A client I once worked with, who specialized in online foreign language instruction, offered a series of classes for a relatively low rate, yet the business’ marketing director explained that they were experiencing an extremely low conversion rate – relative to the volume of visitors to their site. This was one of the most affordable language programs in town, yet conversion rates were at a dismal 4%. He’d come to me for guidance, and actionable assistance in pinpointing the potential reasons why so many of these visitors would “bounce off” the site before purchasing classes.
When I audited his website, I was shocked to discover that there were at least seven steps involved in the conversion process. And, that didn’t include the third-party payment system that was working in tandem to provide e-commerce services. Overall, it was no wonder that the user experience was “clunky” at best.

Since the language class curriculum and offerings were a primary source of revenue for the client, I suggested a strategy that might have appeared to be an obvious solution to an experienced digital marketer, but perhaps, was not so apparent when coupled with the management of various marketing tasks associated with a large language school. My recommendation was simple: implement a more efficient process for prospective students to navigate from the homepage to the checkout phase – all in an effort to increase conversions.

To define conversion marketing in the broadest sense, it is the process of converting site visitors, or browsers, into paying customers. While there are no guarantees that a user who accesses a company’s website will “convert” – or perhaps potentially transact business – there are measures that can be taken to help reduce roadblocks during the purchasing process, which, in turn, may often lead to profitable conversions.

With regard to the client example I used earlier, for his website, I emphasized the importance of placing a clear call-to-action on the company’s homepage. For instance, “Learn More” provides clear direction that all site visitors are able to interpret and understand. When integrating this call-to-action button in a prominent spot on the home page, BIGEYE’s team of digital strategists determined that it was important to ensure that it was accessible across all devices by sampling and A/B testing different layouts to determine the best placement, all in an effort to ensure an optimal click through rate. As a result of our preliminary analysis, we discovered that when placed just below the central image on the website’s homepage, the target audience of prospective students responded. In addition to placement, we also experimented with various color palettes, and ultimately uncovered that blue incited a greater number of users to “Learn More”.

The client’s foreign language program offerings were quite extensive, however rather than providing page after clickable page of information pertaining to online class options, BIGEYE’s digital team opted to include relevant information, as well as a “Sign-Up Now” button, on the second “inside” page. With a more streamlined process, a seemingly cumbersome number of clicks was no longer required to navigate from the homepage to the checkout screen. The prospective student was able to easily enroll in courses, reducing the friction that initially clogged the process.

With the advice of the digital experts at our Orlando internet marketing agency, and with a small amount of web development, conversion rates increased by 40%, and all in a matter of weeks. This added significant revenue to the company’s bottom line, with minimal investment by the client. Ensuring an effective approach to manage conversion roadblocks requires the expertise of a professional partner, and our team at BIGEYE is poised to assist you with your strategy.

While in this day and age (and of course, depending on the specific industry), a conversion rate of 5.31% or greater is an ideal goal, there are always opportunities to continue to strive to achieve the highest possible results. Dedicate time to review your website for potential roadblocks to the conversion process. To further your efforts, work closely with a user experience designer to better assist with website optimization by reaching out to our Orlando marketing agency. We’ll help better position your business’ online user experience for conversion success – contact us today!