You’re spending money to drive traffic to your flooring store’s website. Maybe you’re running digital ads, investing in SEO, or both. But here’s the question that keeps flooring dealers up at night: why aren’t more of those visitors turning into actual customers? That’s exactly where a conversion rate optimization checklist becomes essential.
At IFDA, we specialize in getting qualified flooring buyers to your website through AI-powered targeting. But even the best traffic in the world won’t help if your site isn’t built to convert. We’ve seen it firsthand, dealers investing in advertising while their websites quietly leak potential sales through poor user experience, confusing navigation, or weak calls to action.
This checklist gives you a structured, step-by-step approach to audit and improve your website’s ability to turn visitors into phone calls, quote requests, and showroom visits. Whether you’re a single-location flooring retailer or managing multiple stores, these 10 actionable steps will help you identify what’s working, what’s broken, and what changes will actually move the needle on your bottom line.
1. Tighten traffic quality with IFDA intent targeting
Before you optimize anything on your website, you need to make sure the right people are actually visiting. Conversion rate optimization starts upstream with traffic quality, not just traffic volume. If your visitors aren’t actively shopping for flooring, no amount of website tweaking will fix your conversion problem. This is where IFDA’s AI-powered intent targeting changes everything for flooring dealers.
Most flooring retailers waste budget on generic display ads that reach anyone who might vaguely fit a demographic profile. IFDA’s targeting models identify consumers at three critical stages: Planners (3-6 months out), Researchers (actively comparing products online), and Shoppers (visiting stores). When you bring pre-qualified buyers to your site instead of casual browsers, your baseline conversion rate climbs before you touch a single page element.
Getting the right traffic is the foundation of any effective conversion rate optimization checklist.
What to audit
Check your analytics to see where your current traffic actually comes from. Look at bounce rates and time on site broken down by source. If your display ads show 75% bounce rates while your organic search sits at 45%, you’re paying to drive people who leave immediately. Review the behavioral flow in Google Analytics to see if visitors from paid channels actually engage with key pages like your product gallery, service areas, or contact forms.
How to fix fast
Switch your display advertising to IFDA’s programmatic platform that targets only active flooring buyers. You’ll replace broad demographic targeting with behavioral intent signals that identify real shopping activity. IFDA’s campaigns use animated rich media ads served across mobile, tablet, desktop, and connected TV to reach these buyers wherever they research. The platform optimizes placement in real time to focus budget on the audiences most likely to convert.
How to measure success
Track two metrics: qualified traffic percentage (visitors who view multiple pages or spend over 90 seconds) and cost per qualified visitor. Your goal is to increase the first and decrease the second. Monitor call volume and form submissions separately for IFDA traffic versus other sources. Most dealers see qualified traffic jump 40-60% within the first 30 days after switching to intent-based targeting.
Common mistakes to avoid
Don’t judge traffic quality by volume alone. A campaign that drives 1,000 visitors with a 1% conversion rate loses to one that brings 300 visitors at 5%. Avoid running intent-targeted campaigns to generic landing pages. If you’re paying for high-intent traffic, send it to pages that match where buyers are in their journey.
2. Pick one conversion goal and track it cleanly
Your website probably has multiple ways for visitors to take action: phone calls, contact forms, quote requests, appointment bookings, maybe even live chat. But here’s the problem that kills most conversion rate optimization efforts: tracking everything dilutes your focus and muddies your data. You need to identify your primary conversion goal and make sure every analytics tool measures it consistently. Without clean tracking, you’re guessing instead of optimizing.
What to audit
Open Google Analytics and list every goal or conversion event you’ve set up. Check if your call tracking software feeds data back into Analytics. Look at your form submissions and verify that each one fires a unique confirmation event. Review your phone number placement across the site and confirm whether you’re using a trackable number that attributes calls to specific campaigns or pages.
How to fix fast
Choose your single most valuable conversion action (for most flooring dealers, it’s phone calls). Set up call tracking that attributes calls to traffic sources and landing pages. Configure Google Analytics 4 to record this primary conversion with a clear event name. Add secondary conversions like form fills, but give them lower priority weighting in your reporting dashboard.
How to measure success
Your reporting should show a clear conversion rate for your primary goal broken down by traffic source, device type, and landing page. If you can’t pull this report in under two minutes, your tracking isn’t clean enough. Aim for 95% or higher tracking accuracy by testing conversions yourself weekly.
Clean tracking is what separates data-driven optimization from educated guessing.
Common mistakes to avoid
Don’t count the same conversion twice across different tools. If someone calls after filling out a form, decide which action gets credit. Avoid tracking micro-conversions like video plays or scrolling as if they equal real business value. Never launch a conversion rate optimization checklist audit without first confirming your analytics actually captures what matters.
3. Map your funnel and find the real drop-off
Most flooring dealers know their overall conversion rate, but they don’t know where visitors actually abandon the journey. Your conversion funnel isn’t just homepage to contact form. It’s the specific path your buyers take from clicking an ad to requesting a quote, and each step along that path leaks potential customers. Mapping your funnel reveals which pages kill momentum and which ones move buyers forward.
What to audit
Pull a funnel visualization report from Google Analytics showing the path from landing page to conversion. Identify the three to five pages most visitors see before converting (or leaving). Calculate the drop-off rate between each step. Check if mobile visitors follow a different path than desktop users. Review your most common entry pages and see what percentage of visitors click through to your next intended step.
How to fix fast
Focus first on the single page with the highest drop-off rate. Add a clear next step near the top of that page. Remove any navigation links that distract from forward progress. If your product gallery page loses 70% of visitors, add a quote request button directly in the gallery view. Test a single change on your worst-performing funnel page before moving to the next.
Your conversion rate optimization checklist should prioritize fixing the biggest leak first, not optimizing every page at once.
How to measure success
Track step completion rates for each funnel stage weekly. Your goal is to reduce drop-off at the weakest point by at least 10 percentage points. Monitor whether changes to one page inadvertently hurt the next step downstream.
Common mistakes to avoid
Don’t assume every visitor needs to see every page. Some buyers want to call immediately from the landing page. Avoid forcing a rigid path that doesn’t match real buyer behavior patterns. Never add friction to earlier steps trying to qualify visitors better.
4. Make pages load fast and stay stable
Page speed directly impacts your conversion rate, period. When your flooring website takes more than three seconds to load, you lose potential customers before they see your first product image. Google’s research shows that as page load time increases from one to five seconds, bounce probability jumps 90%. Beyond raw speed, layout stability matters just as much. If buttons and forms shift position while loading, frustrated visitors click away before you get a chance to convert them.
What to audit
Run your site through Google PageSpeed Insights and check both mobile and desktop scores. Look at your Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) score, which measures how long your main content takes to appear. Check your Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) to see if elements jump around during load. Test your actual load time on a real mobile device using a standard 4G connection, not your office Wi-Fi.
How to fix fast
Compress your product images to under 200KB each without losing visual quality. Enable browser caching so repeat visitors load faster. Remove any unnecessary plugins or scripts that slow your site. Host your images on a content delivery network (CDN) that serves files from locations closer to your visitors.
Fast pages don’t just improve your conversion rate optimization checklist results; they make every dollar you spend on traffic work harder.
How to measure success
Your PageSpeed Insights score should reach at least 75 on mobile. Track your average load time in Google Analytics and aim to keep it under 2.5 seconds. Monitor your bounce rate by landing page and watch for improvements as you fix speed issues.
Common mistakes to avoid
Don’t add new features or plugins without testing their speed impact first. Avoid hosting large video files directly on your server. Never assume your experience on a fast office connection matches what real customers see on mobile networks.
5. Make mobile the default experience
Over 60% of flooring shoppers now research products on their mobile devices, and that number climbs every month. If your website treats mobile as an afterthought or a scaled-down version of your desktop site, you’re actively blocking conversions from your largest audience segment. Your conversion rate optimization checklist needs to flip the script: design for mobile first, then adapt upward to larger screens. A smooth mobile experience isn’t optional anymore; it’s the baseline expectation for buyers who want to schedule a consultation while standing in their living room.
What to audit
Load your website on your actual phone and try to complete a conversion action. Check whether your phone number is clickable to dial. Test if your forms are easy to fill out with thumbs instead of a keyboard. Look at your product images and verify they load properly without requiring horizontal scrolling. Review your navigation menu to confirm it doesn’t cover important content or buttons.
How to fix fast
Make your phone number a tap-to-call link on every page. Reduce form fields to the absolute minimum needed for a quote. Set your images to responsive sizing so they fit any screen width automatically. Replace multi-level dropdown menus with a simple hamburger menu that expands cleanly.
Mobile optimization is where most flooring dealers leave the easiest conversion wins on the table.
How to measure success
Your mobile conversion rate should reach at least 80% of your desktop rate. Track mobile bounce rates by landing page and aim to keep them below 50%. Monitor form abandonment rates on mobile versus desktop.
Common mistakes to avoid
Don’t hide your phone number on mobile pages. Avoid requiring pinch-and-zoom to read text or see product details. Never use pop-ups that cover content without an obvious close button on small screens.
6. Clarify the offer above the fold
Your visitors make a snap decision within three seconds of landing on your page. They either understand what you offer and why it matters to them, or they bounce. Above the fold (the portion visible without scrolling) is your only guaranteed real estate to communicate your value proposition. For flooring dealers, this means stating clearly what products you sell, what areas you serve, and what action visitors should take next. Vague headlines like "Welcome to Quality Flooring" waste this critical space.
What to audit
Check what visitors actually see before scrolling on both desktop and mobile devices. Look at your headline and confirm it mentions flooring products or services specifically. Verify your service area appears clearly, whether that’s city names or a radius statement. Review whether your primary call to action (schedule consultation, request quote, call now) sits in the visible area without scrolling.
How to fix fast
Replace generic headlines with specific offers like "Hardwood and LVP Installation in [City Name]" or "Free In-Home Flooring Consultations Since 1999." Add your phone number prominently in the top right corner. Place your strongest call to action button above the fold with clear language.
Clear offers above the fold remove the guesswork that kills conversions in your conversion rate optimization checklist.
How to measure success
Track your bounce rate for each landing page and aim to reduce it by at least 15%. Monitor scroll depth in Google Analytics to see what percentage of visitors actually move past the fold.
Common mistakes to avoid
Don’t bury your phone number in the footer. Avoid stock photos that push real information below the fold. Never assume visitors will scroll to find basic details about your services.
7. Make CTAs easy to spot and hard to ignore
Your call to action buttons need to pass the squint test. If someone can’t instantly identify where to click to get a quote, schedule a visit, or call your store, they won’t waste time hunting for it. Weak CTAs blend into your page design instead of standing out from it. Strong CTAs use contrasting colors, clear action words, and strategic placement that anticipates where buyers naturally look next. This step in your conversion rate optimization checklist fixes one of the most common reasons flooring dealers lose ready-to-buy customers.
What to audit
Check whether your CTA buttons use a color that differs sharply from your page background and surrounding elements. Test if your button text tells visitors exactly what happens when they click. Review button size on mobile devices and confirm they’re large enough to tap easily with a thumb. Look at your button placement and verify each key page has at least one CTA in the first screen view without scrolling.
How to fix fast
Change your CTA button color to one that creates maximum visual contrast. Replace vague text like "Submit" or "Learn More" with specific actions: "Get Free Quote," "Schedule Visit," or "Call Now." Make buttons at least 44 pixels tall on mobile so they’re easy to tap accurately. Add white space around buttons so they stand out from surrounding content.
How to measure success
Your click-through rate on CTA buttons should reach at least 15% of page visitors. Track which button variations get the most clicks using your analytics. Monitor whether CTA changes increase your overall conversion rate by at least 20%.
Clear, prominent CTAs remove the friction between interest and action.
Common mistakes to avoid
Don’t use multiple competing CTAs on the same page that confuse visitors about what to do next. Avoid generic button text that doesn’t communicate value. Never make buttons so small on mobile that visitors accidentally tap the wrong element.
8. Reduce form and checkout friction
Every field you add to a form decreases the percentage of visitors who complete it. Research shows that reducing form fields from eleven to four can boost conversions by 120%. For flooring dealers, the tension is real: you want enough information to qualify leads and provide accurate quotes, but you also need to make it easy for motivated buyers to take that first step. Your contact forms and quote request processes should collect only what you absolutely need to start a conversation, not everything you might eventually want to know.
What to audit
Count the total number of required fields in your primary contact form. Check if you’re asking for information you could gather during a phone call or consultation instead. Test whether your form works properly on mobile devices without requiring excessive scrolling or typing. Review any error messages that appear when visitors fill forms incorrectly and verify they’re clear about what needs fixing.
How to fix fast
Cut your form down to name, phone number, and zip code as the only required fields. Make email optional since most flooring buyers prefer phone contact anyway. Add autocomplete attributes to form fields so browsers can fill common information automatically. Replace dropdown menus with radio buttons for any choice with fewer than five options.
How to measure success
Your form completion rate (submissions divided by form starts) should reach at least 50%. Track form abandonment by field to identify which questions cause visitors to quit. Monitor whether reducing fields increases total submissions even if some leads are slightly less qualified.
Shorter forms generate more leads, and one qualified lead beats three abandoned forms.
Common mistakes to avoid
Don’t require a physical address before you’ve even spoken to the customer. Avoid asking for detailed project information in the initial form. Never use CAPTCHA unless spam submissions exceed 20% of your total form fills.
9. Build trust where people hesitate
Flooring is an expensive decision that most buyers make once every decade or two. Your visitors are naturally skeptical about committing thousands of dollars based on a website alone. They look for trust signals before they pick up the phone or fill out a form. Missing or weak credibility indicators create invisible friction that kills conversions right when buyers are closest to taking action. Strategic placement of trust elements at decision points removes this hesitation without adding clutter to your pages.
What to audit
Check if your homepage displays your years in business, manufacturer partnerships, or industry certifications. Look for customer reviews and verify they appear on pages where visitors consider contacting you. Review whether your service guarantees or warranties are visible near quote request forms. Confirm your business address and license numbers are easy to find for buyers who want to verify your legitimacy.
How to fix fast
Add Google reviews excerpts with star ratings to your homepage and landing pages. Display manufacturer logos or certification badges from recognized flooring associations near your contact information. Include a brief guarantee statement like "100% satisfaction guarantee on all installations" above your primary call to action buttons. Add photos of your physical showroom or installation teams to prove you’re a real local business.
Trust signals work best when placed exactly where buyers pause to consider risk.
How to measure success
Track whether pages with trust elements show higher conversion rates than similar pages without them. Monitor form completion rates before and after adding review excerpts or guarantees.
Common mistakes to avoid
Don’t use generic stock photos when real team or showroom images build more credibility. Avoid hiding your physical address or making contact information hard to verify. Never fake reviews or display outdated credentials that buyers can easily check online.
10. Run a simple testing loop that compounds
Most flooring dealers skip testing entirely because they assume it requires expensive software or statistical expertise. The truth is simpler: you need a method to try one change, measure what happens, and repeat. Your conversion rate optimization checklist only works if you continuously test improvements instead of guessing what might work. Small, consistent tests compound over time into significant conversion gains that directly impact your bottom line.
What to audit
Review whether you currently track results before and after making changes to your site. Check if you have a written record of what you tested, when you ran the test, and what happened to your conversion rate. Look at whether you’re testing multiple changes at once, which makes it impossible to know what actually worked.
How to fix fast
Pick one element to test this month based on the previous nine steps in this checklist. Change only that single element and track results for at least two weeks. Document your baseline conversion rate, the change you made, and the new conversion rate in a simple spreadsheet.
Testing one change at a time tells you exactly what moves your conversion needle and what doesn’t.
How to measure success
Your testing process should produce at least one documented test per month with clear before and after metrics. Track your overall conversion rate quarterly to confirm multiple small wins are adding up to measurable business impact.
Common mistakes to avoid
Don’t test multiple changes simultaneously unless you have enough traffic for proper split testing. Avoid ending tests after just a few days before you have statistically meaningful data. Never skip documenting results because you think you’ll remember what worked.
Next steps to lock in gains
You now have a complete conversion rate optimization checklist that covers everything from traffic quality to testing methodology. The temptation is to tackle all ten steps at once, but that approach usually means nothing gets finished. Pick the single step where your audit revealed the biggest problem and fix that first. Document your baseline metrics, make the change, and measure the impact over two weeks before moving to the next item.
Most flooring dealers who work through this checklist methodically see their conversion rates improve by 30-50% within 90 days. The compound effect of fixing multiple leak points transforms your advertising ROI because you’re converting more of the traffic you already pay for. Remember that even the best website optimization can’t fix poor traffic quality, which is why step one matters so much.
If you want to see how IFDA’s AI-powered targeting delivers pre-qualified flooring buyers to your optimized site, learn more about our intent-based advertising technology or schedule a consultation to discuss your specific market.
