How to get started with conversion rate optimisation

Article topics

1. What is conversion rate optimisation?
2. What are the benefits of CRO?
3. How to carry out CRO in four easy steps
4. Conversion rate optimisation: Frequently asked questions

Ever looked at the conversion rates in your eCommerce store and wished they could be higher?

If so, conversion rate optimisation could be a great addition to your marketing strategy.

By identifying where visitors stop engaging with your site, you can increase sales, make your store more user-friendly, and boost customer loyalty.

In this article we’ll take a look at what conversion rate optimisation is, how to get started, and how to run experiments like a pro!

What is conversion rate optimisation?

Conversion rate optimisation (or CRO) is the process of increasing the number of people who convert on your website through small, incremental changes.

(By conversion, we mean any action that you want customers to take on your website, for example, buying a product, signing up for your email newsletter, or watching a video.)

Conversion rate optimisation is driven by data and insight, rather than feelings and hunches. That way, you can be assured that the changes you make will result in success.

CRO helps you uncover insights that are unique to your business and your website visitors.

Let’s say there’s a study that recommends that orange is the ideal colour for call-to-action buttons. While this may be an interesting study, it doesn’t necessarily mean that making the buttons orange on your own site will lead to an increase in conversions.

CRO can help you find out which colour, as well as size and placement, your specific visitors respond best to.

What are the benefits of CRO?

60% of businesses don’t have a documented CRO strategy in place, or don’t have a strategy at all. This means that by implementing CRO across your business, you can get the edge over your competitors.

Some of the benefits of using CRO include:

• Increased conversions: CRO can help you steer customers towards taking desired actions on your website, whether that’s buying products, creating accounts, or signing up for subscriptions
• Improved user experience: CRO makes your website easier to use and interact with, meaning visitors stay on it longer and are more likely to come back
• More efficient marketing: CRO increases the chances of the people who visit your site through your marketing channels converting, meaning you get more value (and a better return on investment) from your marketing campaigns
• Better search engine presence: User-friendly pages are a positive ranking signal in the search engine results, meaning you’re more likely to rank high in Google, Bing, and other search engines.
• Insight into how your customers behave: CRO helps you uncover what your website visitors like and dislike, making it easier to sell to them, as well as building long-term relationships

How to carry out CRO in four easy steps

CRO is one of those digital marketing strategies that sounds more daunting than it actually is!

The key is to be methodical. Gather data from objective and trustworthy sources, and use this to identify what to analyse.

Here’s how to get started with implementing CRO in your online store.

Step 1: Gather your data and evidence

The first step is to get as much data as you can. This will help you discover the barriers that are stopping site visitors from converting, and what you can do to make things better.

There are three ways of getting data to determine your CRO hypothesis:

Quantitative data

The easiest data to get is quantitative data – numerical data from platforms like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. You can also use dedicated CRO tools.

Examples of data you can gather include:

• Number of form submissions
• Clicks on a call-to-action button
• Page visits
• Time spent on a page
• Page load speed

You can also segment this data, for example, looking at the differences between people using your eCommerce site on desktop and a mobile device.

Behavioural data

Behavioural data shows how visitors interact with your website, meaning you can easily identify elements that are causing friction with website visitors.

There is software you can use (like heat mapping) to track the user journey on your website, identifying which parts of your page they visit, interact with, and click on. The software places a cookie on each web visitor’s computer so it can track their movements.

Bear in mind that if you operate under privacy regulations like GDPR, you must inform visitors that you use tracking on your website, and get their consent before tracking their journey.

Customer research

One of the key disadvantages of standard CRO tracking tools is that they tell you that people aren’t converting, but they don’t tell you why they aren’t converting.

Adding customer research into the mix can help, as it allows you to see exactly why people may be getting frustrated with your site.

You can gather customer research through:

• Surveys: Send email surveys to customers or ask them while they’re on your website (for example, by asking them if they have found what they are looking for)
• Interviews: Speak with customers in person or on a video call to identify their pain points and what they think of your website
• Usability studies: Sit down with a customer while they complete tasks on your website
• User preference testing: Show customers different versions of your website and ask them which one they prefer

Step 2: Build your hypothesis

The next step in the process is to look at all your data and use it to identify a potential issue that could be resolved through CRO.

It’s best to keep an open mind during this step of the process. Rather than looking for a specific problem to solve, let the data take you where you need to go!

If you’re not confident in analysing the data or don’t have the time, there are AI tools that can identify issues for you. Many CRO platforms have dedicated AI features, and you can also input your data into a trusted generative AI platform like Claude or ChatGPT. Just review and verify what these tools recommend before taking action!

Let’s say you look at the data and it shows the following:

• High form drop-off rates and low conversion rates
• Heatmaps showing a reduced level of engagement as customers work their way through a form
• Frustrated survey responses from customers saying that the forms on your website ask for too much mandatory personal information

This shows that reducing the number of fields in your online forms could potentially lead to increased conversions.

Once you’ve identified an issue that you want to look at in more detail, you create a hypothesis. This is a statement that details what you will test, what the outcome will be, and how you will determine success.

Most hypotheses follow the If/Then/Because framework as it’s clear and easy to understand:

So in the case of your online form fields, your hypothesis could be:

If we remove non-essential fields from our email signup forms.

Then the overall form completion rate will increase.

Because reducing friction and privacy concerns will lower the effort required to submit the form.

Also think about the metrics you want to measure to define success. Conversion rate is a must, but you may also want to look at other metrics like cart abandonment rate, average order value, or customer acquisition cost.

5 eCommerce KPIs to give your store the advantage

Step 3: Run your experiment

Now the fun part – time to run your CRO experiment! This will allow you to see if the changes you proposed in your hypothesis lead to tangible results.

The easiest way to run an experiment is through A/B testing. This is when you operate two virtually identical versions of a webpage and route half of your traffic through each one.

So in the case of the hypothesis above, you have two versions of the page your online form is on. The first is the same as before (your ‘control’ page), and the other has a form with all non-essential fields removed (your ‘test’ page).

After a set amount of time, you can analyse the results to see which page led to the most conversions, by which we mean visitors successfully completing your form.

An alternative to A/B testing is multivariate testing, where you test multiple variables at the same time.

This can help you see which combinations of elements deliver the best results and save time if you have a lot of changes to test. However, these tests are more complicated to set up, and you need a high number of website visitors to get accurate results.

Top tip: Avoid running your experiments during busy times, like Black Friday, Christmas, and during flash sales. This can skew the results as you may attract web visitors you wouldn’t usually attract.

Step 4: Analyse and implement the results

Once you’re confident that your experiment has run for the right length of time and has been successful (more on that in the FAQ section below), it’s time to analyse the results.

Look at the metrics you defined in step 3 across all pages in the experiment. If you’re confident that there is a clear and relevant winner, congratulations! You can start rolling out the changes across your site.

If the results are inconclusive, don’t be disheartened – not all CRO experiments are successful. In fact, these experiments can still be useful as they show you what your website visitors don’t care about, meaning you can create better hypotheses moving forward.

It’s important to remember that CRO is an ongoing process, and it’s always a smart idea to always be running at least one experiment on your eCommerce site. User behaviour, market trends, and digital technologies are constantly changing, and CRO can ensure you stay on top.

Conversion rate optimisation: Frequently asked questions

What can I use conversion rate optimisation for?

You can use CRO to optimise various elements of your website, including:

• Where and how to use popups
• Which trust signals to prioritise on which pages
• Which images to use on a landing page
• Which products to recommend to customers
• How to enhance your website navigation[KI1.1]

You can also use CRO across your other marketing channels too, for example, to see if your email newsletters or social media ads can be improved.

Is CRO just something for large businesses?

No – small and medium-sized eCommerce businesses can take advantage of it too.

The great thing about CRO is that the barriers to entry are low. There are a lot of low-cost and no-cost tools available, and investing in it not only boosts your conversion rate, but the user experience too.

We’ll talk about some of the best tools you can use later in this FAQ.

How do I calculate conversion rate?

You can work out the conversion rate across your eCommerce website by:

• Dividing the number of attributed conversions by the number of website visits
• Multiplying by 100 to get a percentage

So if your website receives 1,000 visits and 100 conversions, your conversion rate is 10%.

Which pages on my ecommerce store should I prioritise with CRO?

If you have the time and resources, let the data you collect guide which pages you optimise first.

However, if you have limited time and resources, focus on pages with high traffic and low conversion rates – these will provide the most benefits when fully optimised.

What conversion rate should I be aiming for?

It depends on what you sell, your industry, and what you want customers to do. For example, you’re likely to see a higher conversion rate if you ask customers to sign up for your mailing list than to buy a product.

In our experience, the average conversion rate is between 2-5%.

However, the best business to benchmark against is yourself. Regularly monitor your conversion rate to establish a baseline, and you’re in a position to quickly take action if your conversion rate suddenly drops.

How long should I run my CRO experiment for?

CRO specialists recommend waiting until your test reaches at least 95% ‘statistical significance’. This means you’re confident that the difference in your experiment is a genuine improvement and not down to random chance.

It’s easier and faster to reach statistical significance with a large number of site visitors. However, you can achieve it in smaller test groups with more dramatic page changes, as this leads to a larger shift in user behaviour.

There are statistical significance calculators available online that can help you check your experiment’s effectiveness.

In our experience, we recommend running experiments for no less than two weeks and no more than eight weeks. A short test means you don’t get the data you need, and a long test increases the risk of your test being skewed by external factors like marketing campaigns and news stories.

If external factors are causing issues, we recommend pausing the experiment and starting it again when things have calmed down.

What tools can I use to monitor my conversion rates and implement CRO?

If you’re just starting out with CRO or have a small marketing team/budget, some of the best tools to use are:

• Google Analytics
• Google Search Console
• Microsoft Clarity (free heatmapping software)
• Content Square (heatmapping and survey software, free for up to 200,000 monthly sessions)

You can also use tools like Google Forms and Typeform to create free surveys for site visitors and customers.

If you want to spend more time on CRO, we recommend investing in a dedicated CRO platform that can handle every aspect of the process from customer journey analysis to A/B testing. Some of our favourite platforms include VMO, Optimizely, Content Square, and Crazy Egg.

What is the difference between a macro and micro conversion?

A macro conversion relates to the primary goals of your business. For example, buying a product or signing up to your eCommerce newsletter.

A micro conversion is a small action that a customer takes that usually contributes towards a macro conversion. For example, visiting a specific page, playing a video, adding an item to their cart, or leaving a product review.

While macro conversions feel most important in CRO, micro conversions are also helpful. If your macro conversions drop, your micro conversions can help you identify where things have gone wrong.

How can I learn more about CRO?

If you want to learn more about CRO, there are plenty of free and paid courses available.

A good place to start is YouTube – we like the Conversion Rate Optimisation Masterclass by Jim’s Digital Marketing. If you’re looking for certification, the CXL Mini Degree is well worth a look.

However, the easiest way to improve your CRO knowledge is through experience. The more analysis and testing you do, the better you get at it!

Xigen: Your CRO specialists

If you enjoy digging deep into the data and have an organised, methodical approach to marketing, CRO is an excellent way to increase conversions and understand your customers.

Even if you’re not skilled at analysing data, a good CRO platform can do the hard work for you, meaning all you need to do is implement the changes it recommends!

Need extra help optimising your website for maximum sales? Our CRO team is here to plan, implement, and manage your CRO strategy.

We recently carried out CRO for a company specialising in made-to-measure shutters. We reviewed the data and rebuilt the company’s homepage with one aim: to get customers one step closer to buying. This resulted in a staggering 89% increase in conversions.

Want to see how we can do the same for your online store? Get in touch today.