A step-by-step guide to understanding and setting up CRO

This article is focused on the conversion rate optimisation fundamentals, the importance of gathering data and how to set your website up for success with an actionable strategy.

Did you know that there are approximately 1.7 billion websites in today’s digital environment? This data is not meant to overwhelm you, but to make you aware of how competitive your industry may be, and most of all — to learn from what’s already been proven to be an effective strategy for a converting website.

Websites are your business card in the digital world and are almost vital if you want people to know you exist. While they’re an important source of information, they’re an undeniable lead generation tool as well.

From on-page SEO to catchy design or a brand personality that has to match the business profile 1:1, there is an extensive set of elements that need to be considered in order to transform your website into an effective tool.

But how do we ensure that it brings results consistently? Well, this is where CRO comes to play.

In an ideal world, your visitors would click all the CTA buttons, hit subscribe and even revisit your converting pages more often than you’d planned. In real life, almost half of Google searches end up in zero clicks — meaning that visitors look your business up on Google but don’t take any desired action on your website.

So it might be just the right time to talk about ?

What is CRO?

Through a well-defined CRO strategy, you lead the way for visitors to take desired actions that suit your business.

Blending both better UX and driving business revenue, CRO is the ideal strategy if you want to make the most out of your website. Also, it represents the stepping stone for better ad strategies that focus on lead generation, as conversions are the main driver of ROAS (Return On Ad Spend).

Too many marketing buzzwords? Don’t worry, we’ll take it one step at a time. ?

What is a conversion rate?

The main types of website conversions come in two forms — micro and macro. Micro conversions are the little but consistent steps that visitors can take until they fully make up their minds. Macro conversions are the ultimate actions that can be taken on the website in order to become leads or potential customers.

See below examples of both actions that can be implemented on your website:

Macro Conversions	Micro Conversions
Service subscriptionPurchaseApp installPhone CallForm submission	Button clickLink clickLanding page viewEmail signupPDF DownloadAccount creationSend to cart

The conversion rate represents the percentage of visitors on a certain page that take a desired action.

Let’s take the example of a fintech app — if 150 potential users visit its homepage every month and out of this total, 15 sign up for the free trial, it results in a 10% conversion rate.

How to calculate the conversion rate

Sign-ups/Total no. of visitors x 100 = Conversion Rate

? With all this info in mind, we can conclude that with CRO, we aim at creating valuable website experiences for visitors. How you design these conversions and the type of optimisation you have in mind will depend on a group of factors which we’ll further analyse in the strategy part of this guide:

what type of business do you have; what does your audience expect from you or what type of metrics do you have to set to measure CRO success.

How to set up your CRO strategy

Put yourself in your user’s shoes and try not to give him a hard time on your website. Even though eccentric design or copy can sometimes be tempting to add to your brand personality, in the world of conversions these elements will not be successful ones.

Here, we explore a user-centric approach that holistically combines design, copy and data:

1. Set up an intuitive UX

High-quality UX equals high-quality conversions.

When visitors arrive on your website, they don’t want to overthink what’s happening there. Depending on your business and goals, your website should follow a natural user/buyer journey and be one step ahead of his/her needs. To put it briefly — what you require is conversion-focused design.

In order to enhance their website journey length or number of actions, keep in mind these UX guidelines:

• Create a natural flow of actions both on the website’s menu and on every landing page.
• Personalise CTA buttons and actions according to user expectations.
• Test visitors’ behaviour and re-adapt the UX according to their go-to actions.

2. Match your design with the copy

Delivering the right message to your audience is the world-known method of persuasion. And doing this on your website is no exception to this rule.

While drafting the site’s content, keep in mind that your customers’ needs and desires are all that matter and don’t forget the 5 W’s:

• What is the product/service you’re presenting?
• Why should it matter to your prospective customers?
• Where can they get in contact with it/make a purchase?
• Who is it being offered to?
• When can they access the information/start the trial/receive their purchase?

The copy and design must follow the same branding guidelines and offer a consistent feeling to the users. Also, the uniqueness of a brand always gets ahead, and it is essential to always personalise the message. Statistics show that a simple, personalised CTA button can increase conversions by 202%.

3. Explore the definitive elements in your visitors’ behaviour

After the functionality and aesthetics comes the data. CRO, like any other digital endeavour, is a dynamic field and constantly adapting to user insights and other website analytics.

For a well-set CRO strategy, we must analyse what defines our users’ behaviour — the good, the bad, and especially what makes them stay.

There are three types of such elements that can predict their behaviour:

• Drivers — the elements that lead your users’ way to your website
• Barriers — the elements that drive them away and most often increase your bounce rate
• Hooks — the elements that convince your users to take an action on your website

This data ensures a good understanding of which conversions the visitors are most drawn to, what initially-thought conversions are not showing results, and how to adapt your strategy around their real needs.