When companies fail to optimise their conversion rate, they will not reap the rewards that come from increased marketing efficiency and higher conversions. This kind of attitude is hard to understand, because doesn’t everyone want a shot at success?

All websites can optimise their conversion rate by making a few thoughtful changes. Start by accumulating relevant data, learn how to set up tests, and accept the idea that you will have to implement your changes at regular intervals. In simple terms, online marketing optimisation is not easy and will require a fair amount of work. Will it become easier? Sure, as long as you can overcome some of the most common roadblocks, such as:

1.  Lacking the Necessary Skills

If you want to develop a successful marketing optimisation strategy, you will need to have a thorough understanding of fields such as e-commerce, marketing, web development, copy writing, and visual design. Without that knowledge and the proper human resources, your Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) is pretty much doomed to fail. Even if you truly believe you are a super hero, in this business, one-man-shows rarely make it to the top.

One of the reasons why some companies have higher conversion rates than others is because they have a team of experts handling their optimisation. They have an excellent copywriter at their disposal, as well as a specialist for each of the fields mentioned above. Sorry, but it is simply impossible for one person to know and implement everything from Search Engine Optimisation to website testing, Java programming, etc. Even if you know all the ins-and-outs, you would simply lack the time to complete all the required tasks.

How can you overcome the lack of skills? There is only one true answer: hire trained people. If you lack the funds, maybe you can trade skills, or beg a friend for a favour. You do not require a slew of permanent employees, because some of the optimisation tasks can be accomplished in a few hours a week. As long as the web developer, web designer and copywriter you hired are available when you need them, you will do just fine.

2. Off-the-Shelf Architecture

Starting a company is expensive business. Bills are piling up everywhere and if funds are tight, it is easy to fall victim to alluring, ready-to-go content management systems, shopping carts, etc.  Some business owners even decide to buy their entire website ready-made. It seems easy enough, is an affordable solution, and some of the start-up hurdles are already taken care of. At least, that is what they are led to believe.

At first, off-the-shelf websites work like a charm; the problems start when improvements have to be made. Maintenance is an absolute must if you want to run a profitable site, and so are ongoing updates and testing sessions. So, what do you do when your pre-made system does not allow or limits your actions?

You basically only have two solutions:

• You learn all the ins and outs of the system and be happy with the few changes you can make, or;
• You ditch your limited system and order a flexible, customized site that allows you to use essential tools such Google Website Optimiser.

3.  Ignoring Test Sessions

Ignoring testing is like writing your website’s death sentence. This may sound harsh, but the reality is that without constant testing you are unaware of your site’s performance, nor the elements that could be improved to make your project more profitable. ‘Testing’ is not about winning or losing, but about gathering useful data and putting that information to good use. Of course, testing will cost you, because even if you use free testing tools, you either have to pay a professional or friend to do the testing for you, or you do it yourself, and lose valuable time which you could have used to attend to other business matters. Keep in mind though, that you will gain all your expense costs back – and more – if your website’s performance increases.

Test results can be intimidating. Therefore, do not look at them too often while the tests are running. Waiting until the tests are finished will prevent many frantic panic attacks over statistically invalid or incomplete data. Educate yourself about the various testing procedures you intend to implement. Knowing your risks – if any –, the length of a test, and what results can do for you, may help take the edge off.

If you are afraid to lose business during your testing sessions, only expose your experiments to a small amount of web traffic. The tests will run longer, but at least you will feel more comfortable and keep your sanity for the duration of the test.

4. No Marketing Team Leadership

You have a flexible, custom-made website; your team of professionals are working vigorously to market your brand online, original articles and blogs are published regularly, your SEO expert works around the clock, yet despite all your efforts, your website is still ranking poorly and your conversion rate leaves a lot to be desired. What is wrong?

Although all your ducks are in a row, you are not making any progress, simply because your ‘birds’ lack guidance. In other words, you have all these amazing, skilled employees, but no leadership. All these experts work towards their own set of priorities and objectives, but none are working together as a unified team. They all run wildly, and without a leader who is able to amalgamate and oversee all your marketing groups, your optimisation efforts will not deliver you the optimal results you were aiming for.

Without a leader, different departments will be unable to prioritise what is important for the main company goal; they may doubt each other’s techniques, and fight over whose ideas should be implemented. This type of conflict can also arise when some of the workload is being outsourced, and the contractors are not viewed as real team members.

A proficient team leader is a person capable of creating a stable work environment in which all players – hired or contracted – are motivated to work closely together to reach one main goal. It is not an easy task, but an accomplished manager should be able to handle the required task dissemination and prioritising. With a personalised website, skilled employees, lots of testing sessions and the right person to pull it all together, your conversion rate should soon be through the roof and your brand name on everyone’s lips!

Author biography: Michael Jenkins is the director of Shout Web Strategy which is a firm in Melbourne specializing in Search, conversion rate optimization and web usability.