Every business with an online presence needs a CRO strategy.
Imagine hosting a party where dozens of people show up, but only a few stay to chat, mingle, or enjoy the snacks. You’d probably start wondering: What could I do differently to keep more guests engaged?
That’s where a CRO strategy comes into play–except your “party” is your website, and the “guests” are your visitors. Like a great host tweaking the playlist or improving the ambiance to keep everyone entertained, a conversion optimization strategy focuses on enhancing customer experience. Its goal is to compel your audience to purchase from it.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to identify opportunities, test new ideas, and use data to create a site that turns visitors into loyal fans.
What Is A CRO Strategy?
A CRO strategy is a plan to improve how well your website or mobile app turns visitors into completing specific actions, like making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or booking a demo.
It combines data analysis, user research, and iterative testing to optimize various aspects of the website or digital platform through effective conversion optimization strategies.
6 Pillars of a Conversion Optimization Strategy
CRO is the process of improving your website or app to encourage more users to complete specific actions, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or booking a demo. Understanding the average conversion rate for your industry can help set realistic targets and measure the effectiveness of your CRO efforts.
To do this effectively, there are a few principles to keep in mind:
1. Data-driven decision-making:
CRO isn’t about guesswork. It’s about making informed decisions based on data and an in-depth understanding of your audience’s behavior, preferences, and pain points.
By basing decisions on user behavior and the website’s conversion rate, you can make changes that actually boost conversions instead of wasting time on what might not work.
2. Seamless user experience:
CRO is all about understanding your website visitors so you can address their requirements and pain points. A user-centric approach means designing experiences that align with their needs, preferences, and behaviors.
Here’s everything it includes:
Simplify website navigation. A clear and intuitive menu structure helps users find what they need without confusion. Well-labeled categories, dropdown menus, and breadcrumb trails ensure visitors don’t feel lost. Plus, a search bar with features like predictive text or filters makes finding specific items or information even easier.
Reduce page load speed. Fast-loading pages keep users engaged and reduce bounce rates. When a website loads quickly, it creates a positive impression and encourages visitors to stay longer. You can improve your load times by optimizing image sizes, reducing unnecessary scripts, and leveraging browser caching.
Optimize your site for mobile devices. Responsive design ensures that your website adjusts seamlessly to various screen sizes, offering a consistent experience. Simplified navigation, touch-friendly buttons, and minimal scrolling enhance usability for mobile users.
Ensure visual clarity. Clean layouts with ample white space make content more digestible while using legible fonts and appropriately sized text ensures readability.
Make visual hierarchy consistent. A well-structured visual hierarchy guides users’ attention to the most important elements, such as headlines, images, or CTAs. For example, bold fonts, vibrant colors, or larger text can emphasize key actions like “Buy Now” or “Learn More,” helping users navigate effortlessly through your site.
Look at this web page, for instance. It demonstrates visual hierarchy with the bold headline “What We Do,” drawing immediate attention, followed by smaller text for context. The colorful circular icons below organize content into distinct sections, making it easy to scan topics like “Usability Testing” and “User Research.”
Pro tip: Use tools like FigPii that come with features like heatmaps, session recordings, and surveys that tell you precisely where users face problems on your site and which areas appear streamlined.
3. Clear and compelling value proposition:
Your visitors should be able to understand what makes your product or service unique within seconds of landing on your site. A clear value proposition can significantly influence conversion rates and ultimately transform visitors into paying customers. And this is where a clear value proposition enters the picture—it reduces confusion, builds trust, and encourages the visitor to buy from you.
Here’s a quick list of best practices to consider to craft an effective value proposition:
Highlight benefits over features.
Use impactful headlines and subheadings on key pages.
Incorporate visual elements like videos or infographics to reinforce your message.
Take this value proposition, for example:
A value proposition like “Spend less time tracking and more time growing: The all-in-one work time tracker for managing field or remote teams” effectively communicates the dual benefit of saving time and driving growth, appealing directly to businesses looking for streamlined team management solutions.
Pro tip: Test different headlines or taglines that emphasize the unique benefits of your offering.
4. A/B testing and experimentation:
Experimenting with different versions of your site helps identify what resonates with your audience and can significantly increase conversion rates. Small tweaks can lead to significant gains in conversions when tested and refined.
Pro tip: Start A/B testing your call-to-action buttons (e.g., colors, text, or placement) to see what drives more clicks.
5. Mobile optimization:
Now that mobile devices dominate internet usage, if you don’t optimize your site for mobile devices, you risk alienating nearly half of your existing traffic. Visitors will leave quickly if your site isn’t easy to use on their phones.
6. Personalization and segmentation:
Personalizing your website experience makes users feel valued and understood, increasing the likelihood of taking action and helping to convert visitors into customers. Segmenting users allows you to deliver content tailored to their specific needs. To do that, show personalized product recommendations or targeted promotions based on user behavior.
CRO Strategy Development: How to Design Experiments That Drive Results
Here’s a step-by-step process of how to design experiments that drive results:
Designing experiments for CRO is crucial for improving your website conversion rate and driving better results.
Step #1 Preparing for experiments
When it comes to designing experiments for CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization), preparation is everything. When preparing for CRO experiments, it’s important to consider how search engine optimization (SEO) can impact your results.
Here’s how to get it right, step by step:
1. Set clear objectives and KPIs
You can’t hit a target if you don’t know what you’re aiming for, and setting clear objectives is crucial for increasing conversions. Start by defining your goals and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).
Here’s how to do it:
Define your business goal (e.g., increase sales, reduce cart abandonment, improve email sign-ups).
Break down big goals into smaller, measurable objectives. Instead of saying, “We want more sales,” aim for something like, “Increase the checkout conversion rate by 15%.”
Use specific metrics tied to your sales funnel—click-through rates, bounce rates, or cart abandonment rates.
For example, In 2012, when President Obama’s campaign team optimized their website donation pages, their clear objective was to increase donations. They focused on small but measurable tweaks.
In one instance, the Obama campaign team realized their original donation form needed to be shorter and simpler, which made potential donors hesitate. To simplify the process, they redesigned the form to show only a few fields at a time, creating a more streamlined, sequential experience.
This change, based on the principle of commitment and consistency (a psychological tactic that makes people more likely to follow through once they’ve started), led to a 5% increase in conversions—all from a simple but effective tweak.
2. Understand your website visitors
CRO experiments should always start with knowing your website visitors.
Who are they?
What do they want?
And why aren’t they converting?
If you don’t know who your audience is, you can’t tailor your tests to meet their needs. For example, what works for a luxury retailer might not work for a budget brand. Understanding user behavior helps ensure your experiments actually resonate with your target market.
Here’s how to do it:
Use data analytics and conversion rate optimization tools, such as FigPii, to identify where users are dropping off or getting stuck. Look at bounce rates, exit pages, and heat maps for friction points.
Survey your customers (e.g., with tools like FigPii or SurveyMonkey) to get qualitative feedback about their experience.
Analyze user behavior on your site to identify patterns—do visitors tend to leave after viewing product descriptions? Are certain pages getting more attention than others?
Pro tip: Look at user segmentation. Don’t treat all visitors the same. Segment by source (paid ads vs. organic), device (mobile vs. desktop), or user type (first-time vs. returning). This helps identify which specific groups are underperforming and why.
3. Identify bottlenecks and prioritize test ideas using frameworks like ICE.
Now that you know your audience and objectives, examine your web pages and the customer journey to identify pain points and opportunities for improvement. Identifying these bottlenecks early ensures you don’t waste time testing things that won’t move the needle.
Without identifying where users are dropping off or where friction exists, you might be optimizing the wrong parts of your site. For example, improving your homepage design will not solve the problem if your checkout process is clunky.
Here’s how to do it:
Funnel analysis: Look at each step in the conversion process (e.g., from landing page to checkout). Where do most users exit the funnel? Are they abandoning their cart at a certain step?
Heatmaps: Again, use heat maps to visualize where users click, scroll, or ignore. This helps you identify where users engage and where they get stuck.
Session recordings: Watching a real user navigate your site (anonymously) can uncover usability issues that aren’t obvious in the data.
Pro tip: Prioritize quick wins—small changes that can have a big impact. For example, if users abandon their carts on the payment page, you might need to simplify the checkout process to improve conversions.
Step #2 Designing effective experiments
Designing experiments for CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) isn’t just about testing random changes on your website; it’s about crafting well-thought-out tests that will lead to actionable insights and increase conversions. When done right, experiments can drastically improve your conversion rates.
Start by formulating the hypothesis.
1. Formulate actionable and specific hypotheses.
Before you dive into any testing, you need to have a hypothesis. A hypothesis is essentially an educated guess or prediction about what you think will happen in an experiment. It’s based on observations, existing data, or knowledge about the subject.
In the context of CRO or any other testing process, a hypothesis outlines what change you believe will improve a specific outcome and why. It’s a statement that you can test and measure to see if it’s true or false.
A well-structured hypothesis typically includes:
A clear prediction of what will happen.
A reason why you think the change will have the predicted effect.
A measurable outcome so you can track whether it works or not.
For example, let’s say you want to test whether changing the color of a “Buy Now” button from red to green will increase click-through rates. Your hypothesis might look like this:
“If we change the “Buy Now” button color to green, then the click-through rate will increase by 10% because green is associated with ‘go’ and action.”
The hypothesis gives you a clear direction for what you’re testing, why you’re testing it, and what success looks like. After running the test, you can analyze the data to confirm (or disprove) your hypothesis and make a more informed decision.
2. Choose testing methods (e.g., A/B, multivariate).
Not all experiments are the same, so you need to pick the right type based on what you want to test. The two most common experiments in CRO are A/B testing and multivariate testing.
A/B Testing:
This is the most straightforward type of test. You test two versions of a page—Version A (the current page) and Version B (the variant with the change). You then compare the results to see which version performs better.
When to use A/B testing?
Use A/B tests for one specific change at a time, like a new headline, button, or image.
Keep your sample size large enough to ensure statistical significance.
Multivariate testing:
Multivariate tests are more complex. You test multiple variables simultaneously (like two headlines and two different call-to-action buttons). The goal is to see which combination works best.
When to use multivariate testing?
Use multivariate testing when you have enough traffic to test multiple variations simultaneously.
Keep the number of variations manageable—too many can muddy the results.
3. Set up control groups and variations using CRO tools.
A good experiment isn’t just about testing a new version of something—it’s about comparing that version to your baseline (the control).
You need both a control group (the original version) and variation groups (the changes you are testing).
Here’s how to do it:
Ensure that your control and variation groups are randomly assigned to avoid bias.
Ensure each group experiences the same conditions, except for the element you’re testing (e.g., different button color and product copy).
4. Use the right CRO tools
You don’t need to be a tech expert to run experiments. There are plenty of tools that make CRO experimentation easier, helping you design, launch, and analyze tests effectively. Some tools we recommend include FigPii, Optimizely, and VWO.
FigPii is a powerful tool that combines CRO testing with behavioral analytics. It helps you gain a deeper understanding of your users’ actions. It’s perfect for all CRO tools, including heatmaps, session recordings, and conversion tracking capabilities, making it easy to visualize user behavior and optimize your website.
5. Avoid overloading tests
It is tempting to test many things simultaneously, but this can lead to unclear results and overwhelm your analysis. Instead, use multivariate testing to test a single change at a time or just a few variables.
Keep the following in mind when running an experiment:
If you test too many elements simultaneously, it can be difficult to pinpoint which specific change caused the outcome.
Keep your tests simple and focus on high-impact areas, like key landing pages or conversion funnels.
Step #3 Executing and monitoring experiments
Executing and monitoring your CRO experiments is where the real action happens. Executing and monitoring your CRO experiments is crucial for transforming visitors into paying customers. It’s like testing a recipe—you’ve got to follow the steps carefully, track the changes, and adjust when needed.
Now, we will walk you through the best practices for ensuring your tests run smoothly and for tracking them in real time.
1. Implement tests without disrupting user experience.
The best CRO tests don’t disrupt the overall user experience. Even small changes can have a big impact, so it’s essential that tests are seamlessly integrated into your website or app. Otherwise, disruptions can harm user trust and skew results.
Run tests in a controlled environment. Many tools, like FigPii, allow you to set up experiments in the background so your users aren’t aware they’re part of a test
.
Roll out changes gradually. To ensure the test doesn’t negatively impact everyone’s user experience, use a smaller percentage of your traffic (like 10-20%).
2. Ensure statistical significance and monitor real-time data.
A common mistake in CRO experiments is concluding results that aren’t statistically significant. This means that the differences you see in the data could be due to chance, not a real effect.
Here are some tips to get it right:
Use a sample size calculator to determine the number of visitors your test needs to reach statistical significance. The larger the sample size, the more reliable your results will be.
Run tests for sufficient time—a testing period that is too short can lead to inaccurate results. Aim for at least one to two weeks to get enough data.
You can use this FigPii A/B testing calculator to test the sample size and test duration:
3. Track and analyze real-time data
You must track and monitor your experiments in real time to catch any issues early. For example, if your test affects site speed or user behavior, you want to know about it as soon as possible to fix the issue before it impacts too many visitors.
Consider these tips:
Set up custom dashboards to get a clear view of how users interact with your test variations.
Pay attention to key metrics like conversion rates, bounce rates, session duration, and goal completions. These will help you determine whether your test is performing well.
4. Avoid common pitfalls
Even experienced CRO specialists can make mistakes when running experiments. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of testing, but common pitfalls can derail your efforts if you’re not careful.
Here are some tips to consider:
Avoid testing too many variables at once. When you change too many elements in an experiment, it becomes easier to identify what caused the conversion changes. Focus on one or two key variables at a time.
Don’t end tests prematurely. Sometimes, you might feel impatient and want to stop a test as soon as you see a significant change. But remember, early results can be misleading. Always run the test for the entire duration to ensure the results are valid.
Watch out for sample size errors. Testing on a too-small group can lead to inaccurate results. Calculate the right sample size based on your traffic volume.
5. Keep user experience at the forefront
As you run tests, remember that you’re still dealing with real users. Your experiments should aim to improve their experience, not frustrate them with confusing changes or poor usability.
Don’t make radical changes in your tests unless you have solid reasons. Sudden, drastic changes can confuse or frustrate users, leading to drop-offs.
Focus on user-centered design. Your tests should align with your user’s needs and preferences. Make sure any changes you test intuitively benefit them.
Wrapping It All Up: Mastering CRO for Long-Term Growth
Conversion Rate Optimization is more than just a tool—it’s a mindset. By understanding your audience, testing strategically, and embracing a culture of continuous improvement, you can transform your website into a high-performing powerhouse. Remember, even small tweaks can lead to big wins, and the technicalities of CRO lie in its ability to deliver measurable results.
As you implement these strategies, don’t forget to celebrate your progress. Every improved click, purchase, or sign-up is a step closer to achieving your goals.
So, get ready to experiment, analyze, and adapt—your optimized website and thriving business are just a few steps away!
