Every Thursday, around 9:30 am Eastern Time, I sit down with Khalid (Invesp CEO) and we talk about all things Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO).
I figured since Khalid has been in the CRO game in the last 16 years, I should do a lot of asking and let him do a lot of talking.
These sessions are my opportunity to learn from someone who has worked with well-established brands and fast-growing startups to increase their online sales through conversion optimization.
During these sessions, I make it a point that I ask him some tough CRO questions.
So, without further ado, here are 5 CRO questions that I have recently asked him.
1. Is conversion rate the right metric to track?
As a marketer, you know that there are so many metrics to measure.
But the reality is that some metrics are more important than others. Most of the metrics are vanity metrics and they can be more distracting if you’re not careful.
There’s no doubt that conversion rate metrics are important. But since there are dozens of conversions rate metrics which ones should you be really paying attention to?
Here’s what Khalid had to say about this:
2. Does more traffic translate to more conversions?
It’s an open secret that traffic is the first (and most important) ingredient you need for conversions to happen on your website.
Zero traffic means zero conversions.
So, if that’s the case, does more traffic also translate to more conversions?
No, not necessarily!
A website with 10k visitors can have more conversions than a website with 20k monthly visitors.
It’s not always about the traffic quantity, but the traffic quality. The quality of traffic coming to your website will determine if people are going to convert or not.
When I asked Khalid about this question, this is what he had to say:
3. Which is easier to Increase Conversions, eCommerce, or SaaS?
At Invesp we have worked with both eCommerce and SaaS brands. And we know that each and every optimization project comes with its own set of challenges – regardless of the type of website we’re optimizing.
But with eCommerce, you have the ability to run more tests because they tend to have a lot of traffic compared to SaaS websites. And on an eCommerce website, you also have more pages to launch tests on.
With SaaS, the number of pages to test on is limited – you only have your homepage, About Us, Pricing page. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will have it easy, you’d still have to go through the whole conversion optimization process.
Here’s what Khalid had to say about this question:
4. What’s the hardest thing about experimentation?
In this context, you can think of experimentation as a research method that involves conducting an investigation or testing. Marketers use experimentation to find the best method for maximizing revenues through the acquisition of new customers.
Now, that you know what experimentation is, let’s talk about what makes it so hard.
But first, when you hear people saying experimentation is tricky, believe them.
If you don’t, just check out the stats – numbers don’t lie:
Only 1 in every 7 experiments succeeds.
Here’s the thing, anyone can come up with A/B test ideas. But not everyone can come up with winning A/B tests ideas. It takes a lot of experience to consistently come up with winning A/B testing ideas.
Statistics are at the heart of experimentation. If you can’t understand statistical concepts, you’re bound to struggle with experimentation.
Here’s what Khalid had to say about this:
5. What’s a reasonable Conversion Uplift to expect after running a CRO program?
The benefits of running a CRO program are well-documented.
Unlike 10 years ago, most people are beginning to believe in the concept of conversion optimization. But what they don’t seem to understand is what kind of a conversion uplift they should expect from running a CRO program.
The problem is there are so many misleading articles that talk about a 300% increase in conversions that comes with changing the color of a call-to-action button.
If CRO was that easy, everyone would be an expert!
So, what kind of uplift should you expect after running a CRO program?
Well, the correct answer to that question is that it varies from one company to another. When I asked Khalid this question, he said:
“We expect to deliver anywhere between a 20% to 30% increase in revenue at a minimum. And that’s within a timeframe of 12 months.”
Here’s his answer in greater detail:
If you have any conversion optimization questions you’d want Khalid to answer, you can either reach out to me, or to him via LinkedIn.
