Conversion rate optimisation: get more customers from the traffic you have

A typical B2B service company we talk to has around 3,000 visitors a month and gets six enquiries. The first reaction is to buy more traffic: more ads, more SEO. But do the maths. Six enquiries out of 3,000 is a conversion rate of 0.2 %. If it rises to 0.4 %, you get as many extra enquiries as if you had doubled the traffic, and it typically costs a fraction. That is the whole idea behind conversion rate optimisation.

What is conversion rate optimisation?

A conversion is the action you want a visitor to take. The conversion rate is the number of conversions divided by the number of visitors. Conversion rate optimisation is the systematic process of raising that rate by removing whatever confuses, slows down or creates doubt. It is a mix of data, psychology and craft: numbers tell you where people drop off, and conversations with users tell you why.

A worked example of the value

Take the company from before. 3,000 visitors, 0.2 % conversion, six enquiries. Sales win one in three, which makes two new customers a month. If a customer is worth DKK 25,000 on average in the first year, the website brings DKK 50,000 of new revenue a month. Raise conversion to 0.4 % and it becomes 12 enquiries, four customers and DKK 100,000. Over a year the difference is DKK 600,000 of revenue from the same traffic. Even if you only get halfway, a thorough engagement pays for itself quickly.

Which conversions should you measure?

Start by agreeing on what counts. Most sites have one primary conversion and several small steps along the way. Measure both, so you can see where in the journey people disappear.

How does conversion optimisation work step by step?

Step three is the one most people skip, and it is where the biggest gains hide. Numbers might show that people abandon the form at a particular field. Only a conversation reveals that they leave because they don’t know what to write in the budget field. Our guide to usability testing shows how to run a five-user test in an afternoon.

Which quick wins increase the conversion rate?

This list contains the fixes we most often see make a difference on Danish business websites. Use it as a checklist for your own site and tick what is already in order.

• The headline at the top says what you do and for whom, in one sentence.
• There is one clear primary button on each page, and it says what happens, such as “Book a meeting”.
• The contact form has at most four or five fields, and only the necessary ones are required.
• Phone number and email are tappable on mobile.
• Prices or a price level are visible, so people know whether you are in their league.
• Client logos, case studies or reviews sit close to the button.
• The page loads in under 2.5 seconds on mobile.
• Form error messages explain what to fix.
• The thank-you page says what happens next and when they will hear from you.
• Ads and keywords lead to a page that matches the promise in the ad.
• The cookie banner doesn’t cover the button on mobile.
• There is an answer to the three most common objections, such as price, time and commitment.

Forms: the cheapest place to win

The form is the last step before the conversion, and every extra field is a reason to hesitate. Ask of each field: do we use the answer before we call back? If not, remove it or make it optional. Write a short line above the button that removes the last doubt, such as “We reply within one working day, with no obligation”. This is also where wording matters most, and we have collected concrete examples in website copywriting.

Speed: the invisible tax on conversion

A slow page loses visitors before they have even seen your message, especially on mobile and especially from ads, where patience is low. Google’s thresholds for good Core Web Vitals are LCP of at most 2.5 seconds, INP of at most 200 milliseconds and CLS of at most 0.1. If you are above them, speed is probably one of your quickest wins. See how to measure and fix it in website speed.

Trust: proof close to the decision

Visitors look for signs that you can be trusted just before they act. So place case studies, logos, reviews or concrete numbers next to the button and the form, as well as on a separate about page. Use real names of clients you are allowed to mention, and concrete results you can stand behind. Generic claims like “top quality and service” convince nobody.

How do you prioritise what to fix first?

When you have a list of twenty ideas, it’s tempting to start with the most fun one. Use a simple score instead. The ICE model gives each idea points from 1 to 10 for impact, confidence and ease, and you start with the highest average score. Here is an example from a service business:

When does A/B testing make sense?

An A/B test shows two versions of a page to separate halves of your visitors and measures which converts better. It is the most reliable way to prove an effect, but it needs traffic. With six conversions a month, a test can take half a year to give a reliable answer, and in that time seasons and ads change. If you have few conversions, user testing, customer interviews and before-and-after measurement are often a better tool.

Which tools and metrics should you use?

You don’t need a big toolbox. An analytics tool, Google Search Console and a way to observe behaviour go a long way. Remember that analytics and behaviour tools that set cookies need consent, which means your numbers only show part of your visitors. Consider a cookieless analytics tool as a supplement, and read our guide to cookie banner rules before installing anything new.

• Conversion rate per page, traffic source and device.
• Drop-off at each step of the form, cart or booking.
• Time to first action and pages per visit on key landing pages.
• Queries and impressions in Search Console, which show what people expect to find.
• Quality of enquiries, measured together with sales: how many become customers?

Which mistakes and myths should you avoid?

• Copying a competitor’s page. You don’t know their numbers, and they may have the same problems.
• Changing ten things at once. Then you don’t know what worked.
• Stopping a test as soon as one version seems to win. Early results swing a lot.
• Optimising for more enquiries without asking sales whether they are the right ones.
• Believing a beautiful page converts by itself. Clarity beats decoration.
• Hiding the price for fear of scaring people. Many B2B buyers filter out suppliers that show no price level.

What do we see in practice when we optimise websites?

The biggest improvements we see come from making the site more honest and more concrete: showing prices, explaining the process, saying what happens after the click. When we run a UX audit, we therefore start by reading the site as a new customer and writing down the questions we can’t find answers to. The list is almost always longer than the company expects, and the first five items are typically cheap to fix.

We also see that landing pages for ads are where money most often disappears. An ad promises one thing, and the page talks about everything else. We have written a full guide to landing pages covering anatomy, a copy formula and testing. And if you want help finding your biggest leaks, get a fixed price for a review within 24 hours.