Whether you run an e-commerce brand or are trying to sell a B2B service, having a few conversion optimization hacks up on your sleeve is key to the success of your website or landing page.

Too often, however, many marketers think that to truly master conversion, they need to become expert coders with tools like Google’s Tag Manager. This isn’t the case.

With these conversion optimization hacks, you can generate meaningful results for your brand without any expert coding knowledge.

Not only will this help you get more conversions and/or sales, but these steps will also ensure you deliver a better experience for your customers in each step of their journey.

And so, with no further ado, let’s discover the 6 hacks that will optimize your conversions like never before.

Conversion Optimization Hack #1:
Focus Heavily On Sales-Driven Content That Matches Your Traffic’s Intent

The internet has opened up a wide variety of content options to help you drive sales for your products and services. As valuable as content can be, however, there is no denying that content creation can also be quite time-consuming. This means you must focus your limited resources on the content that drives sales.

So which content and calls to actions will contribute to sales growth?

We’ve seen tremendous success with our “Breadcrumb Technique,” a conversion rate optimization tactic that can almost be written down as a law.

We’re also seeing that certain types of traffic convert better when the call to action or offer matches the awareness or conversion-intent level of said traffic.

You see, some brands try to think that it’s a quick fix, like using an explainer video that will allow them to provide a convincing overview of their products and services.
Others may benefit from a consistent flow of engaging blog posts.

In your early phases, identifying the type of CTA and content that best drives sales will require a fair amount of trial and error. You might find that case studies have the biggest impact on customers. Or that user-generated content drives social media engagement and product sales.

Once you’ve identified top-performing content types, narrow your focus to the top three to five performers. This will give you needed variety in your content, while still ensuring that your creative is dialed in on what best drives sales.

Conversion Optimization Hack #2:
Identify Which Channels Actually Contribute To Your Sales

You have countless channels that can help drive traffic to your website: Google, Facebook, Instagram, email campaigns — the list is seemingly endless. The thing is, not all of these channels are created equal. You need to determine which channels actually contribute to your sales so you can better allocate your marketing dollars. For enterprise sales motion a great proxy is using data coming from a lead scoring platform to better assess the quality of leads coming from each advertising platform.

Trying to have a presence everywhere will only spread your marketing budget too thin. Besides, different platforms have different audiences. For example, data from Pew Research reveals that while 62% of individuals aged 18 to 29 use Snapchat, only 3% of those aged 65+ use the platform. LinkedIn use is far greater among college graduates than those with high school education.

When choosing marketing channels, start by identifying and using channels that are most popular with your target audience. As time goes on, evaluate the performance of the channels you are currently using. If one platform is not contributing to sales, it may be best to put it on hold. You should also monitor emerging platforms that are popular with your target audience.

Conversion Optimization Hack #3:
Use Tools That Eliminate The Need To Code (Yes, They Exist)

Many conversion optimization hacks rely on some type of coding — something many entrepreneurs don’t have much experience with. Trying to set up your website so that it collects the data you need can be frustrating. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can miss out on several crucial insights.

This is where tools like Oribi come in. These code-free analytics tools integrate with your website to track a comprehensive array of data points, such as the paths customers take to reach checkout, identifying how different on-site actions affect conversion rates and more. These tools use custom events that can be exported to other platforms to tell Facebook and Google exactly what is happening on your site.

For example, you can send custom event data created in Oribi to Facebook’s algorithms to tell it to search for people who are likely to participate in a specific on-site event. Feeding fresh data to your custom audience helps Facebook generate Lookalike audiences that are more accurate and up to date. Best of all, this can be done with just a few button clicks — no coding required.

When you have tools that automatically collect conversion data and simplify the process of implementing changes, you will know which steps to take for adjusting your website or marketing. You can focus more of your efforts on fine-tuning your products or services, and have greater confidence in future conversion optimization efforts.

Conversion Optimization Hack #4:
Write Copy For Scanners, Not Full-Blown Readers

There’s no denying that copy is extremely important for landing pages and other on-site content. But all too often, entrepreneurs cause potential buyers to miss out on their most convincing information simply because of how their copy is formatted.

According to an eye tracking study from Nielsen Norman Group, the majority of internet users consume content in an “F shaped” pattern. The top headline and first few words of text in subsequent lines get most of the attention. The farther right or the farther down the page, the more likely text is to be skipped.

Other common reading styles include the “layer cake pattern” which focuses on headings and subheadings. These patterns back previous research that has found that 79% of internet users only skim content.

Your web content should be written with these habits in mind. Use headings and subheadings to convey important information. Avoid big walls of text, and bold important phrases to catch a scanner’s attention. Be concise, and put the most important information as close to the top of the page as possible. This will help you get your message across to more people.

Conversion Optimization Hack #5:
Follow Up On Cart Abandonment or Key Conversion Pages (Like a Pricing or Demo Page)

Cart abandonment is one e-commerce issue that seems like it will never go away. The Baymard Institute estimates the average online cart abandonment rate to be 69.57%. While many of these are due to issues with the seller or checkout process (such as too high of shipping costs), the fact remains that many internet users are simply engaging in a modern form of window shopping.

Past surveys of online shoppers have found them to be more likely to just be browsing than people who go in-store. 46% of online shoppers are merely browsing, as opposed to 27% of in-store shoppers.

As such, it is extremely rare that someone will make a purchase the first time they visit your site. They may want to compare prices or features with other retailers. Or maybe they did intend to make a purchase, but something caused them to get up from their computer, and then they simply forgot.

These individuals serve as warm leads who are far more likely to convert than someone who has never interacted with your brand before. Now, however, it’s up to you to get them to come back to complete a purchase.

Followup emails can be useful if you already have a customer’s email address, but this isn’t always the case. Retargeting campaigns are a powerful tool that will remind customers of items they previously looked at on your site or added to their cart. Facebook and Google Ads will help spur those additional interactions that drive return traffic and sales.

Conversion Optimization Hack #6:
Eliminate 100% Of Unnecessary, On-Site Roadblocks In The Conversion Process

In the previously cited research from Baymard Institute, the leading cause for cart abandonment was high costs for shipping or other fees. While this is a big issue for e-commerce brands, the next-highest ranked reasons for cart abandonment are applicable to any business trying to make sales online.

28% of shoppers abandoned their cart because the site wanted them to create an account. 21% cited a checkout process that was too long or complicated. 18% quit because they couldn’t calculate the total cost of their order upfront.

While the exact nature of the problem can vary from site to site (and customer to customer), these issues all share the same root cause: the seller placing unnecessary roadblocks to conversion on their website.

One of the most important conversion optimization hacks you can do is to simply evaluate your website’s sales funnel. Identify where you lose the most customers on the way to conversion. The problem might lie with your checkout process, but it could also stem from confusing landing page navigation. Fixing these issues will remove unnecessary frustrations for your customers.

Mastering The Conversion Optimization Process

As you can see, you don’t have to be a coding expert to make use of conversion optimization hacks that deliver meaningful results. With the help of tools that track conversion metrics for you and some fine-tuning of your website and content creation process, you will be better able to guide potential customers through the sales funnel.

Of course, conversion optimization is a process, and these hacks are only a starting point. By continuing to re-evaluate your website and conversion channels, you can keep improving your results.

Johnathan Dane is an international speaker and the founder of KlientBoost, a no-nonsense, creative, kick-ass Google Ads and landing page agency that hustles for results and ROI. If you think this article’s good, you should see what he’s writing on their PPC and CRO blog. You can reach Jonathan on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and the Klientboost website