Have you ever heard that a website dramatically increased conversions by slightly changing the size of a button? Or that conversions depend on the color scheme of your website? Maybe you’ve been told that if your website has too much copy you are doomed to a low conversions rate. On the other hand, you may have read recently that long form content rules so you need to make sure every page of your site has sufficient word count.

Is your head spinning yet?

These are some examples of common myths about conversion rate optimization. These myths often start when one instance occurs that people then expand into a generalization about all websites. For example, as reported by Optimizely, the 2007 Obama campaign famously increased email signups by more than 40% by changing the call-to-action button on their website.  

This result led many in the digital marketing realm to think that conversions depend upon the size and lettering on your call-to-action buttons. But each website has a unique message. Each company or service is trying to attain different types of conversion from different people. Elements that move voters to learn more about a candidate do not necessarily move a different group of people to sign up for a business newsletter or purchase a product.

There are other, more general, myths about conversion rate optimization you should know. Here are a couple:

You MUST Learn All the CRO Best Practices

This myth springs out of the stories like the one from the Obama campaign. If they increased email signups by that much after changing the button, everyone should use buttons like that one, right?

Wrong. Some buttons will appeal to some customers, others will prefer a different style. The same goes for details like color on your site, or fonts, etc.

The most important thing you can do to boost conversions is get to know your customers and leads. Find out what appeals to them, or what are their pain points. Test different approaches and see what results in the best engagement. The best way to discover what works for your audience is A/B testing.

You Need a “CRO Guy (or Gal)”

Conversion rate optimization is not a job like pay-per-click advertising. Many elements go into optimizing your site for conversions. As Neil Patel writes, “CRO is a broad practice that encompasses a wide range of skills.” He goes on to name copywriting, web design and analytics as the three skills needed for CRO. We would add search engine optimization and customer service to that mix.

Good customer service is a great place to start your research into what your customers need and want. It can help influence what’s needed on your website. Search engine optimization will show you the queries customers and leads use to find your site, which will tell you a lot about what they need and want.

Designing your site to meet those needs and give them what they want will lead to higher conversion rates.

But your customers might prefer fewer words on the page, while a different business or service will see higher conversions from long-form content.

Know your product, know your brand, know your customers and you will be well on the way to higher conversion rates.

IMAGES: Pixabay / CC0 Public Domain