Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO): A Complete Guide

You’ve built your website. Designed it, crafted the content, and added the sales functionality and product / service listings. The problem is that, while people might be visiting, they’re not converting. 

This is where conversion rate optimisation (CRO) can make a difference. By fine tuning your website so that every part of your site encourages visitors to take action, you can improve conversions and get a better return on your marketing spend.

What is a the conversion rate?

Calculated as a percentage, a conversion rate is a measure of how many users have taken action as a result of your marketing activities. This can include signing up to a newsletter, downloading a brochure, requesting a demo or of course making a purchase.

What is a good conversion rate?

A lot depends on your marketing goals (email sign-ups, sales), and the industry you work in. Don’t worry if the numbers seem low. A conversion rate of 2 – 5% is considered good. 

If yours is lower it means that you’re not getting the most from your marketing investment. It could be down to the way information is communicated on your site, or technical issues. Fortunately, there are usually plenty of opportunities to make improvements.

What do you need to drive conversions? 

• Deep understanding of your audience 
• A good user experience (UX)
• Easy to navigate, mobile-friendly and fast website
• Engaging copy
• Strong visuals like pictures or video to engage your audience
• Compelling call-to-action (CTA)
• Customer reviews to build trust 

What to address

• Slow site speed 
• Complicated layouts 
• Bugs
• Too many pop-up ads
• Lacklustre copy
• Lack of strong CTAs
• Confusing customer journey

How to calculate conversion rate

Conversion rates can be calculated as follows:

Number of conversions / total number of visitors x 100 = conversion rate

It will give you a percentage, so that you can calculate the effectiveness of your website. For example, if you’ve had 3,000 visitors and 150 sign-ups, your conversion rate is 5%. 

Measuring your conversion rate regularly helps to ensure it stays on track, and you can take steps to improve it if it’s low. 

Google Analytics tracks visitor numbers, where they came from, pages visited, time spent and bounce rates. You can also set goals and measure how often your target audience completes them. Use tools like Hotjar to track user behaviour, so that you can customise your web pages to improve your UX.

Different conversion rate formulas

No conversion is the same. 

That’s why there are different formulas to help you get a true understanding of your conversions based on your goals.

Click-through rate (CTR) 

Your CTR is a percentage of how many people have clicked on your ad. It’s important that you know how well it’s performing or if it needs improvement. If the CTA ‘buy now’ generates more clicks than ‘shop sale’, you know which one to use. 

Calculation: clicks / impressions x 100 = CTR 

Bounce rate 

Your bounce rate is important for CRO because it provides insight into where your customers have dropped off without taking action. A high bounce rate is something you typically want to avoid because visitors are leaving your website quickly. However, it’s not always a bad thing because they might get what they need instantly which proves your site is easy to navigate and user friendly. It’s knowing whether they have taken an action or not which proves whether your high bounce rate is good or bad. 

Calculation: total single-page sessions / total sessions x 100 = bounce rate

Cost per conversion (CPC)

Your CPC tells you how much it costs you to convert one customer. For example, if you spent £5,000 on a marketing campaign and it only led to two sales, your CPC would be £2,500 which is extremely high. You need to know how cost-effective your campaign is and your return on investment (ROI). To aim for a low CPC, your ad should be high quality, relevant and targeted. 

Calculation: total cost of campaign / number of conversions = CPC

Conversion value

Your conversion value tells you how much money you have earned from each conversion. Whether it’s revenue or the number of leads, it’s important to know so you can calculate your marketing ROI and set your budget. Each goal has different values but if it’s sale completion, your conversion value can be impacted by your prices, any discounts and your customer lifetime value (CLV). 

Calculation: number of conversions x value per conversion = conversion value

Customer lifetime value 

CLV shows how much money you can generate from a customer throughout their lifetime. It helps you decide if it’s best to focus on retention or acquisition and means you can target the right customers to boost conversions. 

Calculation: Average purchase value x purchase frequency x customer lifespan = customer lifetime value 

CRO is a strategy to improve the percentage of site visitors to complete your desired action. It involves optimising everything, from your website performance to your messaging, and using A/B testing to work out which tactics have been most effective.

What is Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)?

CRO is a strategy to improve the percentage of site visitors to complete your desired action. It involves optimising everything, from your website performance to your messaging, and using A/B testing to work out which tactics have been most effective.

CRO best practices

A/B testing 

This is where two versions of a web page are shared with your target audience to see which performs better. 

Let’s say you’re testing a landing page. The original version will go live to a segment of your audience and an optimised version to another. It might not have major changes, but tweaks to your copy, CTA or layout. If the optimised version does better at converting, it is more effective. 

A/B testing means you can make evidence-based decisions to boost your sales, leads or downloads. There is a better chance of conversions with this approach and you can ensure that your website is in line with consumer behaviour. 

User experience (UX) 

Poor UX leaves potential customers unable or unwilling to take the next step towards purchase.

At the most basic level, your website should be easy to use, fully functional and accessible. You can test your website to see how easy it is to add an item to the basket, fill out a form or navigate through pages. 

UX also takes into account your website design. Is it striking, attention grabbing and persuasive? While a good looking website is always a bonus, UX design is all about making it as user-centric as possible. It should look great, but also be enjoyable for your visitors to use and complete an action. 

There’s also UX copywriting. Different from traditional copywriting, UX copy is specially crafted for your website to help visitors complete an action. The writing has to be concise and flow well, so that it’s easy to follow and helpful. Frequently asked questions (FAQs) answer queries before they’re asked which offers visitors convenience and product descriptions tell them what they need to know. 

UX is critical to CRO. It could be the difference between your customer making a purchase or leaving the page. And if the site speed is slow and laggy, it might convince them to leave faster.

Copywriting 

How you communicate with your audience is critical. It needs to be clear, on-brand and designed to inform, inspire and persuade. The goal is to create copy that taps into your potential customers’ emotions. It could be solving their biggest challenges at work, or creating a sense of fear of missing out. If you get the story and tone right, there is a higher chance they will follow through with your CTA. 

Data analysis 

Instead of guesswork, data analysis offers evidence-based insights to make strategic decisions. It’s incredibly valuable to marketers who can use the data to improve website performance and in turn, conversions. The data also helps to identify weaker areas of your website like a homepage that’s driving customers away. It can then be improved and personalised to improve conversions.  

How to increase conversion rates

CRO is a strategy to improve the percentage of site visitors to complete your desired action. It involves optimising everything, from your website performance to your messaging, and using A/B testing to work out which tactics have been most effective.

There are a few things you can do to improve your conversion rate. 

Start by analysing your website. Which pages are performing well and which are lacking? Where do customers drop off and where are they engaged? 

The next step is improving your UX. Test your website yourself to find out if it’s easy to navigate, fast and optimised for your mobile or iPad. Then it’s a case of tweaking your content so that it’s persuasive and drives an action. If you haven’t already, drop in a few reviews and case studies so that customers know they can trust you. 

A/B testing will help you determine which changes are most effective, and allow you to make further improvements. Use the feedback and results to improve your content further. 

CRO isn’t a one-off activity. It’s an ongoing practice because user behaviour is always changing and new trends emerge everyday. It requires working with a team of web developers, SEO specialists, copywriters and designers to ensure the website is as user-centric as possible. 

Find out more about how Tank can support your CRO strategy.