To fully grasp the importance of conversion rates, it’s essential to know what actions on your site are considered conversions. For a service-based website, these actions usually include:
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- Form Fills: Visitors complete contact or enquiry forms to request more information or a service quote.
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- Click-to-Email: Visitors click on an email link to send a message directly from their email client.
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- Downloads: Visitors download valuable resources such as brochures, whitepapers, case studies, or e-books.
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- Phone Calls: Visitors use a provided phone number to call your business for more information or to schedule a service.
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- Live Chat Interactions: Visitors engage with a live chat feature to ask questions or request assistance.
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- Newsletter Sign-Ups: Visitors subscribe to your email newsletter for updates and information.
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- Appointment Bookings: Visitors schedule appointments or consultations directly through your website.
You may also want to look at “soft measures” that, while not a conversion in themselves, indicate that people are engaging with your website content.
Why conversion rate matters
Think of it like this. Let’s say you’re running advertising campaigns. You have a cost per click of £1, and your conversion rate is 1%. That means that an enquiry will cost you £100.
If you have the exact same cost per click (so no changes to your ads) and your conversion rate increases to £2, then an enquiry will cost you £50.
Focusing on conversion rate optimisation has several advantages, including:
Better ROI
By increasing the percentage of website visitors who convert into leads, you get more value from your existing traffic without having so spend more on attracting new visitors
Improved Marketing Efficiency
A higher conversion rate means that your existing marketing efforts are more effective, helping you to achieve business goals faster and with fewer resources.
Enhanced User Experience
Optimising your website for conversion will generally involve improving the user experience (UX) of your website.
Insight into customer behaviour
Analysing conversion data helps you understand what motivates your visitors, allowing you to tailor your marketing strategies and website content to meet their needs better.
How to find your website conversion rate
Put simply, your conversion rate is the number of website visitors divided by the number of conversions over a set period of time. For example, if in the last 30 days you had 1,000 website visitors and 100 people converted, your conversion rate is 10%.
To find your conversion rate, you need an analytics platform like Google Analytics 4 (GA4) with conversion tracking set up. In GA4, conversions are now called “key events”.
If you don’t have conversion tracking set up, the process is more manual. You’ll need to tally your total website visitors and divide that by the number of enquiries or other conversions you’ve had.
Want help with your conversion tracking setup? Get in touch us us
Factors that can affect conversion rates
While there are some things you can put in place to help you convert your customers better, there are also some factors that can stand in the way of moving your site visitors through to becoming leads.
Website Design and User Experience
If your website has confusing navigation, or it’s difficult for a visitor to understand how to take the next steps, it can diminish your conversion rate. A well-designed and easy-to-navigate site will encourage your visitors to get in touch.
Quality of Content
All of your content – both your written copy and visbuals should be relevant and address the needs and concerns of your potential customers. Check your website for any obviously spelling or grammatical errors, and that you provide all teh information someone would want before they get in touch with you.
Page Load Speed
More of a technical issue, but if you have slow-loading pages, a user may get frustrated when navigating your website and “bounce off” to a competitor instead!
How to Improve Your Website Conversion Rate
Ok, so you know why conversion rate is important and what NOT to do, but let’s get to the nitty gritty of what actually works to improve your conversion rate.
Treat each major service page as a landing page
People don’t always come to your website from the home page. Therefore each main page should have enough information for a visitor to decide to take the next step without having to navigate around the site to find more information.
Ensure that you have a call to action (CTA) on every page
A call to action is generally a button or form prompting visitors to take an action, such as “Contact Us,” “Request a Quote,” or “Download Now.” Every page should guide visitors towards these actions. However…
Make Your CTAs Enticing
Your CTAs should be visually striking and clearly worded. Use action-oriented language, but it’s fine to be fun (as long as you’re clear). Look at these examples
The design should stand out but also fit seamlessly with your site’s overall aesthetic.
Be Clear on What Happens Next
Sometimes making your CTA too “strong” can make a visitor worry about what happens next, so be clear ont he process.
For example if your CTA is to “book a call” ensure that you explain what the call will entail, how long it will take and who they are going to be speaking with.
Provide Enough Information to Empower Visitors
Make sure your website provides all the information a potential client might need. This includes details about your services, client testimonials, case studies, and clear explanations of your processes. An informed visitor is more likely to convert.
Use social proof
Testimonials, case studies and professional certifications help to build credibility, encouraging visitors to trust your and, therefore convert. Where possible use things like embedded testimonials from Google or TrustPilot (so they’re clearly independent) and use the logos of your clients with a link to their websites in case studies and quotes. Ensure that your certifications also link back to the appropriate website.
Pricing
It’s always a thorny subject. Should you mention your pricing on your website, particularly if your costs are dependent on a range of factors or subject to a survey (e.g home improvement)
There are pros and cons to mentioning prices on your website. On the plus side, including pricing information can qualify leads and save time for both parties.
However, too much detail might scare off potential clients before they contact you, particularly if you have various cost options. A good compromise is to provide a “starting from” price to give visitors a ballpark figure without overwhelming them.
Measuring results
Measuring the results of changes to your website is crucial to understanding their impact on your conversion rate and overall business performance.
Start by establishing a baseline of key metrics such as current conversion rates,rates, average session duration, and user engagement levels before implementing any changes.
After making adjustments, use your analytics platform to monitor these metrics over a set period. Look for significant changes in conversion rates, an increase in the number of completed key events, and improvements in user engagement metrics.
It’s essential to compare these results to your baseline to determine the effectiveness of your changes. Pay attention to trends over time rather than short-term fluctuations, and consider running A/B tests to compare the performance of different versions of a webpage or element.
Additionally, segment your data to understand how different audience segments respond to the changes, providing deeper insights into user behaviour. Regularly review and analyse this data to refine your strategies and ensure continuous improvement in your website’s performance.
Increasing your website’s conversion rate is the key to unlocking a higher ROI for your digital marketing efforts. By focusing on understanding and optimising your conversion rates, you can turn more visitors into leads without spending a penny more in advertising.
