The importance of properly tracking your users

In a digital business, it is essential to track the users who visit our website or app, so that we understand how they interact with it and can reach them in the best possible way at each stage of the conversion funnel.

At each of those stages, we will use CRO (conversion rate optimisation) to analyse the possible inefficiencies on our website that cause friction in our sales funnel, and to correct them through small changes that we will make by running A/B tests.

What can we do at each stage?

Below we will look at the 4 stages, with some examples of optimisations we can carry out.

Optimising the acquisition stage

In this first stage, users realise they have a need and visit our website or app. We can use different channels to attract users, such as SEO or Digital Advertising. If your online business also has a physical side, you can also use Local SEO as an acquisition strategy.

As users land on a landing page that we send them to, this landing page must be optimised, following a layout like this one.

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On this landing page, we will have a form with an optimised CTA (call-to-action button) to capture these users’ details and so generate leads (potential customers).

Another essential element is loading speed, because 53% of users will leave your website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. To improve loading speed, we can use analysis tools such as Google Page Speed Insights.

Optimising the consideration stage

In this stage, users are thinking about making a purchase but have not yet decided which company to buy from. That is why we need to answer their questions and build trust, so that they end up buying on our website or app.

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To answer their questions, we should offer content, for example through a blog, and make it easy to get in touch, adapting to the type of user we have. If they are more traditional, by phone, and if they are younger, through a chatbot. To build trust, we should position ourselves as experts in the sector, highlighting the clients we have worked with and giving weight to user reviews.

Optimising the conversion stage

In this stage, it is essential that we optimise the pages of the products or services we sell, so that they catch users’ attention and they decide to buy them. We should also optimise the checkout process, offering users a process that feels secure, has several payment methods and adapts to different types of device.

It is advisable for this checkout process to be organised into different sections that do not ask users for too much information, as this will make the purchase easier for them.

Optimising the loyalty stage

Once a user has bought from us, we must not forget that it is more profitable to retain that user and build their loyalty than to attract a new one. That is why we should offer a loyalty programme that rewards the users who are most loyal to your brand. For example, users could earn points with every purchase and redeem them for discounts, or receive exclusive promotions.

How do we apply CRO to our business?

To improve each stage of the conversion funnel, we need to follow a methodology that allows us to run tests and measure them.

In the first stage, we analyse the data using tools such as Google Analytics. For example, we might notice that users visit the product pages but hardly ever add those products to the basket.

In the second stage, we design some improvements and implement them with tools such as Google Optimize. In the example we are looking at, we would change the product images and the buy button.

In the third stage, we analyse the results of the test. We see that conversion has improved. In that case, we roll those changes out across the whole website. If we found that the test had not improved the results, we would leave the website as it was and try another hypothesis.

With this methodology, we speed up the continuous improvement of our website.

For each of the stages we have seen several tips for optimising your conversion funnel, always based on data, which is why I recommend that you give weight to Digital Analytics, so that you have enough data to make decisions that increase your business’s revenue.

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