Conversion Rate Optimization in 2018: 10 Poisonous Myths

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is probably one of today’s marketers’ most significant challenges and hustle. The general rule says that the better your conversion rate is, the better your profits will get. But is it so?

Is the excessive and obsessive optimization of your conversion rates necessary? Important? Many would say yes, and only a few would say no. The answer is neither yes or no. The correct answer comes once a right question has been asked, so let me ask again.

Is it important to apply the best optimization strategies for your website and sales performance to grow? The answer is yes, without a doubt. The only problem is that useful information is tough to find. The wrong information is being spread at incredible speeds, pointing the naïve marketers toward dead ends. It’s no wonder so many people just quit and look for something else to do.

I digress.

In 2018, you’re experiencing the peak of the information age. Do you want to find something? You’re two clicks away. The problem is that what you find might not always be helpful. There are many myths concerning CRO in 2018, and many are them are teaching and showing the wrong path.

In today’s post, we’re debunking 10 of the most dangerous conversion rate optimization myths that are present in 2018. Pay attention and never fall prey to these misinformative “facts”, “tactics”, or “strategies”, as many people call them.

1. CRO is a Magic Playfield

You might think that you’re website’s design is not suited anymore, that your logo could be better, and that most of your blog posts’ headline should be rewritten to be made more effective. Sure, these might be the problems, but how would you feel knowing that the few changes you want to make are the ones which are going to drag your business down?

CRO is riskier than you thought. While optimization is essential, every webmaster must first assess and understand what needs to be improved. It’s not guessing – it’s work, analytics, brainstorming, and risking. The bottom line is, your website could have 1000 problems, and you may change the elements that do not represent a problem and therefore do worse than good.

2. Directly Engaging with Your Customers for Feedback is Not Necessary

You have a lot of tools at your disposals, a lot of marketing forums, and a lot of tutorials everywhere you look. You might be tempted to think that these smart and affordable digital tools might be the big solution to your CRO adventures.

Well, stop for a moment and think. You can analyze, measure, and figure out the behavior and presence of your website visitors. You can directly interact with them through screens too. However, what you can’t do is get genuine, improvised, answers.

To know where you should be heading, surveying your customers is the first thing you should think of. Depending on your audience segmentation, develop personalized surveys for each small group and start seeking real insights. The answers you’ll get will be ten times more useful than if you would have brainstormed ideas or assessed analytic tools.

3. Your Instinct and Gut Are Your Best Friends when Optimizing Your CRO

Gut and instinct, two critical aspects that make up our personalities. They’re great to count on in different situations in life. When it comes to conversion rate optimization, your gut and instinct are just the initial triggers that will unlock new ideas and potential outcomes.

However, when you work on your CRO, you need to be thoughtful, patient, and smart. Before making a significant change, you need to assess all your predictions carefully. For example, if you sell a subscription service and you offer four subscription options, you might believe that your poor conversion rates are a result of “too many choices” for the user.

Well, just believing is not enough. You need proof, you need to test, and you need to test again. Use both your gut and instincts and combine them with the truth, which comes in the forms of statistics and results.

4. If I Copy Somebody Else’s UX, I will Copy His CRO Performance

You think that copying someone’s design, rewriting his content, and developing a similar e-mail funnel will make you as successful as they are?

CRO is not about mimicking other people’s work. Doing so will only create a big mess, as the target audiences might be different, the branding, and probably even the big picture strategy. Every time you think of copying someone’s CRO, stop, it won’t work. Find your own and optimize it as you go!

5. CRO Is All About Making Pages Look Awesome

Another annoying myth here. CRO is about delivering a fantastic design, with beautiful pages, and great interaction. Well, CRO is that and 1000 more things.

For example, you’re improving your conversion rates when you change a few words in one of your social media posts’ description, you’re optimizing conversion when you decide to add a new color to a button, and you’re optimizing for conversion when you add or modify an email from your autoresponder. CRO is a collection of small actions that all lead to the same purpose: improvement.

6. CRO is the Successful Persuasion of Site Visitors

CRO is the successful persuasion of site visitors. Wrong. Your goal is not to persuade them to buy, but rather to make them understand that what you’re offering is truly good for them.

Here’s what Mike Johnson, the lead sales manager at BestEssays, suggests:

“When you get obsessed with CRO, you become a “small god” that expects everyone to follow his system and rules. You want people to click, buy, comment, and if they don’t, it means your persuasion is not good enough. Well, quit thinking about this nonsense and start discovering new ways to improve the benefits of your win-win situation, which often means the successful exchange between value and money.”

7. The More Budget You Have the Better Your CRO Will Get

More budget doesn’t mean more conversions. You’d be tempted to think so because you might see all these giant online companies spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on their SEO management efforts, conversion optimization strategies and implementations, and much more.

Money helps because it opens up new paths and creates new possibilities for you. However, if you lack a big budget, do not worry. Converting people to your list or making sales is not really about how much money you have. It’s about how well you understand your customers, business, and competition at the same time.

8. Lack of Immediate Results = Failure

Some webmasters live with a false belief, a belief that limits and often destroys their odds of real success. After optimizing their funnels, many marketers and webmasters seek immediate confirmation or results. If the prospect does not convert in the first place, the mission is a failure, and everything was in vain.

If you expect to be successful in this field, you can’t think like that, ever. Patience, action, and persistence are vital essentials. Your prospect doesn’t even need to convert at first sight. Do your marketing well, retarget him, bring him back, and be successful the 2^nd or the 3^rd time he gets back.

9. The Existence of “Working” Methods, Strategies, and Formulas

CRO is not a strategy, method, formula, or recipe. It is not something you follow through to generate precise outcomes. No, you never know where your CRO efforts will lead your business performance. Some of your optimization decisions might pay off exceptionally well, while others will sabotage your sales. Don’t believe in fairy tales and magic pills. Believe in your skills, motivation, and persistence.

10. CRO is a One-Time-Solution

CRO as a one-time-solution? No way. Conversion rate optimization is an entire journey. You start it the moment you decide to analyze your website and pay attention to the analytics metrics.

Well, testing, measuring, hypothesizing, theorizing, and retesting again are the core actions of CRO. You can’t try once, twice, and then quit. Proper conversion rate optimization takes time, patience, and a lot and a lot of practice.

Conclusion

Never fall prey to these destructive myths that happen to be circulating everywhere on the web. Every time you consume information put it through your highly selective filter and don’t take anything for granted. Always assess different opinions – study, don’t follow!

Author bio:

Warren is a digital marketing expert and blogger at BestEssays. He loves long hiking trips and playing his guitar. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.