7 Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies Every Business Should Use

Every business can improve its conversion rates.

That’s why brands like Spotify, Adidas, and Eurobank all make time for conversion rate optimization (CRO) — and have seen impressive results from their investment. Spotify, for instance, increased subscriptions by 24% with its conversion rate optimization strategy.

How can your business see similar (or even better) results? With these CRO strategies:

Create landing pages and A/B test them
Test above the fold
Run CRO tests on high-traffic pages
Use PIE to prioritize CRO tests
Experiment with text-based calls-to-action (CTAs)
Gather behavior data with CRO tools
Add trust signals, like ratings and certifications

1. Create landing pages and A/B test them

Landing pages describe where a user arrives on your site.

If you run an ad campaign, for instance, you’ll set a landing page. When users click on your ad, they “land” on that page. What’s great about landing pages (in this example) is that you don’t have to optimize them for search engine optimization (SEO) in addition to CRO.

Landing page example for CRO strategy

Instead, you can focus all your attention on maximizing that page’s conversions.

That’s why businesses with ad campaigns should run CRO tests on their landing pages. With tweaks to your CTAs, design, content, or colors, you could drive even more conversions from ads and achieve an even better return on ad spend (ROAS).

Even if you’re not advertising online, it’s worthwhile to run A/B tests on your landing pages.

These pages serve as a critical touchpoint, which is why you want to experiment with ways to:

Keep users on your site longer
Move users to action, like by downloading a guide or purchasing a product
Provide users with a more relevant and memorable experience

The best part is that if you can increase conversions on your non-advertising landing pages, it’ll often send a positive signal to search engines, which can increase your rankings. That’s because, since users took an action on your site, they likely stayed on your website vs. bouncing back to the search results.

2. Test above the fold

Almost every conversion optimization strategy considers the above the fold area, which is what users see when they first arrive at your site. It’s the content before people have to scroll to see more. If you don’t provide compelling content and design above the fold, you’ll lose valuable traffic and revenue.

Above the fold example for CRO strategy

You can test a variety of elements above the fold, including:

Headings
CTAs
Design
Trust signals
Navigation
Content
Images

When choosing what to test, remember to think about your audience and what they want.

In most cases, your above the fold area won’t magically convince users to purchase your product or download your guide. However, that above-the-fold real estate can persuade people to read more about your product’s uses or investigate your guide’s content.

Essentially, you want to optimize your above the fold to hook audiences and get them to stay.

Take the example of Trade Coffee, a coffee subscription service.

Above the fold CTA for CRO strategy

The above-the-fold area on the homepage doesn’t ask users to open their wallets and book their first delivery. Instead, the above-the-fold CTA asks for a smaller commitment: Take a quiz and get personalized coffee recommendations.

This CTA hooks users and gets them to stay on the site, plus moves them closer to becoming subscribers.

Your company can hook people too, whether you sell to consumers or business buyers. Just take the time to brainstorm ways for your conversion optimization strategy to engage your target audience, whether through a quiz, tool, study, or something else.

3. Run CRO tests on high-traffic pages

Traffic powers CRO tests because, without traffic, you get zero feedback.

Of course, it’s not enough to just have traffic — you also need a lot of traffic if you want to run CRO tests frequently and accurately. A pool company that runs a CRO test from the spring to the summer, for instance, will likely get inaccurate results because of the seasonal changes in user intent.

That’s why businesses should focus their conversion rate optimization strategy on high-traffic pages.

Using Google Analytics for CRO strategy

If you use a tool like Google Analytics, you can find your traffic titans by following these steps:

Log in to your Google Analytics account
Choose “Behavior”
Click “Site Content”
Select “Landing Pages”

For the best results, set a date range of around three months.

This view will provide you with a broader view of a page’s performance, which can help you choose pages to test that consistently bring in traffic. If you operate seasonally, you may want to look at traffic data from your peak months vs. off-season.

4. Use PIE to prioritize CRO tests

Depending on your business and website performance, you may have dozens of options when it comes to pages to test. Even if you only have a few high-traffic pages to test, you may have plenty of ideas for what to test.

So, how do you decide where to focus your time? With PIE:

Potential: How much potential is there for improvement on a page?
Importance: How valuable is this page and its traffic?
Ease: How easily can you create and launch this test?

With the PIE framework, you can prioritize your tests.

Generally, PIE will guide you towards high-value pages, like:

Service pages
Product pages
Checkout pages
Contact page

In most cases, it’s smart to focus your time on bottom-of-the-funnel pages, like those mentioned above, because they can have the most impact on your business and its bottom line. Again, though, you’ll want to consider traffic quantity when choosing your test pages.

5. Experiment with non-button CTAs

When it comes to CTAs, they often reside on buttons. That’s because buttons typically stand out on a page and catch a user’s attention. People even look for buttons, like when looking to add a product to their cart.

A lot of CRO strategies also revolve around buttons and changing their:

Color
Shape
Text
Size

What if your business, though, could earn more conversions by adding text-based CTAs?

You won’t find out until you try, but this conversion optimization strategy offers potential when it comes to top-of-the-funnel and middle-of-the-funnel content. If you want to persuade users to download a related ebook, for instance, you may include relevant CTAs in a related blog post.

For example, take the following scenario:

“At-home coffee makers can choose from dozens of coffee grinders — check out our round-up of the best coffee grinders to learn more — but it’s not just your coffee grinder that makes your brew a win or a loss…”

In this example, there’s a CTA to view a related article aimed towards middle-of-the-funnel users. For the curious reader, this CTA can seem less transactional and more helpful because of its feature within the text vs. as a button.

The best part about this test for your CRO strategy is that it’s easy to implement! You don’t have to ask your developer to add a button or request a designer to build a new wireframe. Instead, you can add the text yourself.

6. Gather behavior data with CRO tools

If you’re looking at your CRO data and thinking to yourself, “I wonder why…,” you’re on the right track.

The best conversion rate optimization strategies ask why because the answers often reveal new test ideas or user insights that can help accomplish your goals, from improving email subscriptions to product purchases.

One way to answer your “Why?” is with a more data-driven, tool-based approach.

Heatmap for CRO strategy

CRO software, like Hotjar, is a tool that provides valuable information about your visitors, like:

How far they scrolled on a page
Where they clicked on a page
How far they progressed on a form
And more

Based on this data, you can (somewhat) understand the user experience. You can also spot issues. For instance, maybe you have a link on your homepage that doesn’t work or a form field with strict requirements that remain hidden until a user hits “Submit.”

Often, you’ll get some surprises when looking at data from your CRO tool. You can use that data to your advantage, though, and guide your conversion optimization strategy with data vs. hunches about why people didn’t act as predicted.

7. Add trust signals, like ratings and certifications

People rarely purchase from companies they do not trust.

That’s why trust signals are one of the most critical factors in web design. When you incorporate trust signals, like ratings, testimonials, and certifications, into your site’s design and copy, you can often persuade users to consider (and even choose) your business.

So, many conversion rate optimization strategies focus on experimenting with trust signals and their:

Location
Size
Content
Type

For example, your business could A/B test which review or testimonial features on your homepage. Or, you could experiment with a social media feed on a product page that highlights the user-generated content of that product.

On its homepage, for instance, Trade Coffee highlights media outlets that have talked about the brand.

Trust signals for CRO strategy

The company’s website also uses HTTPS, which offers extra security for users. That’s critical for ecommerce sites, like Trade Coffee and every other website since HTTPS operates as a ranking factor for SEO.

Get ideas for how your CRO strategy can use trust signals by browsing sites in and outside your industry!

With these seven conversion rate optimization strategies, your business can start using CRO to:

Grow your website traffic
Increase your online advertising ROI
Improve your website conversion rates
Understand your target market
And more

So, begin developing your conversion optimization campaign and helping your company grow!

FAQs about CRO and CRO strategies

If you still have some questions about CRO and CRO strategies, check this FAQ:

What is conversion rate optimization?

Conversion rate optimization, also called conversion optimization, is the process of testing different variations of a page to increase conversions. Companies will often use CRO tools, like Google Optimize, to run conversion optimization experiments.

Why should my business make time for CRO?

Your business should make time for CRO and a CRO strategy because conversion optimization helps you:

Make data-backed decisions about your website and its content
Understand your target audience, like what they find compelling and persuasive
Increase your conversion rates, whether for top- or bottom-of-the-funnel actions
Improve advertising returns by optimizing landing pages for conversions

Companies provide themselves with a competitive advantage when they invest in CRO. You get actionable data and feedback from your audience. Whether a test fails or succeeds, you learn something that you can implement on your site or in your next test.

What are the best tools for CRO?

The best tool for CRO is Google Optimize because it:

Costs $0.00 — though Google Optimize 360 is paid
Syncs with Google Analytics
Offers a visual test builder, which means zero coding knowledge required
Supports multiple test types, including A/B tests, redirect tests, and more

You can support your conversion rate optimization strategy with additional tools, too. Hotjar, for instance, is a free tool that provides heatmap, click, and visitor recording data that you can use to inform the CRO tests you create in Google Optimize.

What should my CRO strategy measure?

While CRO strategies typically measure conversion rate, yours can measure other metrics too, like:

Bounce rate
Pageviews
Session duration
Google Analytics events

For the best results, you’ll want to focus on the metrics that matter to your business.

If you’re looking to increase pageviews from specific landing page traffic so you can nurture more top-of-the-funnel traffic, then do it. With the PIE framework, though, you’ll likely spend more of your conversion optimization strategy on bottom-of-the-funnel pages — at least at the start.

What should I do if I don’t have time for CRO?

When it comes to digital marketing, CRO is a valuable supporting strategy.

As your business begins to earn more traffic from your SEO efforts, for instance, it becomes more important to start investing time into CRO. That’s because, with CRO, you can get the maximum value from your existing traffic.

If you don’t have time for CRO, though, it’s worth considering hiring a conversion optimization agency.

A conversion optimization agency, like WebFX, can take on the responsibility of managing, implementing, and growing your CRO strategy. So, you can get all the benefits of CRO (and the glory) without having to find the time to do it.

Launch your CRO strategy and start earning more revenue from your website traffic

Your conversion optimization strategy is the backbone of your CRO success.

With a well-researched strategy, you can invest your time into tactics, like experimenting with trust signals, that will offer your business the best chance at success. Even if you don’t have the time or resources to do CRO in-house, you can still benefit from it by partnering with a CRO agency.

With conversion rate optimization services from WebFX, your business gets everything it needs to improve its conversion rates. From a CRO expert to a web developer, our team takes care of developing, launching, and measuring your results so you can focus on all those new leads and online orders.

Learn more about our CRO services by contacting us online or calling us at 888-601-5359 today!