Conversion rates vary in industries, but if we talk about the average of some niches, the number sits at 2.35%. This means if your website is converting at the 2-3% mark, you are doing okay!

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In B2B, the professional services industry has the highest conversion rates at 4.6%.

So, if you are thinking, “Conversion of my business is less than this charts!” you are already ahead of your competitors who are dealing with the same issues.

In this article, we will discuss five common mistakes that can kill your website’s conversion rate, and we will share how you can avoid these mistakes so it will increase conversion rates.

Why Should you Think About your Conversion Rate?

Your website's conversion rate directly affects your revenue and profit. More conversions mean more returns, which is essential for your marketing investment.

When you fail to convert website visitors for any reason, it means your potential buyer decided he/she didn’t get what they want from your website, so they will switch to your competitors.

Having a high conversion rate means you are earning good monetary and non-monetary rewards from your visitors. They reward you for being helpful, providing a good user experience, and making it easy for them to achieve their goals. Pssttt, nobody really cares about what you’re selling!

Each stage of the buyers’ journey of conversion

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A lot of things will happen before conversion, and you might face hurdles in various stages, and here you will lose. Because buyers don't like any glitches or issues in the conversion funnel.

Let’s take an example: H&M shared a paid ad on Instagram of a very beautiful top, and you stopped scrolling at that ad, clicked that, and redirected to H&M’s online store for that particular product. And you found the product is already out of the stock, damn! Now, think, will you ever click on H&M’s paid ads again?

Of course, I won’t, and I believe you won’t, too. So, this is what I meant by saying ‘Hurdle.’ Before we jump to the mistakes, let me clear you about what CRO is exactly.

📝 Conversion rate optimization is the practice of increasing the percentage of users who perform a desired action on a website. These actions, also called conversions, include purchasing a product, filling out a form, sending details for inquiry, etc. Successful CRO strategies aim to increase conversions by focusing on the customer experience.

Why you should take a customer-centric approach to CRO?

You might noticed many conversion rate optimization strategies that concentrate heavily on percentages, averages, and benchmarks, but improving conversions is the ultimate goal of CRO, which is a purely numerical approach.

But trust me, playing with numbers won’t get you too far; the more you look at the spreadsheets full of numbers and data points to take action on, the less you consider the individuals behind them.

The holistic approach to CRO puts people at the center and understands their purpose of reaching and browsing your website, what factors stop them, and what persuades them to convert.

Common Mistakes to Avoid to Achieve Desired Conversion Rate

1. Mismatch Between Expectations and Reality

The first conversion pitfall starts with expectations and reality! I must address this because if you start working on it already, you can be the best conversion buzz in the market. But again, if you don’t care about your users, you are still lacking. So, let’s talk about the very traditional approach of marketing and communication, i.e., continuity. I mean, continuously verify whether you match their expectations or not.  

People land on your website from various sources, and they do it for a particular purpose. Perhaps they saw a social media post, clicked on your ad, or searched for something and found you on Google. Whatever the case, they expect to find more information or complete an action they read or thought about while seeing that ad, post, or search results.  

Let’s take an example of PayPal. PayPal’s motto is “A Simple and Safer Way to Pay and Get Paid.” You are running an online e-commerce business; now, you want to update your checkout process and add PayPal to provide a ‘one-click payment’ experience to your users. But it shows ‘ERROR’ in authentication.

This mismatch between expectation (one-click payment) and reality (glitches) would frustrate users, potentially causing them to abandon the payment and look for alternatives, increasing the bounce rate. You might think about how you will know the exact issue users face. Here is the solution to it.

How Does User Behavior Analytics Help?

User behavior analytics comes into play here. You can track user journeys using riyo.ai and get the pinpoint they face, where they got stuck, and where they spend time the most.

Here’s how:

• Session recordings show how users react when they land on your page. If you see visitors quickly leaving after arrival, it could be a sign that their expectations were mismatched.

• Heatmaps track where users are focusing their attention, helping you identify critical information (like pricing, offers, or CTAs) that is being missed or unclear.

• The user feedback tool is integrated with the user behavior analytics tool to ask users if they found what they were looking for or if they found anything missing from their experience.

If you have these tools integrated into your e-commerce or SaaS website, you will understand users are facing issues while choosing the PayPal option for payment, and due to this issue, they are leaving the website from the checkout, which is the last step to confirm the order. And the next step you need to take is to optimize the payment process and improve CRO.

2. Confusing Navigation

Okay! I am on the website. Now? Now What?

So much can go wrong in the first few seconds when someone lands on your website and gets confused about the next step, though he/she knows why he/she visited your website. This confusion is one of the worst conversion killers.  

No need to say, ‘First impressions make all the difference, right?’ Every 9 out of 10 visitors bounce from the website’s landing page. In other words, users won’t stay guessing where they won’t understand where to click to find what they want.

Let’s take the example of Zara. Visiting Zara’s website is reminiscent of flipping through an editorial magazine. It is visually attractive, but what about its main purpose…Shopping? Which is the goal of site visitors, that is difficult. Consider the homepage of the website. The text is too small, the color combination is not suitable for the text, and the navigation menu is hidden behind the hamburger button. So, it is not immediately apparent to users what to click next.

The first time I visited the website, I noticed there was no explicit CTA, which confused me, and I left the website without buying anything.

How Does User Behavior Analytics Help?

User behavior analytics tools show where users click, how they navigate, and where they encounter confusion. By analyzing this behavior, you can pinpoint which navigation elements are causing friction.

For example:

• Heatmaps will tell you which sections of your site receive the most or least clicks. If key navigation elements are being overlooked, you will know where adjustments are needed.

• Session recordings show how users navigate through your website, helping you identify points where they get lost or drop off entirely.

• Funnel analysis tells you how users move from the homepage to product or checkout pages and where they abandon the process.
  

If Zara integrates these tools into its website, it could identify the navigation challenges that many users encounter. The company could then take action by adjusting the font colors and making the hamburger menu more visible.

3. Poor Website Performance

Tell me one thing: how long do you wait for a page to load? What if you find a broken link to the same product you want to purchase? Is this experience enough to make you close the tab permanently?

Poor website performance (a slow and buggy website, most probably) bounces users and eats away at search rankings. As you know, ranking will affect website traffic directly, so the question remains: How do we convert shoppers?

Every second matters. Almost half of website visitors expect a website to be loaded in 2 seconds or less. According to Google, the probability of bounce increases by 90% as page load time extends from 1 to 5 seconds. Even mobile users now demand desktop-level browsing experiences, so site performance is something to take seriously.

Speed and stability are even more fundamental to conversions: Trust. If your website is not performing well, users quickly put these two factors together, “Okay! This website isn’t performing well. I cannot find what I want, and no ‘cash on delivery’ option is available; how should I trust the website then?”  

Let’s take the example of Yoox. According to Google, it takes 7 seconds to load, while other websites take 2 seconds or less. The reason for the long loading time is a large image file, an unsuitable server location, unnecessary elements, etc.

How Does User Behavior Analytics Help?

With behavior analytics, you can track how users interact with your website and spot performance issues early as it provides heatmaps and session recordings showing where users drop off or where interactions lag.

Here’s how you can use these insights:

• Identify areas where performance issues, such as slow-loading images or broken links, cause users to abandon the page.

• Detect device-specific issues, especially for mobile users, and optimize accordingly.

• Analyze the impact of slow loading times on user behavior—how long they are willing to wait before leaving.

If Yoox has riyo.ai integrated with its online store, it might notice that the long image file takes too long to load, directly affecting overall website performance.

4. No availability of customer support or virtual help desk

While technical and design factors certainly impact your conversion rate, a more subtle element is at play: ‘A human connection.’ Or rather, the absence of it.

Your website serves as just one key touchpoint in the larger customer journey. At each stage, buyers get confused with specific questions and needs. It is up to you to offer the guidance and support they seek, ensuring their path forward is smooth and clear.

And what if you don’t?

Yes simple! They leave the website and say “Good Bye👋” and you will lose your potential frequent buyer forever!

Ensure that you are available 24/7 for your shoppers when they need your help. I agree that dynamic content is the backbone of good service because what you say on your pages should address the thoughts of your visitors. But obviously, you can’t write absolutely everything on your website. So, there will be scenes when users need your assistance/support/help to complete the checkout process quickly.

Actually, the visitors who want your help with more specific needs or just skip reading details (there are more people than you think) always provide an easy way to connect with you.

For the visitors who want help with more specific needs or just didn’t take the time to read through your content (that’s more people than you think), always provide an easy way to contact you.

When I say easy, I mean fast and simple. If customers have to click through a few steps, wait hours for a reply, or make multiple calls, they will likely go elsewhere. That’s why combining automation with human support is key for a good customer service experience.

Live chat works well if you have the resources, while chatbots provide 24/7 instant help. At the very least, FAQs and other helpful resources should be easy to find on your site, not buried in hard-to-reach places.

Support should be quick, personalized, and available when needed. This boosts conversions in two ways: timely service keeps visitors engaged, and each positive interaction moves them closer to making a purchase.

How Does User Behavior Analytics Help?

User behavior analytics tools identify areas where users struggle. For example, you can track where users get stuck, such as on the checkout page or product descriptions. If analytics shows users frequently hovering over specific sections or clicking on non-interactive elements, it may indicate they seek help or more information.

Using these insights, you can:

• Add live chat or chatbots so users can ask for assistance where they often get confused.

• Integrate user behavior analytics tool with feedback form generators to catch user queries and frustrations in real-time.

• Place virtual help desks or FAQs in areas where users most frequently ask for help.
  

5. Generic Email Campaigns

Emails are not just a tool to communicate; they’re a way to build a connection. Sending out a one-size-fits-all email campaign is like speaking to a room full of people without acknowledging who they are. Imagine a buyer browsing your site for a specific product, but they receive a generic email with irrelevant promotions. That is a missed opportunity and a potential lost sale.

If your email campaigns don’t cater to the needs and interests of individual customers, they are more likely to ignore them or unsubscribe.

Let’s take an example of a well-known e-commerce brand like Nykaa. While their website offers trendy fashion, what truly sets them apart is their targeted email campaigns. Instead of bombarding users with generic product lists, they send personalized suggestions based on browsing history, previous purchases, and even seasonal preferences. This makes the email feel more like a helpful guide than a cold marketing message.

They even remind you about the product you added in wishlists through your registered WhatsApp number and text on the given mobile number.

How Does User Behavior Analytics Help?

Using user behavior analytics tools, you can track what they are clicking on, what pages they browse, and even what products they hover over. Analyzing this data allows you to tailor your email campaigns to send relevant content based on individual user activity.

Here’s how user behavior analytics can optimize your email campaigns:

• Use behavior analytics to divide your audience into smaller segments based on their activity. For example, frequent users of the “Sale” section could receive discount offers, while regular buyers might be shown loyalty programs.

• Once you know what a user is interested in, personalize the email content to match their preferences. Personalizing the email, WhatsApp, and text SMS makes it feel more relevant and personal, whether a product suggestion, a special offer, or a reminder to complete a purchase.

• Automatically trigger emails, WhatsApp messages, or text SMS based on user actions. If someone abandons their cart, send them a reminder. If they frequently browse specific categories, send them targeted promotions. This dynamic, data-driven approach keeps your emails fresh and valuable.
  

FAQs

(1) What does a low conversion rate say about your website?

A low conversion rate indicates that your website isn't effectively turning visitors into customers or achieving its goals. This could mean user experience, content, design issues, or a mismatch between what visitors expect and what your site offers. You can know the exact issue using a user behavior analytics tool.

(2) What will be a good conversion rate in 2024?

A good conversion rate in 2024 varies by industry, but generally, 2% to 5% is considered good. Depending on their niche and optimization efforts, some high-performing sites may achieve even higher rates.

(3) How do we analyze low conversion rates?

To analyze low conversion rates, review user behavior analytics to identify where visitors drop off. You can gather the data such as page views, bounce rates, and exit points. Use tools like heatmaps and session recordings to understand user interactions and pinpoint improvement areas.

(4) How can you improve your website's conversion rates?

To improve conversion rates, focus on optimizing your website's user experience. Simplify navigation, speed up page load times, and ensure clear calls-to-action. Personalize content and offers based on user behavior, and use A/B testing to find what works best. Also, ensure your website is mobile-friendly and provides easy access to customer support.