If
you run a small or mid-size business, you’ve probably heard the advice to
consider hiring one of the best conversion rate optimization companies in your
area. But you’ve probably asked yourself – what do they really do? What can
they really do for me? Are they worth the money?

We’re taking on these questions to help you understand how hiring a conversion rate and optimization consultant can greatly impact your bottom line.

What Do Conversion Rate
Optimization Companies Really Do?

When
you first started your business, people probably didn’t fully understand all of
your different job responsibilities. You might have produced a product,
provided a service, dealt with distribution, and managed the accounting.

You
might have had to learn the hard way what the difference between “marketing” and
“sales” is. And you might have made a few mistakes along the way.

Now, imagine that you’re ready to “take your business to the next level” online. You know you need to do that, but you don’t know how. Do you want to learn how? You could. Or you can hire a team of professionals who break down and manage the process for you.

Every
online conversion optimization strategy is different. But they often involve
multiple similar elements, including:

Website Optimization

Having
a beautiful and organized website does nothing for you if no one sees it. And
you already know from your own experience searching for things online – search engines
rule the online world. Your business needs to be readable and friendly to
search engines, so they list it higher on someone’s search results.

There
are many ways to make sure this happens, but the best conversion rate optimization
companies will evaluate your site to make sure it uses the right keywords in
the right places, is posting fresh content, and is appropriately linked with
other websites to boost its online status.

Ad Optimization

Bringing
people to your website through a search engine can produce great results, but
what about your outbound advertising? You’re probably already using Google Ads
or Facebook Ads, and you may have even dabbled with placing ads on other
websites. An experienced conversion optimization team will develop the best ad
strategy and placement to get the most eyes seeing your business’ great
products and services.

Managing a Sales Funnel

Once
you’ve gotten someone on your website, you know they’re interested. The longer
you can keep them there, and the more content they look at, the bigger their
interest grows. Still, it doesn’t translate to your bottom line yet! Your
website has to make it easy for visitors to sign up, make a purchase, and visit
later. And, if they don’t make a purchase on their first time, your sales
funnel should be set up to follow up with them in order to get them to come
back as many times as it takes until they are ready to purchase.

What Can Conversion Rate
Optimization Companies Do For Me?

The
most obvious answer is: ALL OF THE STUFF ABOVE. A conversion rate optimization
company will help you get people to your site, using your scale and budget to
plan out the best way to do that. Then, they will help you close the sale
through newsletters, follow-up emails, and connecting with customers on social
media.

Essentially what they can do for you is make your job easier. And make you more money. SEO strategy and conversion rate optimization is not a short-term solution. It’s a long process that requires dedication, but it can produce great results.

Are Conversion Rate
Optimization Companies Worth the Money?

In
short: Sometimes. You need to be sure that you’re not working with one of those
underqualified conversion rate optimization companies that makes big promises
and delivers low results. You need to make sure that whoever you work with,
knows their stuff and is ready to manage you in your industry.

Ask Your Questions

Local SEO and national SEO don’t take the same approach – so don’t trust a so-called expert who tells you they do. And testing different wording in marketing emails is normal. It’s called A/B testing. So before you accuse or assume an SEO expert is charging you extra for distributing two versions of “the same thing”, be prepared to listen.

That’s how you know you’re really working with one of the best conversion rate optimization companies – when they are willing to share their “secret sauce” with you. Ask all the questions you want – you have a right to know, and it’s not that this stuff is rocket science. But it does get a little complicated to understand, and much more complicated to execute. But the best way you can assure you’re getting value for your dollar, is to hire a qualified professional.