So, you built a site with WordPress?
The process probably took a while, but it must’ve seemed rather easy. After all, content management systems like WordPress have everything you need to build a fully-functional website from start to finish — all without writing a single line of code.
However, getting a website up and running is only part of the journey. In fact, you still have much work to do even after you’re done with your traffic-building strategies.
To make sure all your hard work pays off, you also need to pay attention to your website’s conversion rate optimization or CRO.
Why do you need it? Well, if you’ve been getting a reasonable amount of traffic with very little conversions, let’s just say you’ve unknowingly committed a couple of CRO mistakes on your WordPress website.
Wondering what they are?
Then, without further ado, here are some of the most common WordPress CRO mistakes (Conversion Rate Optimization) that you need to watch out for:
1. Not Optimizing for Mobile Users
Unless you live under a rock, you should already know that mobile internet has long surpassed the internet usage on desktop computers.
That’s why some webmasters consider mobile-friendliness to be as important as overall user-friendliness.
The good news is, there’s a good chance you already have a responsive website installed. After all, the majority of themes readily-available for WordPress are already built with mobile responsiveness in mind.
But you shouldn’t pin your hopes on a responsive theme alone.
You should also learn which content types deliver the best experience possible on mobile displays.
Wide resolution images? Yeah — those don’t exactly translate well on a smaller screen.
What you need are long infographics that mobile users can easily interact with by just swiping up.
Don’t worry, with a tool like Canva, you don’t need to invest a lot of money to produce a professional-looking infographic.
Another way to optimize your WordPress website is to start creating AMP pages, which stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages.
This pertains to the open-source initiative that aims to build web pages that are consistently fast, reliable, and fully-optimized for mobile users.
For WordPress users, the first step is to use an AMP plugin which will walk you through the entire process.
For more information on the AMP project, click here to view the official quickstart guide.
2. Ignoring Your Website Loading Speed
It might seem trivial, but your website’s loading speed actually plays a pivotal role in your conversions.
According to data by Kissmetrics, about 40% of users won’t think twice about abandoning a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.
This means you could be losing nearly half of your conversion opportunities with a slow site.
Fortunately, there are plenty of easy ways to boost your WordPress loading times for free.
One example is to use a lossless image compression plugin like Imagify, which has a convenient bulk optimization feature.
Another tried and tested strategy to ensure fast delivery of internet content is to use CDN or Content Delivery Networks.
For more specific steps on how to improve your loading times, you should run a full evaluation of your website on Google PageSpeed Insights.
Simply enter your website’s URL and let the tool provide you with actionable optimization recommendations.
3. Opening with a Thick Wall of Text
Let’s face it — human beings aren’t the most attentive creatures on this planet.
Research have indicated that people are now easily distracted by various streams of media. As a result, humans officially have an attention span that’s inferior to a goldfish.
That’s why it’s a bad idea to begin your landing page copy with a thick and intimidating wall of plain text.
Sure, there are times when effective storytelling can get the readers hooked. But most of the time, you’re better off getting straight to the point and making your key selling points delivered ASAP.
A particular strategy that you can pull off right now is to incorporate the use of images or videos to replace text in your content’s intros. Again, infographics made with Canva should be a good fit for this job.
For videos, some of the tools you can use include Animaker and Powtoon. You may also use VideoScribe if you want to create whiteboard animations that explain your brand’s value propositions.
But if you really think that your message can only be conveyed effectively with text, then the least you can do is use bullet points to present them in an organized manner. Doing so will make information much more digestible and skimmable to your audience.
Whatever you do, avoid boring your readers by citing anything that has nothing to do with their journey.
4. Not Using High-Quality Images Above the Fold
Speaking of content intros, you should never underestimate the importance of high-quality imagery if you want to build the confidence of your prospective customers.
Of course, the right approach for this depends on the kind of product or service you sell. If you’re a smartphone manufacturer like Apple, for example, then a good start is to display your flagship product in its full splendor and empower the experience with a simple tagline.
For brands that depend on their blog content to reel in subscribers, professional stock photography from sites like Pixabay and Pexels should suffice. Just don’t rely too much on pieces that look exceedingly generic.
If it can’t be helped, try to at least modify the image by adding annotations or your content’s title. It shouldn’t be difficult, especially now that you have a tool like Canva under your belt.
5. Targeting the Wrong Keywords
Last but definitely not least, targeting the wrong keywords is perhaps one of the worst CRO mistakes you can commit.
This is especially true if you’ve been pouring in cash on PPC campaigns or WordPress SEO strategies with unprofitable keywords.
Remember, when doing keyword research, you shouldn’t only look at the average monthly search volumes and competitiveness. You should also take into account the intent behind the use of said keywords.
For example, if you’re in the web development space, you must search specifically for keyword variations with transactional or action-based terms, like “hire,” “services,” and “how to.” Doing so will help you unearth keyword opportunities like “professional web development services,” “hire a web developer,” and so on.
A keyword research tool like Ubersuggest can make this step a piece of cake. Simply enter your seed keyword and then use the “Filter Results” tool on the left to add the terms that make sense for your brand.
Sure, the keyword suggestions you’ll get using this strategy may not get as many monthly searches as popular keywords. But since you’ve added transactional terms into the mix, you’re sure to land keyword ideas that will be used by people who are ready to convert.
Conclusion
It doesn’t matter if you run a niche blog, affiliate site, online store, or a business website.
You need CRO in order to unlock the profit potential of your website.
By understanding and acting upon the mistakes highlighted above, you’re definitely on the right track. Maintain the momentum and follow through with strategic testing to maximize your success. Good luck!