What is CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) and how does it work

One of the main objectives of Marketing departments is to drive traffic to the company's website to capture leads and then sell their products and/or services to them. This may be a simple explanation, but it's just to put it in context.

But many companies make the mistake of not focusing on getting more traffic to their website. This is where the CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization).

What is CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization)?

CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) is the systematic process of increasing the percentage of visitors to our website to perform a specific action (filling out a form, subscribing to the newsletter, etc.). The process of Conversion Rate Optimization involves understanding “how users move” through the website or Landing Page, what actions they take and what prevents them from completing our objectives.

By designing and modifying certain elements of a web page, we can get more leads before they leave the page.

What is a conversion?

A conversion is the general term for a visitor who completes one of the objectives set. There are different types of objectives, depending on the type of company it may have one or the other. If we use our website to sell products, the main purpose (known as Macroconversion) is to get the user to make a purchase. Instead, there are smaller conversions that can occur before a user completes a macro conversion, such as subscribing to receive a newsletter. These are called microconversions.

Examples of Conversions

Macroconversions:

• Selling a product
• A call
• Subscribe to a service

Microconversions:

• Subscribe to the newsletter
• Add a product to the shopping cart
• Visit of more than 60 seconds to a specific page of the website

What is the conversion rate?

The conversion rate is very important. One of the most important factors of a website.

Our website conversion rate is the number of times a user completes a goal divided by website traffic. If a user converts on each visit (for example, buying a product), we have to divide the number of conversions by the number of sessions (the number of times a user has visited our page). If we sell a subscription, we have to divide the number of conversions by the number of users.

Conversion rate optimization occurs after the visit reaches our page. This is different from conversion optimization for SEO or paid ads that focus on who clicks from the organic search results, how many clicks we receive, and which keywords are generating the most traffic.

According to a study by Econsultancy, only 22% of companies are satisfied with their conversion rate, which is the same thing, 78% of companies are not satisfied with the conversion rate of their websites.

Many websites are designed to convert visitors into potential customers. These conversions are made throughout the website (on the main page, on the blog, on the landing pages, etc.) and all of these can be optimized to achieve a greater number of conversions. The process of optimizing these conversions is exactly what CRO involves.

La conversion rate optimization requires time and resources, tests must be carried out constantly to find out what works and what doesn't. However, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the basic principles of optimizing the conversion of our website, so that we can maximize the chances that a potential customer who comes to our page from a web search engine, such as Google, will become an important lead, or a customer.

Elements that can help increase our conversion rate:

Below are some elements that can surely help us to make users convert more when they are on our page.

Homepage

The main page of our website is the most important. In addition to creating a good impression on users when they visit our website, it is also an opportunity to retain and seduce them to continue browsing the different sections or pages of our website. We can do this by highlighting some links to other pages, buttons to subscribe or even by incorporating a Chatbot that interacts with users during their browsing experience.

Landing Pages

Lading pages, also known as landing pages, are designed exclusively for users to perform a specific action. For example, a landing page with a whitepaper is designed so that the user who accesses it fills out a form and that resource can be downloaded.

When is CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) right for our business?

When our company receives a lot of visits to the website but they don't convert. This is when we need to start thinking about how to convert those visits into leads or customers.

Keys to successful page optimization

If what we want is a large percentage of the visits we receive convert, the first thing we need to know is: where and what to optimize and for whom do we need to do it. This is the basis for our successful CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) strategy.

If we don't collect the data and analyze it, then the changes we make will be based only on an intuition. Making decisions based on assumptions can be a waste of time and money.

Examples of CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) Strategies

Create CTAs (Calls to Action) in text within the Blog

Sometimes, when we access blogs we see a lot of banners and, on many occasions, they push us back or we simply don't pay much attention to them. On the other hand, if we create Call-to-Actions in text format within articles, they can sometimes convert much more than a banner.

Create Pop-Ups

Pop-Ups or pop-ups offer a high conversion. They are specially designed to attract attention and provide value. If used correctly, they can be really useful for obtaining leads or even converting any product or service. If the Pop-Up is accompanied by a good digital marketing strategy, it can make a lead become a customer.

A/B Tests on Landing Page

As we mentioned before, Landing Pages play a very important role within a web page, so if A/B tests are carried out we can optimize them to generate a greater number of conversions. We can try different variants such as, for example, changing the main image, the color of the action button, the design or the text of the page, among other things. It's about analyzing what converts the most.

Optimize the Blog pages with the most visits

Blog posts are a great opportunity for conversion rate optimization. If we detect that some of our articles have a high number of visits, it may be advisable to optimize the page with CTAs (Call-to-Actions) adapted to the objectives we want to achieve.

Conversion rates can vary widely depending on the type of industry and business model, but nevertheless, all companies have one thing in common, and this is fundamental. Before implementing any changes and starting to optimize meaningless pages, they need to know that the CRO must be based on business objectives. Isn't it true that we don't jump into a pool without first learning to swim? In this case it would be something similar.

Therefore, The first thing to do is analyze the general objectives of the company, to know what we want to achieve and in how long. The fundamental question that we must ask ourselves is the following: How can my website contribute to my business objectives? And then, we will set specific objectives for our website so that they have a measurable impact on our business objectives.

If you want Learn more about the CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization), we invite you to the seminar that will take place on February 28 at our offices in Barcelona and will be given by Svend Jørgensen (online marketing consultant at Novicell Denmark since 2016).

How can we help you?

If you need more information, do not hesitate to get in touch with us.