Les articles publiés sur le site
-
Top 4 CRO Tools to Boost Your Conversion Rates in 2024
31 octobre 2023, par ErinAre you tired of watching potential customers leave your website without converting? You’ve spent countless hours creating an engaging website, but those high bounce rates keep haunting you.
The good news? The solution lies in the transformative power of Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) tools. In this guide, we’ll dive deep into the world of CRO tools. We will equip you with strategies to turn those bounces into conversions.
Why are conversion rate optimisation tools so crucial?
CRO tools can be assets in digital marketing, playing a pivotal role in enhancing online businesses’ performance. CRO tools empower businesses to improve website conversion rates by analysing user behaviour. You can then leverage this user data to optimise web elements.
Improving website conversion rates is paramount because it increases revenue and customer satisfaction. A study by VentureBeat revealed an average return on investment (ROI) of 223% thanks to CRO tools.
173 marketers out of the surveyed group reported returns exceeding 1,000%. Both of these data points highlight the impact CRO tools can have.
Coupled with CRO tools, certain testing tools and web analytics tools play a crucial role. They offer insight into user behaviour patterns, enabling businesses to choose effective strategies. By understanding what resonates with users, these tools help inform data-driven decisions. This allows businesses to refine online strategies and enhance the customer experience.
CRO tools enhance user experiences and ensure business sustainability. Integrating these tools is crucial for staying ahead. CRO and web analytics work together to optimise digital presence.
Real-world examples of CRO tools in action
In this section, we’ll explore real case studies showcasing CRO tools in action. See how businesses enhance conversion rates, user experiences, and online performance. These studies reveal the practical impact of data-driven decisions and user-focused strategies.
Case study: How Matomo’s Form Analytics helped Concrete CMS 3x leads
Concrete CMS, is a content management system provider that helps users build and manage websites. They used Matomo’s Form Analytics to uncover that users were getting stuck at the address input stage of the onboarding process. Using these insights to make adjustments to their onboarding form, Concrete CMS was able to achieve 3 times the amount of leads in just a few days.
Read the full Concrete CMS case study.
Best analytics tools for enhancing conversion rate optimisation in 2023
Jump to the comparison table to see an overview of each tool.
1. Matomo
Matomo stands out as an all-encompassing tool that seamlessly combines traditional web analytics features (like pageviews and bounce rates) with advanced behavioural analytics capabilities, providing a full spectrum of insights for effective CRO.
Key features
- Heatmaps and Session Recordings:
These features empower businesses to see their websites through the eyes of their visitors. By visually mapping user engagement and observing individual sessions, businesses can make informed decisions, enhance user experience and ultimately increase conversions. These tools are invaluable assets for businesses aiming to create user-friendly websites.
- Form Analytics:
Matomo’s Form Analytics offers comprehensive tracking of user interactions within forms. This includes covering input fields, dropdowns, buttons and submissions. Businesses can create custom conversion funnels and pinpoint form abandonment reasons.
- Users Flow:
Matomo’s Users Flow feature tracks visitor paths, drop-offs and successful routes, helping businesses optimise their websites. This insight informs decisions, enhances user experience, and boosts conversion rates.
- Surveys plugin:
The Matomo Surveys plugin allows businesses to gather direct feedback from users. This feature enhances understanding by capturing user opinions, adding another layer to the analytical depth Matomo offers.
- A/B testing:
The platform allows you to conduct A/B tests to compare different versions of web pages. This helps determine which performs better in conversions. By conducting experiments and analysing the results within Matomo, businesses can iteratively refine their content and design elements.
- Funnels:
Matomo’s Funnels feature empower businesses to visualise, analyse and optimise their conversion paths. By identifying drop-off points, tailoring user experiences and conducting A/B tests within the funnel, businesses can make data-driven decisions that significantly boost conversions and enhance the overall user journey on their websites.
Pros
- Starting at $19 per month, Matomo is an affordable CRO solution.
- Matomo guarantees accurate data, eliminating the need to fill gaps with artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning.
- Matomo’s open-source framework ensures enhanced security, privacy, customisation, community support and long-term reliability.
Cons
- The On-Premise (self-hosted) version is free, with additional charges for advanced features.
- Managing Matomo On-Premise requires servers and technical know-how.
Try Matomo for Free
Get the web insights you need, without compromising data accuracy.
2. Google Analytics
Google Analytics provides businesses and website owners valuable insights into their online audience. It tracks website traffic, user interactions and analyses conversion data to enhance the user experience.
While Google Analytics may not provide the extensive CRO-specific features found in other tools on this list, it can still serve as a valuable resource for basic analysis and optimisation of conversion rates.
Key features
- Comprehensive Data Tracking:
Google Analytics meticulously tracks website traffic, user behaviour and conversion rates. These insights form the foundation for CRO efforts. Businesses can identify patterns, user bottlenecks and high-performing areas.
- Real-Time Reporting:
Access to real-time data is invaluable for CRO efforts. Monitor current website activity, user interactions, and campaign performance as they unfold. This immediate feedback empowers businesses to make instant adjustments, optimising web elements and content for maximum conversions.
- User flow analysis
Visualise and understand how visitors navigate through your website. It provides insights into the paths users take as they move from one page to another, helping you identify the most common routes and potential drop-off points in the user journey.
- Event-based tracking:
GA4’s event-based reporting offers greater flexibility and accuracy in data collection. By tracking various interactions, including video views and checkout processes, businesses can gather more precise insights into user behaviour.
- Funnels:
GA4 offers multistep funnels, path analysis, custom metrics that integrate with audience segments. These user behaviour insights help businesses to tailor their websites, marketing campaigns and user experiences.
Pros
- Flexible audience management across products, regions or brands allow businesses to analyse data from multiple source properties.
- Google Analytics integrates with other Google services and third-party platforms. This enables a comprehensive view of online activities.
- Free to use, although enterprises may need to switch to the paid version to accommodate higher data volumes.
Cons
- Google Analytics raises privacy concerns, primarily due to its tracking capabilities and the extensive data it collects.
- Limitations imposed by thresholding can significantly hinder efforts to enhance user experience and boost conversions effectively.
- Property and sampling limits exist. This creates problems when you’re dealing with extensive datasets or high-traffic websites.
- The interface is difficult to navigate and configure, resulting in a steep learning curve.
3. Contentsquare
Contentsquare is a web analytics and CRO platform. It stands out for its in-depth behavioural analytics. Contentsquare offers detailed data on how users interact with websites and mobile applications.
Key features
- Heatmaps and Session Replays:
Users can visualise website interactions through heatmaps, highlighting popular areas and drop-offs. Session replay features enable the playback of user sessions. These provide in-depth insights into individual user experiences.
- Conversion Funnel Analysis:
Contentsquare tracks users through conversion funnels, identifying where users drop off during conversion. This helps in optimising the user journey and increasing conversion rates.
- Segmentation and Personalisation:
Businesses can segment their audience based on various criteria. Segments help create personalised experiences, tailoring content and offers to specific user groups.
- Integration Capabilities:
Contentsquare integrates with various third-party tools and platforms, enhancing its functionality and allowing businesses to leverage their existing tech stack.
Pros
- Comprehensive support and resources.
- User-friendly interface.
- Personalisation capabilities.
Cons
- High price point.
- Steep learning curve.
4. Hotjar
Hotjar is a robust tool designed to unravel user behaviour intricacies. With its array of features including visual heatmaps, session recordings and surveys, it goes beyond just identifying popular areas and drop-offs.
Hotjar provides direct feedback and offers an intuitive interface, enabling seamless experience optimisation.
Key features
- Heatmaps:
Hotjar provides visual heatmaps that display user interactions on your website. Heatmaps show where users click, scroll, and how far they read. This feature helps identify popular areas and points of abandonment.
- Session Recordings:
Hotjar allows you to record user sessions and watch real interactions on your site. This insight is invaluable for understanding user behaviour and identifying usability issues.
- Surveys and Feedback:
Hotjar offers on-site surveys and feedback forms that can get triggered based on user behaviour. These tools help collect qualitative data from real users, providing valuable insights.
- Recruitment Tool:
Hotjar’s recruitment tool lets you recruit participants from your website for user testing. This feature streamlines the process of finding participants for usability studies.
- Funnel and Form Analysis:
Hotjar enables the tracking of user journeys through funnels. It provides insights into where users drop off during the conversion process. It also offers form analysis to optimise form completion rates.
- User Polls:
You can create customisable polls to engage with visitors. Gather specific feedback on your website, products, or services.
Pros
- Starting at $32 per month, Hotjar is a cost-effective solution for most businesses.
- Hotjar provides a user-friendly interface that is easy for the majority of users to pick up quickly.
Cons
- Does not provide traditional web analytics and requires combining with another tool, potentially creating a less streamlined and cohesive user experience, which can complicate conversion rate optimization efforts.
- Hotjar’s limited integrations can hinder its ability to seamlessly work with other essential tools and platforms, potentially further complicating CRO.
Comparison Table
Please note: We aim to keep this table accurate and up to date. However, if you see any inaccuracies or outdated information, please email us at marketing@matomo.org
To make comparing these tools even easier, we’ve put together a table for you to compare features and price points:
Conclusion
CRO tools and web analytics are essential for online success. Businesses thrive by investing wisely, understanding user behaviour and using targeted strategies. The key: generate traffic and convert it into leads and customers. The right tools and strategies lead to remarkable conversions and online success. Each click, each interaction, becomes an opportunity to create an engaging user journey. This careful orchestration of data and insight separates thriving businesses from the rest.
Are you ready to embark on a journey toward improved conversions and enhanced user experiences? Matomo offers analytics solutions meticulously designed to complement your CRO strategy. Take the next step in your CRO journey. Start your 21-day free trial today—no credit card required.
Try Matomo for Free
21 day free trial. No credit card required.
- Heatmaps and Session Recordings:
-
A Comprehensive Guide to Robust Digital Marketing Analytics
30 octobre 2023, par ErinFirst impressions are everything. This is not only true for dating and job interviews but also for your digital marketing strategy. Like a poorly planned resume getting tossed in the “no thank you” pile, 38% of visitors to your website will stop engaging with your content if they find the layout unpleasant. Thankfully, digital marketers can access data that can be harnessed to optimise websites and turn those “no thank you’s” into “absolutely’s.”
So, how can we transform raw data into valuable insights that pay off? The key is web analytics tools that can help you make sense of it all while collecting data ethically. In this article, we’ll equip you with ways to take your digital marketing strategy to the next level with the power of web analytics.
What are the different types of digital marketing analytics?
Digital marketing analytics are like a cipher into the complex behaviour of your buyers. Digital marketing analytics help collect, analyse and interpret data from any touchpoint you interact with your buyers online. Whether you’re trying to gauge the effectiveness of a new email marketing campaign or improve your mobile app layout, there’s a way for you to make use of the insights you gain.
As we go through the eight commonly known types of digital marketing analytics, please note we’ll primarily focus on what falls under the umbrella of web analytics.
- Web analytics help you better understand how users interact with your website. Good web analytics tools will help you understand user behaviour while securely handling user data.
- Learn more about the effectiveness of your organisation’s social media platforms with social media analytics. Social media analytics include user engagement, post reach and audience demographics.
- Email marketing analytics help you see how email campaigns are being engaged with.
- Search engine optimisation (SEO) analytics help you understand your website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).
- Pay-per-click (PPC) analytics measure the performance of paid advertising campaigns.
- Content marketing analytics focus on how your content is performing with your audience.
- Customer analytics helps organisations identify and examine buyer behaviour to retain the biggest spenders.
- Mobile app analytics track user interactions within mobile applications.
Choosing which digital marketing analytics tools are the best fit for your organisation is not an easy task. When making these decisions, it’s critical to remember the ethical implications of data collection. Although data insights can be invaluable to your organisation, they won’t be of much use if you lose the trust of your users.
Tips and best practices for developing robust digital marketing analytics
So, what separates top-notch, robust digital marketing analytics from the rest? We’ve already touched on it, but a big part involves respecting user privacy and ethically handling data. Data security should be on your list of priorities, alongside conversion rate optimisation when developing a digital marketing strategy. In this section, we will examine best practices for using digital marketing analytics while retaining user trust.
Clear objectives
Before comparing digital marketing analytics tools, you should define clear and measurable goals. Try asking yourself what you need your digital marketing analytics strategy to accomplish. Do you want to improve conversion rates while remaining data compliant? Maybe you’ve noticed users are not engaging with your platform and want to fix that. Save yourself time and energy by focusing on the most relevant pain points and areas of improvement.
Choose the right tools for the job
Don’t just base your decision on what other people tell you. Take the tool for a test drive — free trials allow you to test features and user interfaces and learn more about the platform before committing. When choosing digital marketing analytics tools, look for ones that ensure compliance with privacy laws like GDPR.
Don’t overlook data compliance
GDPR ensures organisations prioritise data protection and privacy. You could be fined up to €20 million, or 4% of the previous year’s revenue for violations. Without data compliance practices, you can say goodbye to the time and money spent on digital marketing strategies.
Don’t sacrifice data quality and accuracy
Inaccurate and low-quality data can taint your analysis, making it hard to glean valuable insights from your digital marketing analytics efforts. Regularly audit and clean your data to remove inaccuracies and inconsistencies. Address data discrepancies promptly to maintain the integrity of your analytics. Data validation measures also help to filter out inaccurate data.
Communicate your findings
Having insights is one thing; effectively communicating complex data findings is just as important. Customise dashboards to display key metrics aligned with your objectives. Make sure to automate reports, allowing stakeholders to stay updated without manual intervention.
Understand the user journey
To optimise your conversion rates, you need to understand the user journey. Start by analysing visitors interactions with your website — this will help you identify conversion bottlenecks in your sales or lead generation processes. Implement A/B testing for landing page optimisation, refining elements like call-to-action buttons or copy, and leverage Form Analytics to make informed, data-driven improvements to your forms.
Continuous improvement
Learn from the data insights you gain, and iterate your marketing strategies based on the findings. Stay updated with evolving web analytics trends and technologies to leverage new growth opportunities.
Why you need web analytics to support your digital marketing analytics toolbox
You wouldn’t set out on a roadtrip without a map, right? Digital marketing analytics without insights into how users interact with your website are just as useless. Used ethically, web analytics tools can be an invaluable addition to your digital marketing analytics toolbox.
The data collected via web analytics reveals user interactions with your website. These could include anything from how long visitors stay on your page to their actions while browsing your website. Web analytics tools help you gather and understand this data so you can better understand buyer preferences. It’s like a domino effect: the more you understand your buyers and user behaviour, the better you can assess the effectiveness of your digital content and campaigns.
Web analytics reveal user behaviour, highlighting navigation patterns and drop-off points. Understanding these patterns helps you refine website layout and content, improving engagement and conversions for a seamless user experience.
Concrete CMS harnessed the power of web analytics, specifically Form Analytics, to uncover a crucial insight within their user onboarding process. Their data revealed a significant issue: the “address” input field was causing visitors to drop off and not complete the form, severely impacting the overall onboarding experience and conversion rate.
Armed with these insights, Concrete CMS made targeted optimisations to the form, resulting in a substantial transformation. By addressing the specific issue identified through Form Analytics, they achieved an impressive outcome – a threefold increase in lead generation.
This case is a great example of how web analytics can uncover customer needs and preferences and positively impact conversion rates.
Ethical implications of digital marketing analytics
As we’ve touched on, digital marketing analytics are a powerful tool to help better understand online user behaviour. With great power comes great responsibility, however, and it’s a legal and ethical obligation for organisations to protect individual privacy rights. Let’s get into the benefits of practising ethical digital marketing analytics and the potential risks of not respecting user privacy:
- If someone uses your digital platform and then opens their email one day to find it filled with random targeted ad campaigns, they won’t be happy. Avoid losing user trust — and facing a potential lawsuit — by informing users what their data will be used for. Give them the option to consent to opt-in or opt-out of letting you use their personal information. If users are also assured you’ll safeguard personal information against unauthorised access, they’ll be more likely to trust you to handle their data securely.
- Protecting data against breaches means investing in technology that will let you end-to-end encrypt and securely store data. Other important data-security best practices include access control, backing up data regularly and network and physical security of assets.
- A fine line separates digital marketing analytics and misusing user data — many companies have gotten into big trouble for crossing it. (By big trouble, we mean millions of dollars in fines.) When it comes to digital marketing analytics, you should never cut corners when it comes to user privacy and data security. This balance involves understanding what data can be collected and what should be collected and respecting user boundaries and preferences.
Learn more
We discussed a lot of facets of digital marketing analytics, namely how to develop a robust digital marketing strategy while prioritising data compliance. With Matomo, you can protect user data and respect user privacy while gaining invaluable insights into user behaviour. Save your organisation time and money by investing in a web analytics solution that gives you the best of both worlds.
If you’re ready to begin using ethical and robust digital marketing analytics on your website, try Matomo. Start your 21-day free trial now — no credit card required.
Try Matomo for Free
21 day free trial. No credit card required.
-
Segmentation Analytics : How to Leverage It on Your Site
27 octobre 2023, par Erin — Analytics TipsThe deeper you go with your customer analytics, the better your insights will be.
The result? Your marketing performance soars to new heights.
Customer segmentation is one of the best ways businesses can align their marketing strategies with an effective output to generate better results. Marketers know that targeting the right people is one of the most important aspects of connecting with and converting web visitors into customers.
By diving into customer segmentation analytics, you’ll be able to transform your loosely defined and abstract audience into tangible, understandable segments, so you can serve them better.
In this guide, we’ll break down customer segmentation analytics, the different types, and how you can delve into these analytics on your website to grow your business.What is customer segmentation?
Before we dive into customer segmentation analytics, let’s take a step back and look at customer segmentation in general.
Customer segmentation is the process of dividing your customers up into different groups based on specific characteristics.
These groups could be based on demographics like age or location or behaviours like recent purchases or website visits.
By splitting your audience into different segments, your marketing team will be able to craft highly targeted and relevant marketing campaigns that are more likely to convert.
Additionally, customer segmentation allows businesses to gain new insights into their audience. For example, by diving deep into different segments, marketers can uncover pain points and desires, leading to increased conversion rates and return on investment.
But, to grasp the different customer segments, organisations need to know how to collect, digest and interpret the data for usable insights to improve their business. That’s where segmentation analytics comes in.
What is customer segmentation analytics?
Customer segmentation analytics splits customers into different groups within your analytics software to create more detailed customer data and improve targeting.
With customer segmentation, you’re splitting your customers into different groups. With customer segmentation analytics, you’re doing this all within your analytics platform so you can understand them better.
One example of splitting your customers up is by country. For example, let’s say you have a global customer base. So, you go into your analytics software and find that 90% of your website visitors come from five countries: the UK, the US, Australia, Germany and Japan.
In this area, you could then create customer segmentation subsets based on these five countries. Moving forward, you could then hop into your analytics tool at any point in time and analyse the segments by country.
For example, if you wanted to see how well your recent marketing campaign impacted your Japanese customers, you could look at your Japanese subset within your analytics and dive into the data.
The primary goal of customer segmentation analytics is to gather actionable data points to give you an in-depth understanding of your customers. By gathering data on your different audience segments, you’ll discover insights on your customers that you can use to optimise your website, marketing campaigns, mobile apps, product offerings and overall customer experience.
Rather than lumping your entire customer base into a single mass, customer segmentation analytics allows you to meet even more specific and relevant needs and pain points of your customers to serve them better.
By allowing you to “zoom in” on your audience, segmentation analytics helps you offer more value to your customers, giving you a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
5 types of segmentation
There are dozens of different ways to split up your customers into segments. The one you choose depends on your goals and marketing efforts. Each type of segmentation offers a different view of your customers so you can better understand their specific needs to reach them more effectively.
While you can segment your customers in almost endless ways, five common types the majority fall under are:
Geographic
Another way to segment is by geography.
This is important because you could have drastically different interests, pain points and desires based on where you live.
If you’re running a global e-commerce website that sells a variety of clothing products, geographic segmentation can play a crucial role in optimising your website.
For instance, you may observe that a significant portion of your website visitors are from countries in the Southern Hemisphere, where it’s currently summer. On the other hand, visitors from the Northern Hemisphere are experiencing winter. Utilising this information, you can tailor your marketing strategy and website accordingly to increase sells.
Where someone comes from can significantly impact how they will respond to your messaging, brand and offer.
Geographic segmentation typically includes the following subtypes:
- Cities (i.e., Austin, Paris, Berlin, etc.)
- State (i.e., Massachusetts)
- Country (i.e., Thailand)
Psychographic
Another key segmentation type of psychographic. This is where you split your customers into different groups based on their lifestyles.
Psychographic segmentation is a method of dividing your customers based on their habits, attitudes, values and opinions. You can unlock key emotional elements that impact your customers’ purchasing behaviours through this segmentation type.
Psychographic segmentation typically includes the following subtypes:
- Values
- Habits
- Opinions
Behavioural
While psychographic segmentation looks at your customers’ overall lifestyle and habits, behavioural segmentation aims to dive into the specific individual actions they take daily, especially when interacting with your brand or your website.
Your customers won’t all interact with your brand the same way. They’ll act differently when interacting with your products and services for several reasons.
Behavioural segmentation can help reveal certain use cases, like why customers buy a certain product, how often they buy it, where they buy it and how they use it.
By unpacking these key details about your audience’s behaviour, you can optimise your campaigns and messaging to get the most out of your marketing efforts to reach new and existing customers.
Behavioural segmentation typically includes the following subtypes:
- Interactions
- Interests
- Desires
Technographic
Another common segmentation type is technographic segmentation. As the name suggests, this technologically driven segment seeks to understand how your customers use technology.
While this is one of the newest segmentation types marketers use, it’s a powerful method to help you understand the types of tech your customers use, how often they use it and the specific ways they use it.
Technographic segmentation typically includes the following subtypes:
- Smartphone type
- Device type: smartphone, desktop, tablet
- Apps
- Video games
Demographic
The most common approach to segmentation is to split your customers up by demographics.
Demographic segmentation typically includes subtypes like language, job title, age or education.
This can be helpful for tailoring your content, products, and marketing efforts to specific audience segments. One way to capture this information is by using web analytics tools, where language is often available as a data point.
However, for accurate insights into other demographic segments like job titles, which may not be available (or accurate) in analytics tools, you may need to implement surveys or add fields to forms on your website to gather this specific information directly from your visitors.
How to build website segmentation analytics
With Matomo, you can create a variety of segments to divide your website visitors into different groups. Matomo’s Segments allows you to view segmentation analytics on subsets of your audience, like:
- The device they used while visiting your site
- What channel they entered your site from
- What country they are located
- Whether or not they visited a key page of your website
- And more
While it’s important to collect general data on every visitor you have to your website, a key to website growth is understanding each type of visitor you have.
For example, here’s a screenshot of how you can segment all of your website’s visitors from New Zealand:
The criteria you use to define these segments are based on the data collected within your web analytics platform.
Here are some popular ways you can create some common themes on Matomo that can be used to create segments:
Visit based segments
Create segments in Matomo based on visitors’ patterns.
For example:
- Do returning visitors show different traits than first-time visitors?
- Do people who arrive on your blog experience your website differently than those arriving on a landing page?
This information can inform your content strategy, user interface design and marketing efforts.
Demographic segments
Create segments in Matomo based on people’s demographics.
For example:
- User’s browser language
- Location
This can enable you to tailor your approach to specific demographics, improving the performance of your marketing campaigns.
Technographic segments
Create segments in Matomo based on people’s technographics.
For example:
- Web browser being used (i.e., Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.)
- Device type (i.e., smartphone, tablet, desktop)
This can inform how to optimise your website based on users’ technology preferences, enhancing the effectiveness of your website.
Interaction based segments
Create segments in Matomo based on interactions.
For example:
- Events (i.e., when someone clicks a specific URL on your website)
- Goals (i.e., when someone stays on your site for a certain period)
Insights from this can empower you to fine-tune your content and user experience for increasing conversion rates.
Visitor profile view in Matomo with behavioural, location and technographic insights Campaign-based segments
Create segments in Matomo based on campaigns.
For example:
- Visitors arriving from specific traffic sources
- Visitors arriving from specific advertising campaigns
With these insights, you can assess the performance of your marketing efforts, optimise your ad spend and make data-driven decisions to enhance your campaigns for better results.
Ecommerce segments
Create segments in Matomo based on ecommerce.
For example:
- Visitors who purchased vs. those who didn’t
- Visitors who purchased a specific product
This allows you to refine your website and marketing strategy for increased conversions and revenue.
Leverage Matomo for your segmentation analytics
By now, you can see the power of segmentation analytics and how they can be used to understand your customers and website visitors better. By breaking down your audience into groups, you’ll be able to gain insights into those segments to know how to serve them better with improved messaging and relevant products.
If you’re ready to begin using segmentation analytics on your website, try Matomo. Start your 21-day free trial now — no credit card required.
Matomo is an ideal choice for marketers looking for an easy-to-use, out-of-the-box web analytics solution that delivers accurate insights while keeping privacy and compliance at the forefront.
-
5-Step Conversion Rate Optimisation Checklist
27 octobre 2023, par ErinDid you know the average conversion rate across e-commerce businesses in August 2023 was 2.03%? In the past year, conversion rates have increased by 0.39%.
Make no mistake. Just because conversion rates are higher this year doesn’t make it any easier to convert visitors.
Cracking the secrets to improving conversion rates is crucial to running a successful website or business.
Your site is the digital headquarters all of your marketing efforts funnel toward. With every visitor comes an opportunity to convert them into a lead (or sale).
Keep reading if you want to improve your lead generation or convert more visitors into customers. In this article, we’ll break down a simple five-step conversion rate optimisation checklist you need to follow to maximise your conversions.
What is conversion rate optimisation?
Before we dive into the steps you need to follow to optimise your conversions, let’s back up and talk conversion rate optimisation.
Conversion rate optimisation, or CRO for short, is the process of increasing the number of website visitors who take a specific action.
In most cases, this means:
- Turning more visitors into leads by getting them to join an email list
- Convincing a visitor to fill out a contact form for a consultation
- Converting a visitor into a paying customer by purchasing a product
However, conversion rate optimisation can be used for any action you want someone to take on your site. That could be downloading a free guide, clicking on a specific link, commenting on a blog post or sharing your website with a friend.
Why following a CRO checklist is important
Conversion rate optimisation is both a valuable practice and an absolute necessity for any business or marketer. While it can be a bit complex, especially when you start diving into A/B testing, there are a variety of advantages:
Get the most out of your efforts
When all is said and done, if you can’t convert the traffic already coming to your site, dumping a ton of time and resources into traffic generation (whether paid or organic) won’t solve your problem.
Instead, you need to look at the root of the problem: your conversion rate.
By doubling down on conversions and following a conversion rate optimisation checklist, you’ll get the greatest result for the effort you’re already putting into your site.
Increase audience size
To increase your audience size, you need to increase your traffic, right? Not exactly.
While your audience may be considered people who have seen your content or follow you on social media, a high-value audience is one you can market to directly on an ongoing basis.
Your website gives you the playground to convert visitors into high-value audience members. This is done by creating conversion-focused email signup forms and optimising your website for sale conversions.
Generate more sales
Boosting sales through CRO is the core objective. By optimising product pages, simplifying the checkout process, and employing persuasive strategies, you can systematically increase your sales and maximise the value of your existing traffic.
Reduce customer acquisition costs (CAC)
With conversion optimisation, you can convert a higher percentage of your website visitors into paid customers. Even if you don’t spend more on acquiring new customers, you’ll be able to generate more sales overall.
The result is that your customer acquisition costs will drop, allowing you to increase your total acquisitions to your customer base.
Improve profitability
While reduced customer acquisition costs mean you can pour more money into customer acquisition at a cheaper rate, you could simply maintain your costs while driving sales, resulting in increased profitability.
If you can spend the same amount on acquisition but bring in 20% more customers (due to using a CRO checklist), your profit margins will automatically increase.5-step CRO checklist
To double down on conversion rate optimisation, you need to follow a checklist to ensure you don’t miss any major optimisation opportunities.
The checklist below is designed to help you systematically optimise your website, ensuring you make the most of your traffic by continuously refining its performance.
1. Forms
Analysing and optimising your website’s forms is crucial for enhancing conversion rates. Understanding how visitors interact with your forms can uncover pain points and help you streamline the conversion process.
Ever wonder where your visitors drop off on your forms? It could be due to lengthy, time-consuming fields or overly complex forms, leading to a frustrating user experience and lower conversion rate. Whatever the reason, you need the right tools to uncover the root of the issue.
By leveraging Form Analytics, you gain powerful insights into user behaviour and can identify areas where people may encounter difficulties.
Form Analytics provides the insights to discover:
- Average time spent on each field: This metric helps you understand where users may be struggling or spending too much time. By optimising these fields, you can streamline the form, reduce user frustration and increase conversions.
- Identifying drop-off points: Understanding where users drop off provides insights into which form fields may need improvement. Addressing these drop-off points can increase the conversion rate.
- Unneeded fields with a high blank submission rate: Discovering fields left blank upon submission can highlight areas for simplification. By eliminating unnecessary fields, you can create more concise and user-friendly forms that may entice more visitors to engage with the form.
Hear first-hand how Concrete CMS achieve 3x more leads with insights from Form Analytics.
These data-driven insights empower you to optimise your forms, remove guesswork and settle debates about form design. By fine-tuning and streamlining your forms, you can ensure a smoother path to conversion and maximise your success in converting more visitors.
Try Matomo for Free
Get the web insights you need, without compromising data accuracy.
2. Copywriting
Another crucial element you need to test is your copywriting. Your copywriting is the foundation of your entire website. It helps communicate to your audience what you have to offer and why they need to take action.
You need to ensure you have a good offer. This isn’t just the product or service you’re putting out there. It’s the complete package. It includes the product, rewards, a unique guarantee, customer service, packaging and promotions.
Start testing your copy with your headlines. Look at the headers and test different phrases to convert more potential customers into paying customers.
Here are a few tips to optimise your copy for more conversions:
- Ensure copy is relevant to your headline and vice versa.
- Write short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.
- Use bullets and subheaders to make the copy easy to skim.
- Don’t focus too heavily on optimising for search engines (SEO). Instead, write for humans.
- Focus on writing about benefits, not features.
- Write about how your offer solves the pain points of your audience.
You can test your copy in several areas once you’ve begun testing your headers – your subheaders, body copy, signup forms and product pages (if you’re e-commerce).
3. Media: videos and audio
Next, testing out different media types is crucial. This means incorporating videos and audio into your content.
Don’t just take a random guess by throwing stuff against the wall, hoping it sticks. Instead, you should use data to develop impactful content.
Look at your Media Analytics reports in your website analytics solution and see what media people spend the most time on. See what kind of video or audio content already impacts conversions.
Humans are highly visual. You should craft your content so it’s easy to digest. Instead of covering your website in huge chunks of text, split up your copy with engaging content like videos.
High-quality videos and audio recordings allow your readers to consume more of your content easily, and help persuade them to take action on your site.
4. Calls to action (CTA)
This brings us to our next point: your call to action (CTA).
Are you trying to convert more prospects into leads? Want to turn more leads into customers? Trying to get more email subscribers? Or do you want to generate more sales every month?
You could write the most compelling offer flooded with beautiful images, videos and CRO tactics. But your efforts will go to waste if you don’t include a compelling CTA.
Here are a few tips to optimise your CTAs:
- Keep them congruent on a single web page (e.g., don’t sell a hat and a sweater on the same page, as it can be confusing).
- Place at least one CTA above the fold on your web pages.
- Include benefits in your CTA. Rather than “Buy Now,” try “Buy Now to Get 30% Off.”
- It’s better to be clear and concise than too fancy and unique.
Optimising your call to action isn’t just about your copywriting. It’s also about design. Test different fonts, sizes, and visual elements like borders, icons and background colours.
5. Web design
Your site design will impact how well your visitors convert. You could have incredible copywriting, but if your site is laid out poorly, it will drive people away.
You must ensure your copy and visual content fit your website design well.
The first place you need to start with your site is your homepage design.
Your site design consists of the theme or template, colour scheme and other visual elements that can be optimised to improve conversions.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when optimising your website design:
- Use a colour scheme that’s pleasant rather than too distracting or extreme.
- Ensure your design doesn’t remove the text’s clarity but makes it easier to read.
- When in doubt, start with black text on a white background (the opposite rarely works).
- Keep plenty of whitespace in between design elements.
- When in doubt about font size, start by testing a larger size.
- Design mobile-first rather than desktop-first.
Finally, it’s critical to ensure your website is easy to navigate. Good design is all about the user experience. Is it easy to find what they’re looking for? Simplify steps to reduce the need to click, and your conversions will increase.
Start optimising your website for conversions
If you’re looking to get the most out of the traffic on your site by converting more visitors into leads or customers, following this 5-step CRO checklist will help you take steps in the right direction.
Just remember conversion rate optimisation is an ongoing process. It’s not a one-time deal. To succeed, you need to test quickly, analyse the impact and do more of what’s working and less of what’s not.
To optimise your website for better conversion rates, you need the right tools that provide accurate data and insights to effectively increase conversions. With Matomo, you gain access to web analytics and CRO features like Form Analytics and Media Analytics, designed to enhance your conversion rate optimisation efforts.
Try Matomo free for 21 days and take your conversion rate to the next level. No credit card required.
Try Matomo for Free
21 day free trial. No credit card required.
-
Understanding Data Processing Agreements and How They Affect GDPR Compliance
9 octobre 2023, par Erin — GDPRThe General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) impacts international organisations that conduct business or handle personal data in the European Union (EU), and they must know how to stay compliant.
One way of ensuring GDPR compliance is through implementing a data processing agreement (DPA). Most businesses overlook DPAs when considering ways of maintaining user data security. So, what exactly is a DPA’s role in ensuring GDPR compliance?
In this article, we’ll discuss DPAs, their advantages, which data protection laws require them and the clauses that make up a DPA. We’ll also discuss the consequences of non-compliance and how you can maintain GDPR compliance using Matomo.
What is a data processing agreement?
A data processing agreement, data protection agreement or data processing addendum is a contractual agreement between a data controller (a company) and a data processor (a third-party service provider.) It defines each party’s rights and obligations regarding data protection.
A DPA also defines the responsibilities of the controller and the processor and sets out the terms they’ll use for data processing. For instance, when MHP/Team SI sought the services of Matomo (a data processor) to get reliable and compliant web analytics, a DPA helped to outline their responsibilities and liabilities.
A DPA is one of the basic requirements for GDPR compliance. The GDPR is an EU regulation concerning personal data protection and security. The GDPR is binding on any company that actively collects data from EU residents or citizens, regardless of their location.
As a business, you need to know what goes into a DPA to identify possible liabilities that may arise if you don’t comply with European data protection laws. For example, having a recurrent security incident can lead to data breaches as you process customer personal data.
The average data breach cost for 2023 is $4.45 million. This amount includes regulatory fines, containment costs and business losses. As such, a DPA can help you assess the organisational security measures of your data processing methods and define the protocol for reporting a data breach.
Why is a DPA essential for your business?
If your company processes personal data from your customers, such as contact details, you need a DPA to ensure compliance with data security laws like GDPR. You’ll also need a DPA to hire a third party to process your data, e.g., through web analytics or cloud storage.
But what are the benefits of having a DPA in place?
A key benefit of signing a DPA is it outlines business terms with a third-party data processor and guarantees compliance with the relevant data privacy laws. A DPA also helps to create an accountability framework between you and your data processor by establishing contractual obligations.
Additionally, a DPA helps to minimise the risk of unauthorised access to sensitive data. A DPA defines organisational measures that help protect the rights of individuals and safeguard personal data against unauthorised disclosure. Overall, before choosing a data processor, having a DPA ensures that they are capable, compliant and qualified.
More than 120 countries have already adopted some form of international data protection laws to protect their citizens and their data better. Hence, knowing which laws require a DPA and how you can better ensure compliance is important.
Which data protection laws require a DPA?
Regulatory bodies enact data protection laws to grant consumers greater control over their data and how businesses use it. These laws ensure transparency in data processing and compliance for businesses.
The following are some of the relevant data privacy laws that require you to have a DPA:
- UK GDPR
- Brazil LGPD
- EU GDPR
- Dubai PDPA
- Colorado CPA
- California CCPA/CPRA
- Virginia VCDPA
- Connecticut DPA
- South African POPIA
- Thailand PDPA
Companies that don’t adhere to these data protection obligations usually face liabilities such as fines and penalties. With a DPA, you can set clear expectations regarding data processing between you and your customers.
Review and update any DPAs with third-party processors to ensure compliance with GDPR and the laws we mentioned above. Additionally, confirm that all the relevant clauses are present for compliance with relevant data privacy laws.
So, what key data processing clauses should you have in your DPA? Let’s take a closer look in the next section.
Key clauses in a data processing agreement
GDPR provides some general recommendations for what you should state in a DPA.
Here are the elements you should include:
Data processing specifications
Your DPA should address the specific business purposes for data processing, the duration of processing and the categories of data under processing. It should also clearly state the party responsible for maintaining GDPR compliance and who the data subjects are, including their location and nationality.
Your DPA should also address the data processor and controller’s responsibilities concerning data deletion and contract termination.
Role of processor
Your DPA should clearly state what your data processor is responsible for and liable for. Some key responsibilities include record keeping, reporting breaches and maintaining data security.
Other roles of your data processor include providing you with audit opportunities and cooperating with data protection authorities during inquiries. If you decide to end your contract, the data processor is responsible for deleting or returning data, depending on your agreement.
Role of controller
Your DPA should inform the responsibilities of the data controller, which typically include issuing processing instructions to the data processor and directing them on how to handle data processing.
Your DPA should let you define the lawful data processes the data processor should follow and how you’ll uphold the data protection rights of individuals’ sensitive data.
Organisational and technical specifications
Your DPA should define specifications such as how third-party processors encrypt, access and test personal data. It should also include specifications on how the data processor and controller will maintain ongoing data security through various factors such as:
- State of the technology: Do third-party processors have reliable technology, and can they ensure data security within their systems?
- Costs of implementation: Does the data controller’s budget allow them to seek third-party services from industry-leading providers who can guarantee a certain level of security?
- Variances in users’ personal freedom: Are there privacy policies and opt-out forms for users to express how they want companies to use their sensitive data?
Moreover, your DPA should define how you and your data processor will ensure the confidentiality, availability and integrity of data processing services and systems.
What are the penalties for DPA GDPR non-compliance?
Regulators use GDPR’s stiff fines to encourage data controllers and third-party processors to follow best data security practices. One way of maintaining compliance is through drafting up a DPA with your data processor.
The DPA should clearly outline the necessary legal requirements and include all the relevant clauses mentioned above. Understand what goes into this agreement since data protection authorities can hold your business accountable for a breach — even if a processor’s error caused it.
Data protection authorities can issue penalties now that the GDPR is in place. For example, according to Article 83 of the GDPR, penalties for data or privacy breaches or non-compliance can amount to up to €20 million or 4% of your annual revenue.
There are two tiers of fines: tier one and tier two. Violations related to data processors typically attract fines on the tier-one level. Tier one fines can cost your business €10 million or 2% of your company’s global revenue.
Tier-two fines result from infringement of the right to forget and the right to privacy of your consumer. Tier-two fines can cost your business up to €20 million or 4% of your company’s global revenue.
GDPR fines make non-compliance an expensive mistake for businesses of all sizes. As such, signing a DPA with any party that acts as a data processor for your business can help you remain GDPR-compliant.
How a DPA can help your business remain GDPR compliant
A DPA can help your business define and adhere to lawful data processes.
So, in what other ways can a DPA help you to remain compliant with GDPR? Let’s take a look!
1. Assess data processor’s compliance
Having a DPA helps ensure that the data processor you are working with is GDPR-compliant. You should check if they have a DPA and confirm the processor’s terms of service and legal basis.
For example, if you want an alternative to Google Analytics that’s GDPR compliant, then you can opt for Matomo. Matomo features a DPA, which you can agree to when you sign up for web analytics services or later.
2. Establish lawful data processes
A DPA can also help you review your data processes to ensure they’re GDPR compliant. For example, by defining lawful data processes, you better understand personally identifiable information (PII) and how it relates to data privacy.
Further, you can allow users to opt out of sharing their data. As such, Matomo can help you to enable Do Not Track preferences on your website.
With this feature, users are given the option to opt in or out of tracking via a toggle in their respective browsers.
Indeed, establishing lawful data processes helps you define the specific business purposes for collecting and processing personal data. By doing so, you get to notify your users why you need their data and get their consent to process it by including a GDPR-compliant privacy policy on your website.
3. Anonymise your data
Global privacy laws like GDPR and ePrivacy mandate companies to display cookie banners or seek consent before tracking visitors’ data. You can either include a cookie consent banner on your site or stop tracking cookies to follow the applicable regulations.
Further, you can enable cookie-less tracking or easily let users opt out. For example, you can use Matomo without a cookie consent banner, exempting it from many countries’ privacy rules.
Additionally, through a DPA, you can define organisational measures that define how you’ll anonymise all your users’ data. Matomo can help you anonymise IP addresses, and we recommend that you at least anonymise the last two bytes.
As one of the few web analytics tools you can use to collect data without tracking consent, Matomo also has the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) approval.
4. Assess the processor’s bandwidth
Having a DPA can help you implement data retention policies that show clear retention periods. Such policies are useful when ending a contract with a third-party service provider and determining how they should handle your data.
A DPA also helps you ensure the processor has the necessary technology to store personal data securely. You can conduct an audit to understand possible vulnerabilities and your data processor’s technological capacity.
5. Obtain legal counsel
When drafting a DPA, it’s important to get a consultation on what is needed to ensure complete compliance. Obtaining legal counsel points you in the right direction so you don’t make any mistakes that may lead to non-compliance.
Conclusion
Businesses that process users’ data are subject to several DPA contract requirements under GDPR. One of the most important is having DPAs with every third-party provider that helps them perform data processing.
It’s important to stay updated on GDPR requirements for compliance. As such, Matomo can help you maintain lawful data processes. Matomo gives you complete control over your data and complies with GDPR requirements.
To get started with Matomo, you can sign up for a 21-day free trial. No credit card required.
Disclaimer
We are not lawyers and don’t claim to be. The information provided here is to help give an introduction to GDPR. We encourage every business and website to take data privacy seriously and discuss these issues with your lawyer if you have any concerns.
