A conversion rate expert specialises in optimising website components like copywriting, web design and web programming to convert a higher percentage of visitors into paying customers or qualified leads. Fortune 500 companies like Google and Apple have recently hired conversion rate optimisation experts in the past year to boost online sales by up to 100% or more. So if these huge multi-national corporations are hiring experts to optimise their websites, then it only makes sense that you should go out and hire your own conversion rate expert to boost your online sales, right?
Not necessarily. Listen, when done correctly, conversion rate optimisation (also known as CRO) can increase online sales by up to 100% or more but it can be a time consuming and expensive process to complete. In fact, most CRO projects can take up to 3 months to fully complete and validate using website split testing. So if the website is not a suitable candidate for optimisation, then hiring a conversion rate expert will waste loads of time and money with nothing to show for it.
So to help you avoid wasting time and resources, here are three “warning signs” that you should not even consider hiring a conversion rate expert:
- Website Attracts Fewer than 50,000 Unique Visitors Per Year: If your website is not attracting at least 1,000 unique visitors per week, then it is unlikely to generate a favorable ROI for you. Now there are exceptions but low traffic levels are a very clear indicator that your site may not be ready for a conversion rate optimisation expert so while this is not a “deal breaker”, tread carefully if this is the case.
- You Have No Traffic Data: A conversion rate expert uses traffic and heat mapping analysis to identify conversion problems, isolate weak traffic sources, and ultimately optimise your website. If you have zero traffic data to analyse, it’s a non-starter and most reputable CRO services or professionals will not even consider working with you until you do.
- You Are Using “Ancient” or Very Rare Software Platforms: One of the biggest advantages to hiring a conversion rate expert is that they don’t tear your site down and rebuild a brand new one. Instead, they prefer to work with your existing platforms and site content to fix conversion problems while maintaining or enhancing any on-site SEO—so your traffic remains unaffected but your conversions increase without massive investments in new websites or software applications. But, if you are using some obscure CMS, web host, shopping cart, or other software, then it may be necessary to start over with a new site and you would not need a CRO expert, you would need a web developer.
Make no mistake: Any website can be optimised to increase conversions and qualified leads. However, the purpose of this article is to help you decide if a conversion rate expert will actually be profitable for you to contact and potentially hire. If your site is generating less than a 1,000 unique visitors per week, you lack traffic analysis, or you are using very rare and obscure software applications, then now may not be the time to hire a conversion rate optimisation expert or company.