Put simply Conversion Rate Optimization or CRO is getting more visitors to do more of what you want them to do on a web page.
By reducing friction and pain points we make the sales funnel bigger and wider.
With CRO as with Data Analytics we are concerned what happens after a visitor clicks on a web page. What we want them to do varies widely but typically we want them to buy something – a macro conversion. A conversion can also be a smaller step like downloading a PDF, spending 5 minutes plus on a website, a video view, or even scrolling to the bottom of a page – a micro conversion. In a Business to Business context the macro conversion is often an Inbound Lead.
CRO is best approached with data, facts and figures about how visitors interact with the website. What are their entry and exit points? Where is the most time being spent? What devices are being used and what do we know about the the visitors geography, demographics and interests? CRO should be about ‘data informed’ if not ‘data lead’ decisions.
While we are big fans of knowing your customers and people skills, from our experience there are more insights and value hidden in the data. Put another way (without looking at the data) you know nothing about website visitors who are not customers.
One tried and tested method we have is to look at the data with an initial question in mind. This brings focus on an area and allows us to test an initial gut feeling – like “the website is slow on the Microsoft Edge browser and this is reducing the number of leads a client is getting from other businesses”. This is the first step in testing our hunch and almost always leads to surprising results. It also saves days of sifting through data looking for patterns and a starting point.
CRO is of obviously import for eCommerce where data volumes and conversions are more numerous. Here the “path to conversion” or how many steps (or clicks) are required to conversion is just one of the many other factors we first look at.
Contact us today for a CRO consultation.