What is Conversion Rate Optimization and How Can it Benefit Me

What is conversion rate optimization? It’s the process of taking the traffic on your site and increasing the percentage of that traffic that converts to some action, usually a sale or purchase but it can also be a signup or any other conversion goal you would like to track. Here’s what you need to know about CRO, including some common examples and mistakes to avoid so you can start increasing your conversion rate today!

What is CRO

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is a technique used to improve your website’s conversion rate. Conversion rates are generally expressed as a percentage, such as 10%, meaning that 10% of your site’s visitors convert into paying customers or signups. Most companies see less than 2% conversion rates, so CRO can help you double or triple sales and grow your business with little effort. If you want to maximize sales for every visitor to your site, consider CRO! There are many ways to increase conversions on your site.

Benefits of CRO

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) can be a tricky subject. The term brings with it preconceived notions that can be difficult to shake. Just saying I’m doing CRO often elicits odd looks or head-scratching. Sometimes, though, there’s no better way to describe what you’re trying to do than CRO. In fact, many of our customers find that once they get beyond semantics and start realizing what CRO does for them–and more importantly, how much time it saves them–it becomes an indispensable tool in their marketing strategy. Here are a few of CRO’s most tangible benefits: Conversion rate optimization lets you focus on making small improvements across your website rather than one big move that could change your site dramatically.

Traffic Sources

If you’re getting most of your traffic from one source, that’s a great way to get started with conversion rate optimization. Determine what types of users convert best on your site (for example, customers with a certain level of income) and then find ways to increase traffic from that source or segment. If you’re generating a large amount of traffic but few conversions, make sure you’re targeting relevant keywords for your business in order to attract more qualified visitors who are likely to convert into customers. If both channels are producing lots of traffic but few conversions, take a look at how each audience navigates through your site in order to make it easier for them to do what they came for: buy whatever products or services you provide!

A/B Testing

The most important part of conversion rate optimization (CRO) is split testing. By A/B testing, you can determine what makes your visitor more likely to convert. By changing a small percentage of visitors’ experience on your site, you’re able to see which version works better. Through A/B testing, you can find out if using video in your call-to-action or placing text above or below a CTA button will increase sales on an eCommerce site. You’ll be surprised at how much optimizing even one small aspect of your website can do for sales.

The Funnel Report

Every successful business starts with conversion. What most people don’t realize is that traffic sources, web page layouts, copywriting, usability, and even color can all affect your conversion rate. To really excel at getting leads for your business you need to keep track of how users are interacting with your website. You can do so by setting up a Funnel Report in Google Analytics that gives you valuable insight into how visitors are converting through each step of your funnel. What pages are they landing on? Where are they going next?

Implementation Tips

Identify your key conversion goals for your website. If you are just starting out, begin with a small number of goals, such as downloading a brochure or filling out a form. After completing these tasks, you can start to expand on conversion goals and set up a funnel-tracking system in Google Analytics (more on that later). Once you’ve figured out what your main conversion goal(s) are, brainstorm some ways to make that process easier for customers. For example, if you have an e-commerce site, make sure all necessary shipping information is clearly communicated on product pages so they can proceed to checkout without any unnecessary steps or questions.

Conversion Goal Tracking

Just starting out with conversion rate optimization? Tracking your conversion goals might be a good place to start. We have an entire post on goal tracking for e-commerce stores, but you can also try Google Analytics for free to track conversions. In order to track conversions, you need a specific goal in mind that you want your users to complete when they land on your site. The goal should be what they’re trying to accomplish, not necessarily what you’re trying to sell them—for example, instead of saying purchase my product, say shop for gifts. Knowing how your customers use your website is critical in identifying where changes can be made or what places might need extra attention.

Using Heatmaps for CRO

Heatmaps are a great way to gauge where you are currently getting traffic on your site. This can be anything from clicks or mouse movements. They can also be used in conjunction with other tools to pinpoint problem areas such as buttons that aren’t large enough, images that don’t clearly show what they are depicting, etc. If you have goals set up in Google Analytics you can even track when a visitor converts by clicking on an element on your site, making heatmap software a powerful tool for conversion rate optimization. To get started tracking conversions through heatmaps there are some free programs out there but if you want more advanced features I suggest going with CrazyEgg or ClickTale.