As a business owner, you know how important it is to map your conversion path in order to acquire more customers. With a conversion path, you can identify and correct any flaws that may be present in your marketing or sales funnel and increase your overall conversion rate.
Conversion paths help users reach their desired outcomes faster. They’re also a great way to reduce friction and optimize the user experience of your website or app. If you’ve ever used an app and found yourself saying “Well, what do I do now?” a little too often, you know firsthand how effective conversion paths can be at helping users get from point A to point B with as few hurdles as possible.
That's why conversion path optimization should be a key focus for any business that wants to increase leads, sales, or customers. By taking the time to map out your conversion path and identify any potential bottlenecks, you can make sure your visitors are converted into customers as efficiently as possible.
What is a Conversion Path?
A conversion path is a sequence of steps (or clickable directions) that guide users down a particular path toward conversion. It’s the path that gets you from where you are today to signing up for a trial version of your product.
Conversion paths also make it easier to share your business value proposition. They help non-designers and non-marketers create better UX. Conversion paths are especially useful when you have multiple conversion goals, such as getting users to sign up for a free trial, purchase a product, or share your product.
3 Attributes of the Conversion Path You Should Know
There are three parts of the conversion path that every business needs to follow.
1. Call-to-actions (CTAs)
Call-to-actions (CTAs) are the first and most important part of the conversion path. A CTA is an element on a webpage that encourages users to take a specific action, such as signing up for a free trial or downloading a white paper. CTAs should be clear, concise, and impossible to miss. The best CTAs are highly visible and use persuasive language that compels users to take action.
2. Landing pages
Landing pages are the second part of the conversion path. A landing page is a standalone web page that is designed to convert visitors into leads or customers. Landing pages typically feature a unique offer, such as a free trial or discount, and include a form that users must fill out to claim the offer.
You can link your social media videos to landing pages as they can increase the curiosity of your audiences. For example, if you offer something through your explainer videos, people will be more interested in learning about your product or service when you add a link to the page.
3. Thank you pages
Thank you pages are the third and final part of the conversion path. A thank you page is a message that confirms to users that they have successfully completed the desired action, such as signing up for a free trial or making a purchase. Thank you pages also typically include a secondary call-to-action, such as downloading a white paper or subscribing to a newsletter.
Now that you know the three parts of the conversion path, let’s take a look at how you can create one for your business.
How to Plan a Proper Conversion Path
Here are seven steps you can do to make your conversion steps better.
Step 1: Know your business objectives
Before you can design a conversion path, you first have to understand the business objectives you’d like to achieve. What do you want users to do when they reach your website or app? Do you want them to sign up for a free trial, purchase a product, or share your content?
It’s important to have clear targets so you know what to focus on. This will help you design the path that gets customers from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Your business goal is to keep them from getting lost or becoming frustrated with your website or app. Once you’ve defined your goal, you can begin creating your conversion path.
Step 2: Conduct user research
You need to understand how users are currently navigating your app or website. This involves observing people using your product, either in-person or remotely. Answer these questions when researching your target audiences:
- What do people click?
- What do they ignore?
- How do they navigate from one section to another?
- What’s the most common path customers are taking through your app or website?
- What’s the most common reason they abandon the process?
- Are there any drop-off points you can address with conversion paths?
- Are there any recurring issues you can easily fix in your design?
Your goal with user research is to find problem areas and opportunities for improvement. Once you know what’s working and what’s not, you can start creating conversion paths that fix your customers’ pain points.
Step 3: Define your key paths
Now that you understand your current customers’ pain points and problem areas, you can start thinking about where you want to guide them next. This is where creating key paths comes in.
Create a list of the products or services your business offers. Then, for each product/service, identify the core path(s) you want customers to take to get there. For example, if your business is an e-commerce shop, you might want to get customers from sign-up to purchase as quickly as possible. You can create a key path for this by making your homepage product carousel lead users to the checkout cart as soon as possible.
Step 4: Make wireframes and collaborate with designers
Wireframes are the foundation for your conversion paths. They’re essentially rough sketches of how you want your website or app to look.
Once you’ve created your key paths and outlined the core product or service pages, you can start sketching out your wireframes. You can use whatever design software you like, or you can sketch your wireframes by hand. What’s important is that you understand the core path(s) you outlined in the previous step, where those paths will lead, and what content you want on each page.
Now is also the time to bring your designers into the conversation. If you don’t have in-house designers, you can work with an agency or freelance designers.
Step 5: Write user journeys and path dialogue
Now that you have an outline of your key paths and a rough sketch of how those paths will look, it’s time to add some personality to your conversion paths. You may want to answer a few questions to create a path dialogue that fits your user journey.
- What do you want customers to feel when they’re on your website or app?
- How do you want them to feel when they get to the checkout cart and actually purchase your product or service?
- How do you want them to feel when they’re on their way to becoming an advocate for your brand?
By now, you probably have a good idea of your brand voice. Now’s the time to start weaving it into your conversion paths. Think about the path a customer takes when they sign up for your product or service. Do they feel excited? Do they feel like they’re getting value out of the experience?
Step 6: Test your paths with real users
The best way to see if your conversion paths are working is to test them with real-world customers. Now, you’ve built your conversion paths and worked with your designers to make them a reality. It is time to test them out with real customers.
Create a usability study and bring a few people in to test your website or app. Watch how people navigate your conversion paths. Take notes on where they struggle and breeze through your process. By doing this, you’ll be able to identify friction points in your conversion paths.
These are areas of your website or app that cause customers to stumble. Find ways to eliminate these friction points in your design. This will make your customers’ experience with your business smoother and more seamless.
Step 7: Identify friction points
Now that you know where your customers are getting stuck, you can start addressing those friction points in your design. Discover the areas in your website or app that cause customers to struggle. This can be something as simple as a button that isn’t big enough, a headline that isn’t clear enough, or a drop-off point in your conversion path that’s too vague.
For example, find out if you can reduce friction in your conversion paths. Or, whether you can make your website or app easier to use and discover where your customers are getting stuck within the website. By identifying friction points in your conversion paths and making minor adjustments to your design, you can significantly improve the user experience of your website or app.
Conclusion
A conversion path is a sequence of steps (or clickable directions) that guide users down a particular path toward conversion. It’s the path that gets you from your current position to trying or purchasing your product or service.
When designing conversion paths, make sure you know your business objectives, conduct user research, and define your key paths. Once you’ve done this, start sketching out your wireframes. Then, start writing user journeys and path dialogue. By the time you’re finished, you should have a clear path for how customers navigate your website or app!
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