Conversion rate optimization, or CRO, is the work of getting a larger share of a website’s visitors to do what you want them to do: get in touch, request a quote or buy. This guide explains how the conversion rate is calculated, where the barriers are found and the order in which to fix them.

What is conversion rate optimization?

A conversion is something a visitor does that has value for the company. For a service business it is most often an enquiry, a quote request or a booking. CRO improves the page so that more visitors end up doing it.

SEO brings the right people to the page. CRO makes sure the visit leads somewhere. That is why the two are best done together.

How the conversion rate is calculated

Conversion rate = conversions ÷ visitors × 100. If a page gets 2,000 visitors a month and 30 of them send an enquiry, the conversion rate is 30 ÷ 2,000 × 100 = 1.5%.

There is no universally good figure. It depends on the industry, the source of the traffic and what is counted as a conversion. So compare your figure with your own earlier figure, not with other people’s averages.

Start with measurement

Before you change anything, make sure conversions are measured correctly. If a form submission is not recorded in analytics, you will not know whether the change helped. The conversion tracking guide covers what to measure and how.

Find where visitors drop out

  • Analytics shows which pages people leave from and at what point a form is abandoned.
  • Search Console shows which searches bring people to the page. If the search and the page content do not match, the visitor leaves.
  • Your own test on a phone. Make an enquiry yourself from start to finish. Surprisingly often something does not work.
  • Customers’ questions. Whatever sales gets asked is usually missing from the page.

The most common fixes

  • A clear promise at the very top. A visitor has to understand within a few seconds what you offer and for whom.
  • One main call to action. The same call to action recurs on the page and does not compete with five others.
  • A short form. Ask only what you need for a first reply. Every extra field is a reason to give up.
  • Say what happens next. Who replies, and when.
  • Make trust visible. The name and face of the person, experience, references and examples of results.
  • Answer the doubts. Price, commitment and timetable are questions that prevent an enquiry if they go unanswered.
  • Speed and mobile. A slow page and small buttons lose visitors before they read a word. See the Core Web Vitals guide.

Testing: when an A/B test makes sense

In an A/B test two versions are shown at the same time to different visitors. It is the most reliable method, but it needs a lot of visitors and conversions for the difference not to be chance. On a small website a test often does not finish in a sensible time.

With less traffic a before-and-after comparison works: make one clear change at a time, note the date and compare periods that are long enough. Allow for seasons and holiday periods so that you are not comparing July with September.

The order in which to do the work

  • First fix what is broken: the form, the phone link, the mobile view.
  • Then improve the pages with the most visitors that are closest to a buying decision.
  • Clarify the promise and the call to action.
  • Add trust and answer the doubts.
  • Only then test larger changes.

CRO checklist

  • Conversions are defined and measured.
  • The top of the page says what is offered and for whom.
  • The call to action is visible without scrolling and recurs on the page.
  • The form has only the necessary fields and works on a phone.
  • The page says what happens after an enquiry.
  • The person, experience and references are visible.
  • The page loads quickly on mobile.

As a service this is conversion optimization, and measurement belongs to analytics and tracking. Winning the visitors is covered in the search engine optimization (SEO) guide.

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