Retroactive Conversion Optimisation for Paid & Organic Traffic

Back in early march, I had the pleasure (and challenge!) of receiving a new client, and their website www.ezylivingrentals.com.au sat in an incredibly competitive space within online advertising. As a company who specialises in rent-to-own furniture and appliances, we knew we were stepping into a marketplace with a plethora of competition from well established, nationally recognised businesses… and taking into account the high Cost-Per-Clicks (CPCs) for AdWords we knew that we had to make every cent count with our marketing budget.

The initial weeks went well, far exceeding our expectations when it came to click through rates and conversion rates, but there was a major issue… we were getting plenty of enquiries, but we just couldn’t close a viable percentage of them to make things worthwhile.

Initially, we addressed our keywords and ad text. Working proactively together, we culled out the generalised terms and ensured that the ad content and site-links were clear and concise. Following this we saw an increase in written enquiries, all on variants of “Rent-to-Own & Rent-to-Buy [appliance, white-good or furniture item here] but the sales team still had a low close rate on these enquiries- and things were looking dire. Here we had an AdWords campaign with CTRs and Conversion rates well over the 5% mark, but we weren’t making money.

At this point the owner of Ezy Living Rentals and I had to sit down and look at it from every angle. We knew our prices and terms were great, we knew that the packages we had on offer were fantastic. Our Analytics data was also exceptional with very low bounce rates, high time spent on site and the goals set being consistently achieved, so what was the issue?

It turns out that the answer was simple. We had made converting too easy. At the time, we had a very simple process… add item to checkout, view cart (and be offered other relevant items on a rent 2, get the 3rd item half price or Rent 3, get the 4th item* absolutely free). All the user had to do was fill out a form to request contact, and when we reviews the analytics data, we found that 10 out of 10 users left the site from here without viewing another page.

Once we had identified this we were able to do something about it and turn things around. By adding a few simple steps to the checkout process (segmenting the information that was previously on just one page) we were able to expand on our goal funnel within analytics, balancing our information based on the way organic and paid traffic reacted to each of the new steps involved. We were also able to add reassuring/informative text on the pages where users often ‘bounced. This also enabled us to request far more information from site visitors (beyond the standard name, number and enquiry type) and chose to incorporate a ‘best time to be contacted’ field in the final stage of the enquiry process, and much more.

The end result? Far better qualified conversions, from far more educated potential clients. With the additional form fields and site content we knew what time was best to call them and our clients knew what to expect in that first call. People who had submitted an enquiry were also more invested in that first call, because instead of having spent 30 seconds making an enquiry they had spent 3-4 minutes starting their application. This resulted in an easier job for the sales team, a far higher close rate, and more people getting furniture and appliances on easy rent to own terms- a win all round.

The lesson to take from this case is simple. When working with AdWords and SEO it pays to use every tool available to you, from the data at hand to analytics, and most importantly to communicate with those working on the project. It’s easy to sit back sometimes and say the numbers are good… but the really important thing here is to always improve the quality of your leads and conversions. Educate your potential clients and your sales team will have an easier time closing the leads and growing your business.

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