What Is Conversion Rate Optimization?

Website Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is a multifaceted discipline that demands technical precision and a methodical approach. In this article, we delve into the different areas of optimizing conversion rates on websites, focusing on key areas such as product pages and landing pages, as well as the notable elements that warrant meticulous testing, ranging from button design and call-to-action (CTA) language to form and cart elements. This technical guide will also provide actionable insights on conducting effective A/B tests, the critical metrics to monitor, and introduces some conversion tracking tools that can elevate your CRO efforts to new heights.

Where Should We Optimize Conversion Rates?

Effectively, any pages on your website that facilitate conversions (e.g. lead forms or cart fulfillments) should be regularly audited for conversion rate improvements. Learn more about the metric of conversion rate here. For e-commerce brands, product pages serve as crucial conversion points, given users have the opportunity to complete a purchase from these pages. As an e-commerce website owner, it is imperative to optimize product descriptions, images, calls to action, and cart functionality and user experience.

For non e-commerce websites, service pages, landing pages, and content pages will typically all offer users the opportunity to convert whether that is filling in a contact form, downloading material, or any other action that is desired by the business from the website user. As with product pages, the content on the page, the calls to action, and the interface for completing the conversion action all offer potential for testing and optimization.

What Areas of the Website Do We Test for Conversion Rate Optimization?

Call to Action:

Test various button designs, colors, and sizes, with your calls to action. Experiment with different CTAs to find the language that encourages the desired user action. Does "Sign Up Now" perform better for conversion rates than "Book Your Place Now" or does "Buy Now" offer better results than "Complete Purchase"? Does a green background promote more completed conversions or red? As you are hopefully seeing now, there is immense potential for each website element to play its part toward conversion rate optimization. Don't worry, we will discuss tools that help automate and streamline this process shortly.

Form Elements:

Generally, each additional form field has an associated expected reduction in conversion rate optimization so best practice is to keep form fields limited. But what about the language utilized to prompt each form field? Additionally, font type, font size, colors, field order, what fields are mandatory versus not, how apparent is this to the end user, etc. can all be tested as part of your form. Test variations of form layouts, such as single-column vs. multi-column designs. Assess the impact of autofill options on form completion rates.

Cart Elements:

Similar to forms, carts for e-commerce brands are a focal point of website conversion rate optimization. Streamline the checkout process by testing the visibility and placement of cart elements. Evaluate the impact of trust badges, security icons, and progress indicators on the checkout page.

Other Elements:

The above recommendations are key focus areas for any website owner. Additionally, other areas serve as opportunity for website conversion rate optimization:

Page Load Speed: Page load speed significantly influences user experience and, consequently, conversion rates. Test the impact of different optimizations, such as image compression, browser caching, and content delivery network (CDN) implementation.

Mobile Responsiveness: With an increasing number of users accessing websites via mobile devices, optimizing for mobile responsiveness is critical. Test variations in mobile layouts, font sizes, and touch-friendly elements to enhance the mobile user experience. Click here to learn more about mobile responsiveness.

Navigation and Site Structure: Experiment with different navigation styles, menu layouts, and site structures. Optimize the user journey by testing variations in the placement and visibility of key navigation elements. Learn more about the importance of user-friendly navigation.

Headlines and Subheadings: Test variations in headlines and subheadings to understand which messaging resonates best with your target audience. Experiment with different tones, lengths, and emphasis on value propositions.

Images and Multimedia: Assess the impact of different images, videos, or interactive elements on conversion rates. Test variations in visual content to determine what attracts and engages users most effectively.

Social Proof Elements: Test the inclusion and format of social proof elements, such as user testimonials, social media mentions, and influencer endorsements. Assess how these elements contribute to building credibility and encouraging conversions. Discover the merit of integrating social proof across your marketing.

Personalization Elements: Explore the impact of personalized content and offers on conversion rates. Test variations in dynamically generated content based on user behavior, preferences, or demographics.

What Metrics Do We Test for Conversion Rate Optimization?

Now, we need to understand what metrics we are using to understand if the optimizations we are making across different website elements are improving our conversion rate. Naturally, the most important KPI or metric to assess is your conversion rate specific to the conversion you are optimizing for, i.e. if you have a landing page for email newsletter signups, we want to ensure we are measuring insights related to specific signups for the email newsletter from that page. Google Analytics 4 will be your best tool for measuring performance.

Other metrics that can be beneficial to measure supplementary to conversion rate include click-through rate (particularly relevant when testing elements like headlines, calls-to-action, and navigation), cart abandonment rate for e-commerce websites (the percentage of users who add products to their shopping cart but do not complete the purchase), and page load speed (monitoring page load speed before and after optimizations can help gauge the impact on overall user experience). Read all about these priority digital metrics in our blog.

How To Test Conversion Rate Optimizations?

For the final section, let's delve into the key testing methodologies and tools that empower businesses to unlock the full potential of their Conversion Rate Optimization strategies.

A/B testing, also known as split testing, is a foundational methodology in CRO. It involves comparing two versions of a webpage or a specific element to determine which performs better in achieving your conversion goals. This method is ideal for testing individual changes and understanding their direct impact on user behavior. For instance, if you're testing different variations of a call-to-action (CTA) button, you can compare the conversion rates between the original (A) and the variation (B). Tools such as Google Optimize, Optimizely, and VWO (more on these below) are instrumental in setting up and conducting A/B tests, offering features like randomization, statistical significance analysis, and easy result interpretation.

Multivariate Testing: Multivariate testing takes experimentation to a more intricate level by simultaneously testing multiple variations of several elements on a webpage. This method is beneficial when you want to understand the combined impact of changes and how different elements interact with each other. For example, you could test variations in both headline and button color to see how these changes collectively influence conversion rates.

Conclusion

Website Conversion Rate Optimization demands a meticulous and data-driven approach. By focusing on key areas such as product and landing pages, systematically testing elements like buttons, forms, and cart components, and leveraging A/B and multivariate testing tools, businesses can unlock significant improvements in conversion rates. Google Optimize, Optimizely, and VWO (Visual Website Optimizer) are three reputable tools for implementing A/B testing, multivariate testing, and personalization.