What is Conversion Rate Optimization? Pro Tips + Checklist

Conversion rate optimization is the digital marketing strategy of monitoring, testing, and optimizing your website to increase the number of visitors who complete a desired action on your site.

Increasing traffic is one thing — getting that traffic to convert is another. That’s where conversion rate optimization (CRO) comes into play.

CRO is the digital marketing technique of monitoring, analyzing, and optimizing your website so more of those visitors become customers.

We spoke with Yara Askar, a HawkSEM lead strategist and CRO expert, to break down everything you need to know about CRO (including common mistakes and what the future might look like).

Conversion rate optimization is a tool to activate the digital marketing results you want. (Image: Unsplash)

What is conversion rate optimization?

Conversion rate optimization consists of steps taken to optimize a website, product page, ad, or landing page.

The goal: to increase the percentage of website visitors or viewers who complete a desired action (e.g., click, call, add to cart, make a purchase).

It involves testing and analyzing different versions of text, images, layouts, CTA (call-to-action) buttons, and other design elements to determine which combination will entice your audience to act.

Understanding conversions

A conversion is an action people perform on your website (or ad or landing page) per your request. It can be as small as signing up for a newsletter or as big as making a purchase.

A conversion can happen from organic traffic or paid traffic.

Types of conversions

Different types of businesses put more value on different conversions. (And industries will have different types of conversions altogether.)

Let’s compare lead generation and ecommerce conversions as an example:

Lead generation conversion types:

• Submitting a form (like requesting a quote)
• Providing contact information in exchange for content or information
• Phone calls (as well as scheduled callbacks)
• Signing up for a webinar, training, or demo
• Interacting with a chatbot
• Completing a survey or review
• Social sharing

Ecommerce conversion types:

• Purchasing a product
• Adding to cart
• Initiating a checkout
• Signing up for or opting into emails
• Redeeming a discount code
• Reviewing a product
• Interacting with a chatbot
• Social sharing
• Viewing product videos

(Image: HawkSEM)

Making a purchase is more valuable than adding to cart. But without proper conversion tracking, your data might tell you otherwise.

How conversions are tracked

Whether you run PPC or SEO campaigns, properly tracking conversions is the only way to implement effective, data-driven optimizations.

Conversions are tracked by using an analytics tool, like Google Analytics.

This guide walks you through the process of setting up conversion tracking for Google Ads. Here’s a quick overview of what’s involved:

• Link your PPC account to an analytics tool, like Google Analytics
• Define your conversion goals inside the PPC platform and Google Analytics
• Install conversion tracking code on your website
• Use UTM parameters for tracking specific campaigns and ads

And this guide walks you through how to track SEO conversions. Here’s a brief overview:

• Set up an analytics tool, like Google Analytics
• Define your conversion goals inside Google Analytics
• Track incoming traffic
• Use UTM parameters for additional information on traffic origin (like a link shared on social media or a newsletter that was clicked) – these are bits of code added to the end of a URL
• Connect Google Search Console for insight into search queries that brought traffic to your site

Average conversion rates: What should yours be?

For ecommerce businesses, a good conversion rate is 2%-3%, whereas lead generation businesses shoot for closer to 5%-8%. Our complete guide outlines average conversion rates by industry:

(Image: HawkSEM)

How to calculate your conversion rate

To calculate your current conversion rate, simply divide the number of conversions by the total number of visitors, then multiply by 100.

For example, let’s say your website had 1,000 visitors and 200 conversions last week.

Conversion rate = (200 / 1000) x 100 = 20%

Let’s say 500 people signed up for a free trial of your software. After using it for a month (and in conjunction with your email drip campaign), 100 of them upgraded to a paid plan.

In that case, your free trial to paying customer conversion rate will be 20%.

These are simple calculations. Analytics platforms such as Google Analytics can do the calculation for you and show your goal conversion rate as well.

Goal conversion rate = (Total goal completions / # of sessions) x 100

Ecommerce conversion rate = (Total transactions / # of sessions) x 100

Key components of CRO: What can be optimized?

Ultimately, conversion rate optimization is all about improving your website in a way that makes visitors feel more engaged and inclined to take the next steps. The most common CRO techniques to accomplish this include:

Crafting a more seamless user experience (UX)

The ease and intuitiveness of your navigation and layout, the messaging of your offer, and the design and layout of your website are all considered parts of the user experience. In some ways, conversion rate optimization is synonymous with improving user experience.

Ultimately, your goal is to ensure visitors understand exactly what you offer, what next steps to take, and how to take them.

Engaging content that makes your offer (and next steps) clear

The messaging on your website should be engaging, clear, and persuasive. As soon as someone lands on your site, do they know what your brand name is, your offer, and your value proposition right away?

Surely there are competitors who offer the same services or products — and content is your ticket to communicating why yours stands out.

Compelling copy doesn’t end with a blog, FAQ page, or your homepage, either. Even the verbiage of your CTA buttons can be tweaked in a way that is more likely to turn visitors into converters (i.e. “Submit” vs. “Get my free trial now!”).

A speedy website (with a mobile-friendly version to boot)

The slower the site speed, the lower your conversion rates. Even with an enticing offer, users are notoriously impatient when it comes to a slow page load speed.

Similarly, a beautifully designed desktop website alone won’t cut it. A mobile-friendly website is non-negotiable for conversion rate optimization.

Landing pages that are consistent with your ad’s offer

While your entire website should focus on user experience, content, and site performance — your landing pages deserve a special mention here.

These are the pages people “land” on after clicking an ad, meaning these prospects have a high intent to convert. An easy way to miss that opportunity is through a landing page that doesn’t fulfill the promise you made in your ad.

Here’s what I mean:

Did you offer a free trial of your SaaS product in your PPC ad? The first thing your visitors should see when they arrive on your landing page is how to receive that free trial.

Further, your landing page should be clean and easy to read — and your visitors should have no question about whether they ended up on the right website.

Your landing pages may be designed a bit differently from the rest of your site (more simplified, more media) but be sure your branding is consistent.

Ongoing A/B testing to improve CTAs, design, and content

Finally, your content, CTAs, and website design should all be A/B tested to determine which versions result in the highest conversions.

A simple tweak of your offer’s messaging or the color of your CTAs button can shift your audience’s perspective enough to push them to convert (we talk all about this in our article on marketing psychology).

Learn more about A/B testing in this guide.

How to start: CRO audit

Conversion rate optimization begins (and continues) with a CRO audit.

An audit is a full analysis of your website to pinpoint how frequently visitors convert (this is where identifying your conversion actions through conversion tracking is so important).

This thorough guide walks you through the auditing process, from your initial review to ongoing monthly monitoring.

To start:

1. Define your top conversion actions

We mentioned that there is a long list of actions that can be qualified as a conversion (even if they aren’t considered high-value).

Here, we want to define your top goal for a visitor to your website or landing page — typically, this is a purchase or signing up for a service.

2. List out those smaller conversions worth tracking

Now’s the time to outline the other, smaller conversions that are still important. These can often be “assists” to the bigger conversion goal.

3. Install Google Analytics (and a heatmapping tool)

Chances are, you have Google Analytics installed on your website. If not, now is the time.

Once you’ve allowed enough time to gather data, review your site’s performance, like which pages receive the highest and lowest traffic and bounce rate.

These pages are generally the best ones to start with to make the biggest impact on your overall CRO.

4. Form a hypothesis

With the data you gathered on your website, consider what layout or design changes might move your visitors to convert.

From here, you can implement those changes and A/B test before reviewing their performance again to determine if your hypothesis was correct.

Conversion rate optimization tools

There is a whole suite of tools that exist to help you analyze your website performance, track user behavior, A/B test, and request customer service feedback — all in the name of conversion optimization.

This guide outlines our favorite CRO tools here at HawkSEM.

Let’s shine a spotlight on a few favorites:

1. Hotjar

Offers heatmaps, session recordings, and user feedback features. Heatmaps visually represent user behavior on your website, showing where users click, scroll, and spend the most time — and where they drop off the conversion funnel.

Session recordings provide video playback of user sessions, allowing you to see how visitors navigate your site.

User feedback tools, such as surveys and polls, gather insights directly from your audience.

(Image: Hotjar homepage)

2. Optimizely

Allows you to create and run A/B tests, multivariate tests, and personalization campaigns. It enables you to test different variations of your website, landing, or product pages and measure their impact on conversion rates.

By experimenting with different elements, such as headlines, call-to-action buttons, or layouts, you can identify the most effective changes to optimize conversions.

(Image: Optimizely homepage)

3. Crazy Egg

Provides heatmaps, scroll maps, and click reports to visualize user behavior. Heatmaps show where users click, scroll, or hover on your web pages, helping you identify areas of interest or friction.

Scrollmaps display how far users scroll down a page, giving insights into content engagement.

Click reports show the number of clicks on specific elements, helping you understand user interactions and optimize accordingly.

(Image: Crazy Egg homepage)

These testing tools can help you analyze user behavior, run experiments, and gather valuable insights to optimize your website or landing pages for better conversion rates.

Common CRO mistakes

Conversion rate optimization comes with some common mistakes and challenges. After over ten years in the industry, we’ve frequently seen these top issues:

Not enough testing time

“A common mistake I see when it comes to CRO is deciding on an A/B test that hasn’t reached statistical significance yet,” says Askar. This tends to lead to a false conclusion.

“At the launch of an A/B test, the variation can look like it’s performing better,” says Askar, “but if you pause the test too early, you can end up implementing the wrong winner.”

Focusing too much on quantitative data over qualitative data (or vice versa)

“Both are very important when running an A/B test and should be taken into consideration equally,” Askar explains.

“Quantitative data is important to understand what is happening, but qualitative data can help explain why something is happening.” That’s why it’s important to gather as much user feedback as possible.

Testing too many variations at once

Over-testing can dilute results. “The more variations you test, the higher the chances of ending with the wrong winner,” says Askar.

“This makes it hard to determine what change led to the performance.” Stick with one hypothesis and allow for enough time to really learn from your audience before making more changes.

Tracking conversions incorrectly

Perhaps even more problematic than not tracking conversions at all? Incorrect tracking and data interpretation.

For example, it’s not uncommon for a ecommerce business to attribute equal value to adding a product to cart and making a purchase, which skews your conversion rate.

CRO case studies

At HawkSEM, conversion rate optimization is baked into our PPC and SEO services — and our experts have seen some pretty impressive results (like a 75% increase in sales demos and a 400% reduction in CPA for one client alone).

Curious to see how CRO can impact a business like yours? We have a full list of case studies from our agency and others alike here.

Future trends in CRO

From adopting AI tools to creating more personalized experiences, new conversion rate optimization trends are emerging all the time.

“A trend that I’ve been noticing is more focus on the user experience and customer journey,” says Askar. “A lot of SEO clients are focused on the entire customer journey and not just ranking in SERP.”

In other words, they want to make sure the user’s experience is seamless from first visit to first conversion.

“I think CRO is going to have more impact on SEO in the future, and CRO will start to incorporate insight from other digital marketing efforts,” Askar theorizes.

“We’re going to see more of an omnichannel optimization approach as users interact with brands across numerous channels.”

Looking for additional CRO trends? This article covers 11 trends to keep an eye on, including:

1. Adopting AI tools and technology
2. Monitoring data integrity and cleanliness
3. Leveling up user testing platforms
4. Laser focusing on conversion rates
5. Increasing testing velocity
6. Collecting deeper customer insights
7. Building personalized experiences
8. Understanding buyers’ roles
9. Optimizing for voice search
10. Experimenting with demand generation
11. Streamlining checkout processes

Learn more about these trends here.

Benefits of digital marketing CRO

We’ve discussed the impact of CRO from a sales perspective. But optimization tactics can also be valuable for your digital marketing — here’s how.

Improved SEO efforts

Conversion rate optimization can improve your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. By focusing your tactics on converting a site visitor, you’re keeping them on the website longer.

As users get more engaged with the content, they start interacting with your website, which:

• Reduces the bounce rate
• Increases the dwell time (helping your website climb higher on the search engine results page or SERP)

Also, testing content improves its quality for your target audience, giving more authority to your website.

CRO and SEO experts pay special attention to Core Web Vitals, which have turned into Google’s ranking factors.

These metrics aim to improve user experience and usability of your website, thus keeping the visitors happier and more likely to convert.

These days, all eyes are on the helpful content system algorithm, which is what Google has always been about — creating content that users will find trustworthy and valuable. Some of the factors include E-E-A-T:

Experience

Content that demonstrates first-hand experience, such as showing readers a problem you had and how you overcame it (e.g., a marketing agency talking about a strategy they implemented)

Expertise

Determines whether the author has topical expertise in the subject matter they’re discussing (e.g., SEOs talking about CRO shows expertise)

Authority

Based on the author, the website, and the content and whether it shows industry authority (e.g., a website about cars, discussing how cars are made, written by a mechanic)

Trustworthiness

Site consists of accurate information and is secure, especially for ecommerce websites (e.g., showing social proof like testimonials or social media reviews)

Google also plans to improve the helpful content system algorithm soon, so be on the lookout.

By understanding algorithms, you can ensure the content you create, writers you use, and strategies you implement are on par with delivering value to keep readers and search engines happy.

Higher marketing ROI

Digital marketing campaigns often focus on improving the company’s profitability. CRO testing can generate an impressive amount of revenue over time, thus increasing the digital marketing ROI.

Those in charge of a company’s CRO can identify different areas of opportunity, which in turn lead to conversions and higher revenue.

For example, split-testing paid ads can increase CTR, generate high-quality website traffic, and support lead-generation efforts. Even if all you get is a couple of new leads per month, the benefits add up over time.

Plus, CRO tactics can cut marketing costs, which frees up the budget for other parts of your digital marketing campaign./explain the significance of data analysis in understanding user behavior/boosting conversion rates.

More audience insights into customer behaviors

The customer journey map illustrates all touchpoints customers engage with online or offline. A website is an online touchpoint — perhaps the most critical in the customer journey.

CRO tools offer insight into how customers interact with your website:

• How do they navigate your site?
• Which pages interest them most?
• How do they engage with the various elements on your website, such as your form, call-to-action (CTA) buttons, or virtual assistant?

Here’s how analyzing customer data can potentially improve your site’s conversion rate.

Enhance the user experience with a better site design

Understanding visitor behavior on your website allows you to improve on-page and website design elements.

It should be no surprise that these improvements can have a positive impact on conversions. They also expand your knowledge of user behaviors.

Heat maps are a great tool for this, helping to determine which links are most often clicked.

Say most visitors click the link that takes them to your site’s pricing page, resources, or case studies section. This insight identifies the needs and wants of your audience.

You can also use dynamic heatmaps that visualize users’ mouse and finger movements as they navigate your website.

This way, you’ll know if visitors are scrolling down your homepage or using the drop-down menus to visit key pages of your website.

A/B testing is a popular CRO tool to determine the right layout, colors and copy that can motivate visitors to make a purchase, fill out your form, or call you directly. (Image: Unsplash)

Pro tip: Your landing page or homepage sets the initial impression of quality for visitors. If they like what they see, they’ll likely stay on your website longer. So pay attention to what’s happening on these pages (e.g., load times, annoying pop-ups, etc.) so you can make adjustments where necessary.

Optimize your pricing strategy

Studying consumer behaviors may reveal the price-value perception of your target audience. For example, maybe they lean more toward higher-priced products because they perceive them as higher quality.

Or maybe they have smaller budgets and frequently choose value packs and plans. Use this to optimize your pricing to meet the needs of your customers.

Segment and personalize your content and offerings

Yes, personalization is still a big deal for consumers. According to Forbes, 81% of customers prefer companies that offer a personalized experience.

The more you learn about your audience (demographics, location, preferences), the better you can segment your marketing campaigns and messaging to suit their interests and needs.

Checklist for executing conversion rate optimization strategies

Ready to get started with your conversion optimization process? Here’s a checklist for you to follow to maximize your optimization efforts:

• Define clear goals
• Connect Google Analytics and heatmapping toolsConduct thorough research
• Analyze your funnel
• Develop hypotheses
• Prioritize testing opportunities
• Design and implement A/B tests
• Monitor test results
• Analyze test data
• Implement successful changes
• Continuously iterate and optimize
• Track and measure
• Monitor user feedback

Remember, CRO is an iterative process that requires continuous testing, learning, and improvement.

Use this checklist to plan and execute a successful conversion rate optimization campaign.

The takeaway

Even incremental lifts matter. A 5% increase in the conversion rate can translate to significant additional revenue over a period of time.

This is why it’s a good idea to align CRO strategies with your ongoing or most important digital marketing goals.

As you take data-backed actions, all of your CRO efforts will have meaning, purpose, and, if successfully executed, deliver the value amplification you seek.

Looking for some help with your CRO efforts? We got you.

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This article has been updated and was originally published in December 2019.