28 Conversion Rate Optimization Tips for Membership Sites

Are you aware of your conversion rate optimization? When it comes to your membership site, conversion seems like something that may be important. 

Conversions come in all shapes and sizes. It’s important to know how the conversion rate works and how you can optimize it for your membership site. 

Just take a look at these statistics about conversion rate by Techjury: 

• ​​A one-second delay in page load leads to a 7% decrease in conversion rate.
• 81% of sales happen after 7 or more interactions.
• 52% of companies and agencies that use landing pages do testing to optimize them.
• 40% of marketers cite a conversion rate of less than 0.5%.

If you’re not on the conversion train yet, let’s get going. We will be covering what a conversion rate is, how to calculate it and how to optimize your membership site for best results. 

Let’s get converting. 

What is conversion rate?

Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors that complete a desired action—typically in relation to your website. This action can vary from site to site. 

Some common conversion goals include:

• Signing up for a demo
• Downloading an ebook
• Signing up for a newsletter
• Calling a business
• Creating an account
• Purchasing a product

What is Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)?

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is a marketing process that follows steps to identify and improve any issues while interacting with a website. It studies visitor behavior and focuses on what drives people to engage with various marketing tactics in a specific way. All with the goal to improve conversions. 

CRO focuses on improving the chances of visitors performing a required action on a website or marketing campaign.

A successful conversion rate optimization methodology provides lucrative results. Each step of the optimization process has its own elements to consider: 

• Website: Page speed, design, copy, navigation, and format
• Call-to-action: Forms, buttons, links, and pop-ups
• Marketing campaigns: Opens, clicks, time on page, and funnel to purchase. 

How do you measure conversion rate?

As with measuring anything, you’ll need to do some calculations. 

Conversion rate is calculated by dividing the number of times a goal is achieved by the number of people who have achieved that objective.

Here are three conversion rate formulas to use:

1. Total number of conversions / Total number of sessions x 100
2. Total number of conversions / Total number of unique visitors x 100
3. Total number of conversions / Total number of leads x 100

For example, an e-commerce website has a number of visitors making purchases. They made 50 sales last month and had 500 website views, your conversion rate would be 50 / 500 = 0.1%. 

Next, we’ll cover what a good conversion rate is to your business, and then it’s on to the optimization tips! 

What is a good conversion rate?

A good conversion rate is determined by a variety of factors, including your industry, target device, and niche—among others.

Overall, the average conversion rate across the board is between 1% and 3%. Look at it this way, if you have 100,000 visitors and a conversion rate of 3%, you made approximately 3,000 purchases.

What does this mean? That the majority of your website’s visitors won’t take the desired action seriously—and it takes a lot to get what you want. 

It also means your conversion rate optimization goal is to increase your conversions as well as the number of unique visitors. Obviously, that includes a lot of different components of both your website and your marketing campaigns. 

Understand, there is no such thing as a perfect conversion rate at 100%. However, there are many Conversion Rate Optimization strategies to increase your conversion rate and reach double digits.

Conversion Rate Optimization tips

These conversion rate optimization tips are categorized by website, calls to action, and marketing campaigns. They are all equally important to your conversion strategy. 

Website 

1. Define your Unique Selling Point (USP)

Before you can optimize, you’ll need to clarify your problem-solving abilities. How are you going to bring value to your audience? You find and define your Unique Selling Point or USP. 

According to Wikipedia, In marketing, the unique selling proposition (USP), also called the unique selling point, or the unique value proposition (UVP) in the business model canvas, is the marketing strategy of informing customers about how one’s own brand or product is superior to its competitors (in addition to its other values).

So how do you define this? You put your passion into words, then you make it marketable. We will review a few ways to do that in the following optimization tips. 

2. Use your keywords

Your keywords are your connection to the digital world. It’s funny, when people get started with new websites, they seem to forget to include them. 

It’s important to add your keywords across your entire brand presence. Here are a few places you should include 1-5 primary and secondary keywords: 

• Home page and all landing pages 
• Social media profiles 
• Blog 
• LinkedIn team member profiles 
• Public relations promotions 
• Newsletters
• …and any time you are mentioned

3. Plan for easy website navigation

Whether you have a membership site or not, you will need to keep it simple when it comes to website navigation. 

Offering too many choices can make it hard for search engines to interpret your content. Avoid too many drop-down menus and too many links that can dilute a site’s authority. Keep it simple, to the point, and directed at your keywords.

Focus on the user experience, meaning don’t overcomplicate things. Build sites that users understand and interact with easily. 

Lastly, test it out. Run tests with multiple users and get the kinks out before you launch (if possible) or during if needed. Your website is a work in progress and will always improve with time and testing. 

4. Improve the product or pricing page

One of the most important pages of your membership site is your pricing and product page. It’s where the magic happens. So, optimizing and improving this page is secondary to the home page. 

Your pricing page tips are as follows: 

• Simplify the design and use bitesize copy bits 
• Use CTA’s that create urgency 
• Highlight benefits, best options, and comparisons with the competition 
• Give pricing tiers with matching feature sets 
• Offer a free trial or discount plans
• Include multiple payment options
• Create an easy checkout flow 

5. Make your e-commerce store SEO-friendly

Let’s talk shop. Your e-commerce store is going to be your best friend (or your worst nightmare), so let’s make sure your shop is optimized for the SEO world.

Your shop, from product features to checkout needs to be SEO locked and loaded. This means that it should not only include your primary and secondary keywords, it should also include image alt text, proper internal links to high domain authority websites, and a solid beat on content that engages its users. 

Primarily, the back end of your e-commerce shop is the most important. You can use tools like Yoast SEO to check all the optimization boxes before you launch your shop.  

6. Reduce page loading time

Reducing your page loading time feels like a no-brainer because we all know that people want websites to load fast. If you snooze on the web, you lose, basically. 

However, most membership site owners are going to have a website loaded with content. Their content is going to steadily slow down the site over time if it’s not compressed correctly. Here are a few tips to reduce page loading time: 

• Optimize and compress your images. 
• Compress your content (HTTP). 
• Cache your webpages. 
• Reduce 301 redirects. 

Based on your tech skill levels, you can also combine and minimize scripts. WebFX goes into more detail on tips for decreasing web page loading times.

7. Shorten the checkout funnel

There is nothing worse than getting excited about a purchase and then having a nightmare of a time checking out. Cart abandonment is at an all-time high because the ease of purchasing has become convoluted. 

Shorten the checkout funnel by optimizing your checkout form, localizing and translating if needed, giving multiple payment options, clearly displaying important buttons, and keeping the information short and sweet. You don’t need to know their birthdate to buy slippers. 

And most importantly, have a cart abandonment protocol in place! 

8. Build and offer multilingual options

If you’re a global membership site, you need to make sure your content is multilingual. You have a myriad of options when it comes to translation, you just need to make sure it’s an option for your website users. 

Multilanguage plugins for WordPress include: 

• WooCommerce Multilingual runs your WooCommerce website with WPML. 
• WordPress Multilingual Plugin (WPML) is a popular translation plugin that can handle a small blog or a huge corporate website.
• TranslatePress is a WordPress multilingual plugin that offers quick and easy translation of your website.
• Weglot Translate uses an intuitive API to detect any content on your website and translates it into 60 languages.

9. Improve the mobile experience

Most websites these days understand and can easily adhere to mobile experiences. However, it’s your job as a membership site owner to make sure that it’s mobile-ready. 

Here are a few tips to double-check your mobile experience. 

• Design with vertical in mind. This means that if you have multiple blocks, they will be stacked on top of each other – not side by side. Your design should reflect a long, vertical-like context. 
• Keep it short and clean. Don’t confuse your mobile viewer with too many buttons, CTAs or links – get straight to the point because the device is small and time is short. 
• Encourage interactivity. Mobile users are more likely to click, swipe or interact with your website, so be sure to include engaging content. 

10. Integrate Currency Switcher

If you’re taking payments on your membership site, your user will want currency options. Global membership sites, listen up – you need to integrate Currency Switcher. 

Integrating Currency Switcher allows you to level up your shopping experience by providing you with the ability to select your desired currency.

Currency Switcher for WooCommerce is an extension that provides you with one-window shop solutions and gives your customers the power to exchange their currency rates manually. Currency Switcher for WooCommerce can increase conversions on your WooCommerce store.

11. Write effective website copy

Your website copy is the language your visitors need to understand. Express it with your creativity, but make sure it’s effective in that it gets the job done. 

Here are some ways to write effective website copy for your membership site: 

• Emphasize benefits over features. 
• Use the voice of the customer. 
• Establish and remain consistent with your brand tone and voice. 
• Obtain customer feedback.  
• A/B test copy based on feedback.

12. Enhance your website’s security

The most important and often overlooked factor in conversion rate optimization is website security. Keep it updated, frequently. 

A few extra tips to enhance your website security are: keep a strong, long password, use a secure host, backup your data, and encrypt your login pages. 

Worst case scenario, hire a security expert to do the job.  

Calls to Action 

13. Use active and power words 

When you create your call to action (CTA), use engaging and powerful words to gain more impact. Power words can help with your marketing by:

• Evoking emotion: Studies show that people connect to emotion, not words. content that elicits emotion is more likely to be acted upon than those that aren’t. Examples include words like “Historically”, “Evil”, and “Ridiculous”.
• Triggering curiosity: Studies also show that curiosity is a powerful trigger for virality. These power words make it almost impossible for us not to click, share, and read. Examples that trigger curiosity include words such as “Plot twist”, “Proven”, and “Ludicrous”.

Use power words naturally throughout your content and test out the results yourself. 

14. Consider the position of CTAs

When it comes to calls to action, position matters. Imagine wanting more information about something and then not being able to actually get it. Frustrating, isn’t it? Don’t do that to your website visitors. 

Proper CTA placement depends on your membership site, however, the basic AIDA rules are as follows:

• ATTENTION: You capture the attention of your visitor with a highly relevant and punchy headline.
• INTEREST: Through the use of the video, you gain the interest of your visitor.
• DESIRE: Desire is created through the use of features and benefits that appeal to the needs of your visitor.
• ACTION: And finally, a strong call-to-action completes the story at the point where your visitor has been convinced that your solution is appropriate for their needs. In this case, it uses contrast, color and defines what you’ll get when you click the button, with a little extra nudge in the copy beside the button.

As far as placement, consider the above the fold and below the fold. 

15. Integrate customer reviews

Your customers are your “proof is in the pudding” optimization tactic that has historically been successful. Customer reviews and testimonials build trust and reputation by showcasing that you do, in fact, know what you’re talking about. 

Throughout your membership site, be sure to pepper in customer reviews and testimonials for optimization. If possible, link to high domain authority sites, include images or profile photos and use quotes. People love quotes. 

16. Offer multiple payment options

Does your membership site have multiple payment options? There are many payment gateway options to choose from these days, so we’ve narrowed down a list that may be helpful. Be sure to include the following payment options if you own an e-commerce shop: 

• Credit card/Debit card (Visa/Mastercard/American Express/Discover) 
• PayPal or Venmo 
• Apple Pay 
• Google Pay 
• Amazon Pay 
• Cryptocurrency? (Perhaps!) 

17. Improve the design of your CTA buttons 

Your CTA buttons are important for conversion. Imagine a button that doesn’t look like a button? You wouldn’t consider it! 

These design tips for your CTA will help you convert more. First, try making your CTA button look like an actual button with gradients and shadows. 

Next, adjust the size of the button to be larger than you think. Bigger is better in this case. 

Then, use contrasting colors on your background and font. The font should be minimal – one to three words max. 

Don’t forget to utilize the white space of your CTA as well. A lot of leeway, well, goes a long way. 

The last tip is to test it! Test, test and test again – comparing one or two features at a time. Pressable has a great write-up on optimization of your CTA to check out. 

18. Include CTAs across content 

The last CTA optimization tactic is don’t forget to use them. Don’t be afraid to sprinkle them across your entire site, blog, or social. Just not on top of each other. 

Your members will thank you when they are properly directed to the content that matters to them. Your CTAs are powerful tools to bring value to your members. 

And new members will thank you because you are direct and to the point – which adds value to their journey. 

Marketing Campaigns 

19. Create effective sales promotions

There are many different sales promotion techniques that work well with membership sites. Take some time to review them as it pertains to your industry or niche. 

Here are some basic sales promotion techniques to follow: 

• Create a sense of urgency. You could put a time limit on your sale or offer that ends on a certain date or time. Ensure your customer knows that if they want the deal, the time to act is now. Put firm deadlines on deals and count down to their expiry with social media posts to remind customers. 
• Follow the holidays, seasons or special days. Focus your promotions around the holidays, seasons, and trending events. For example, President’s Day, Black Friday, or Fall Back to School Sale promotions.
• Ask your customers what they want on sale. Modern marketing calendars are filled with awareness days. Build promotions for the most relevant to your business based on what they would like. 
• Double down on discounts. Feel free to run multiple promotions at a time to really wow your audience. Never underestimate the power of a good deal (or two). 

20. Offer 24/7 live chat support

Customer support and service have become an omnichannel operation these days. If you don’t offer support in various forms, you may be hindering yourself and your membership site. 

In WordPress, there are many live chat plugins to choose from. But the first step is to offer the option to your website members. 

21. Play on scarcity effect

The ‘scarcity effect’ is the cognitive bias that makes people place a higher value on an object that is scarce and a lower value on one that is available in abundance. Here are some examples of using the scarcity effect in marketing: 

• Low inventory. Motivate people to make their purchases more quickly with low inventory displays because of FOMO.
• Speedy delivery limited time only. Offering fast delivery time is a big motivator for your customers to complete a purchase as it results in instant gratification.
• Online availability. Display “online-only” for visitors to encourage them to make purchases as the products will seem to be more scarce in comparison to those available in store.
• Font choice. Use large and small font sizes to direct the customer to the call to action. 
• Free trial constraints. When offering free trials, add constraints and length it will be available to play into the idea of scarcity and urgency.
• Time limit until purchase. Use cookies to save products in the shopping cart only for a limited period. This will motivate your customers to complete their purchases in a timely manner.

23. Offer same-day delivery

Delivery is everything! If you can offer same-day delivery, this is a gold-mine optimization tip. 

One option to consider is to partner up with shipping companies that can help you (as you grow). If your membership site offers delivery options, you can integrate these shipping options into your website. 

Here are some of the best shipping companies to partner up with for your small or large business. 

24. Get feedback from customers

A rich man once said, your customer feedback is the single most valuable thing you can do for the growth of your business. You can do this by the following methods: 

• Customer survey 
• Feedback boxes
• Focus groups 
• One on one testimonials
• Data analytics 
• Usability tests 
• Community groups 

25. Add e-commerce chatbot

Like the live chat option, including an e-commerce chatbot in your checkout flow can increase your conversions. 

These chatbots can be programmed with segmented conversational answers that do not require live chat. And they can be incredibly helpful when checking out or in the check-out flow. 

The most common platform to build a chatbot on is Facebook Messenger but there are many others including Kik, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, or Google Assistant.

26. Be ready for social commerce

Ever bought something from Facebook or Instagram? You’re not alone. 

Social selling is all the rage and is definitely on the upswing. If you own a membership site, you will want to be ready for social commerce. 

Social commerce uses networking websites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as vehicles to promote and sell products and services. Social commerce is often associated with brands using platform-specific marketing strategies to sell products through social media channels—where their customers are. 

27. Update your return and exchange policy

Stay in line with the details for legal purposes. Dot the i’s and cross the t’s so to speak. Update your return and exchange policy in order to be ready when asked. The quicker you can present information (either in a pop-up or link), the faster your customer will be ready to purchase. 

28. Create consistent content 

This last conversion rate optimization tip is one that will live on as long as your membership site is alive. 

Create consistent, relevant content to optimize your membership site. No one likes a stale site. Keep your content fresh, up to date, and trendy. Keep writing and they will come. With any good membership site, you’ll want fresh ideas. 

Here’s a great list of content ideas for membership sites to read through. 

Your membership site and CRO

Your membership site is important. Optimizing it can not only increase your credibility, but it can also increase your revenue. 

The truth is, without website conversion rate optimization, you may not have a business. And no matter what your current conversion rate is, a better conversion rate is always the goal. 

This extensive list of conversion rate optimization practices should help your membership site if you get them implemented today! Interested in Restrict Content Pro, reach out! Otherwise, happy optimizing.