Low Website Conversions? Four Ways To Find And Improve Flaws

by | Nov 7, 2016 | User Experience

Achieving high conversion rates is a fundamental goal for any business website. However, when visitors don’t convert as expected, it can lead to frustration and missed opportunities. One of the most common causes of low conversion rates is confusion—a state where visitors struggle to navigate your site, understand its value, or achieve their goals. When confusion creeps in, it creates friction, which diminishes the likelihood of conversions.

But how exactly does confusion influence conversions? Imagine a visitor searches for a specific product, service, or information on your site. If they struggle to locate what they’re looking for or can’t figure out how to take the next step (such as signing up, making a purchase, or contacting your team), they will likely leave. This friction reduces the visitor’s desire to complete the action, resulting in fewer conversions. In a simplified formula:

Conversion Rate = Desire – Friction

The more friction your site introduces, the smaller the desire, and thus the lower the conversion rate. Fortunately, confusion can be diagnosed and fixed. Here are four strategies to identify and address the causes of confusion on your site so that you can improve conversions.


1. Analyze Your Top Landing Pages in Google Analytics

A critical first step in diagnosing confusion is to review the performance of your top landing pages—the pages where visitors most frequently enter your website. Google Analytics provides valuable insights into which pages attract the highest traffic, where users are landing, and how they behave once they arrive.

The Importance of Landing Pages
While the homepage is often the primary entry point, many users also come through other pages that appear in search results or are linked from other sources (like social media or email campaigns). If these landing pages aren’t clear or don’t align with the visitor’s intent, users may quickly leave, resulting in a high bounce rate. A high bounce rate indicates that users aren’t finding what they need or expect, creating friction and reducing conversions.

Diagnosing and Improving Landing Pages

  • Identify High-Traffic, High-Bounce Pages: Use the Behavior > Site Content > Landing Pages report in Google Analytics to identify which pages have the highest traffic and bounce rates. If a page has a high bounce rate, this suggests that users aren’t finding what they expected.
  • Optimize Content for Search Intent: Think about the keywords or search terms that are leading users to your landing pages. Does the page match the search intent? If a user searches for “best running shoes,” for example, they should land on a page showcasing a selection of top-rated shoes, not just a generic product category. By matching the content to the user’s intent, you can align their expectations and reduce confusion.
  • Test Copy and Structure Improvements: Experiment with page layout, copy, and calls to action (CTAs) to see what changes encourage users to stay and engage. Clear headlines, concise product descriptions, and straightforward CTAs help users quickly understand the value and take the desired action.

2. Survey Visitors as They Exit

Directly asking visitors for feedback can be one of the most powerful ways to understand why they’re not converting. By using exit-intent surveys, you can gather insights right at the moment when users are deciding to leave your site. These surveys are triggered when a visitor’s cursor moves toward the browser’s close button or back button, indicating they are about to leave.

What to Ask in Exit-Intent Surveys

  • Discover User Intentions: Ask visitors, “What were you hoping to achieve during your visit?” Understanding the user’s goals helps you assess if your site is meeting their needs.
  • Understand Roadblocks: If the visitor didn’t achieve their objective, ask a follow-up question like “What prevented you from finding what you were looking for?” or “What stopped you from completing your purchase?” The answers to these questions can point to specific issues, such as confusing navigation, lack of product information, or technical errors that are causing friction.
  • Gather Feedback on User Experience: Questions like “How easy was it to find what you were looking for?” or “What could we improve on this page?” can reveal user experience issues that you may not have anticipated.

Using Survey Data to Make Improvements
Not all visitors will fill out your survey, but those who do will provide valuable, actionable feedback. Look for common themes in their responses and prioritize fixing issues that are frequently mentioned. For instance, if many users complain about a lengthy checkout process, consider simplifying it to improve conversions.


3. Perform Hands-On User Research

To go deeper than just metrics and surface-level feedback, conducting hands-on user research is crucial. While analytics tools tell you what is happening on your site, user research helps you understand why it’s happening. By directly observing how users interact with your website, you can uncover the exact sources of confusion or friction.

A Three-Step Approach to User Research

  1. Survey Your Users: Send out a survey to your existing users or customers, asking what they love about your service, what they find frustrating, and how they discovered your site. Questions like “What nearly stopped you from purchasing?” can provide insight into potential sticking points during their user journey.
  2. Conduct User Testing with Heat Maps: Use tools like Hotjar or Crazy Egg to create heatmaps that show how users click, scroll, and interact with your site. User testing sessions can be particularly insightful as they allow you to watch users navigate through your site in real-time. Observe any areas where users hesitate, click multiple times, or abandon their actions—these are indicators of confusion.
  3. Talk to Your Support Team: Your customer support team interacts directly with users and hears firsthand about their challenges. Conduct interviews with support staff to understand common issues, complaints, or questions that arise about your site. This feedback is invaluable for identifying confusion and opportunities for improvement.

Act on User Research Findings
After gathering insights, take time to analyze the results and look for patterns. Use these insights to make design adjustments, clarify messaging, and improve navigation. User research helps you empathize with your audience and design your site to meet their needs, thereby reducing friction and improving conversions.


4. Understand and Segment Your Visitors

Not all visitors to your site are the same. They come from different sources, use different devices, and have different goals. To truly understand where confusion arises, it’s important to segment your visitors based on their behavior and traffic source. Doing so enables you to identify what is working well and where you may be losing potential customers.

Ways to Segment Visitor Data for Better Insights

  • By Traffic Source: Analyze how visitors are finding your site (organic search, paid ads, social media, referrals, etc.) and track the conversion rates for each source. For instance, if visitors from organic search convert at a higher rate than those from social media, this may indicate that your messaging is clearer to search engine users.
  • By Device Type (Mobile vs Desktop): Mobile users often have different behaviors and needs than desktop users. Look for discrepancies in conversion rates across devices. If mobile conversion rates are significantly lower, consider whether your site is mobile-friendly, has fast loading times, and is easy to navigate on a smaller screen.
  • By User Behavior: Observe patterns in how different user segments behave on your site. For instance, look at users who visited multiple pages but didn’t convert versus those who completed a desired action. What were the differences in their journeys? Where did they drop off?

Gathering Insights from High-Converting Visitors
One effective way to identify what works is to ask questions to visitors who successfully convert. Why did they choose your product or service? What made their decision easy? What stood out to them about your site? These insights can help you optimize the journey for other visitors and replicate positive experiences.


Conclusion: Understanding and Reducing Confusion for Better Conversions

Low website conversions can often be traced back to confusion and friction in the user journey. By analyzing key landing pages in Google Analytics, surveying exiting visitors, conducting hands-on user research, and segmenting visitor data, you can identify the sources of confusion that are hindering conversions. Once identified, these sources can be addressed through improved design, messaging, and functionality, leading to a smoother user experience and better conversion rates.

If you’re looking to optimize your website’s user experience and boost conversions, reach out to Interact RDT for a consultation today. Let us help you understand and enhance your visitors’ journey for measurable results.

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