Do you know the very first action most website owners take after the site generates that first conversion? They rush out and look for ways to get more traffic to their site. Next thing you know, the site is generating more and more sales by investing in PPC, SEO, social media and/or content marketing.

And for awhile, the business is happy and thinks they are building a sustainable, growing online business. But finally, the website owners have enough time or pay someone to actually dig down into the data and then it hits them: The site isn’t really growing the bottom line at all.

Like:

Where’s the profits?

For most websites, the profits are being devoured by marketing costs. To "grow" an online business, most website owners invest in Internet Marketing services like SEO, PPC, content marketing, or social media which all increase marketing costs. But with increased competition and costs, the ROI from these Internet Marketing services is ridiculously low with many lucky to generate a 2:1 sales-to-marketing ratio. That is, most sites are lucky if they can generate two dollars in revenue from 1 dollar in marketing investment.

Conversion rate optimization (CRO), however, is a very different type of Internet Marketing service. Rather than grow the online business by increasing traffic levels like traditional PPC, SEO, or social media, CRO experts squeeze out more sales from your existing traffic streams.

Using conversion rate optimization software like Clicktale or Optimizely, CRO experts isolate the web components that are causing visitors to leave before completing a purchase. By website components, we mean:

1. Copywriting on Primary Landing/Sales Pages or Product Descriptions

2. Website Design and Layout of Navigation and Primary UI Features

3. Website Programming

4. Website Traffic Streams

5. Sales Funnel(s)

If you have ever split-test price points, headlines, or even rewritten/redesigned landing pages, then you have actually been "optimizing" your conversion rate. But while these strategies can indeed help improve your online conversions, they are inefficient and can potentially waste very precious and costly traffic. But using traffic analysis and a systematic approach, professional conversion rate optimization experts can literally boost total online conversions by up to 100% or more in just weeks.

And when it comes to overall return on investment, conversion rate optimization simply blows competing options like PPC or social media out of the water due to three primary advantages:

1. Conversion Rate Optimization Generates Growing ROI Long After Work is Complete

When you invest in SEO, social media and especially PPC, the increased traffic will quickly drop back off as soon as you stop investing. But conversion rate optimization projects will generate increased sales for a website until major changes are made to the business model or new competitors enter the niche. In some cases, the increased sales will last for years after the conversion rate experts have completed their work helping to generate a massive ROI.

2. Conversion Rate Optimization Does Not Add to Marketing Budget

Once the CRO experts have completed their work and you have recouped your initial investment, every additional sale that rolls in due to the higher conversion rate comes with zero marketing cost. So instead of 30-40% of all new revenue getting devoured by marketing costs, that money goes directly to your bottom line. Remember, conversion rate optimization generates more sales out of your existing traffic sources and will not add to your short or long-term marketing budget.

3. Conversion Rate Optimization Has No Recurring Costs or Monthly Retainer Fees

The increased sales produced from the conversion rate optimization will continue rolling in without any recurring monthly fees of any kind. Although you may want to have CRO experts optimize new landing pages or product descriptions as you offer new products or services, there are no recurring costs or fees associated with conversion rate optimization.

Dollar for dollar, investing in CRO services delivers a far better return on your investment than any competing Internet Marketing service on the market today. So instead of getting a 2 or 3:1 sales-to-marketing ratio, CRO services can and often do produce a 10:1 ratio or better. Better still, investing in conversion rate optimization will then make future investments in SEO, SMM, and content marketing more profitable because you will be generating more conversions for the same investment.