7 Steps to Get Started with Conversion Rate Optimization

As a marketer or sales lead company, you’ve probably implemented conversion rate optimization strategies at some point in time, in one way or another, with or without you even knowing it.

But before we delve into the process, it’s important to define what conversion rate optimization really is.

What is Conversion Rate Optimization?

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is a process where marketers or sales lead companies gather the right data to provide an in-depth and focused understanding of their customers and prospects to create and offer the user experience that will best lead them towards your desired user behavior.

So, what are the steps you need to take to optimize your conversion rates.

1.Define Your Goals

Goal-setting is probably the first step of any process there is. So, ask yourself what you want to achieve. The main goal of any CRO process is to increase conversions while reducing your customer acquisition costs.

It’s also important to define what a conversion action is for your start up business. Do you want website visitors to sign up for your newsletter through a lead form or do you want them to purchase your product or service immediately?

Once you know what your goals are, figure out the right KPIs to track and measure your success.

2. Gather the Right Data

In CRO, it’s not just about gathering any and all data – you need to get the right data that will help you know and understand your prospects’ behaviors, demographics, pain points, challenges, needs, and wants.

3. Analyze Your Data

Once you’ve gathered and segmented your data, look for patterns. Identify problems in your website, landing pages, and funnels according to the data you gathered.

At which point does your website visitor leave your site or abandon their carts?

4.Form Hypotheses

List your hypotheses and prioritize them according to its impact on your conversion rates. Rank them based on their cost and difficulty of implementation. This will help you determine which to test first.

5. Experiment and Test Your Hypotheses

Craft your strategy based on your hypotheses and data analysis. It’s time for you to implement the new web experiences you can provide your prospects and existing customers, whether that’s a new header banner that highlights your money-back guarantee or a landing page that uses one CTA button instead of two.

Remember, always know who you’re testing. Not all your website visitors belong to one buyer persona or customer profile, so it’s important to test for each of your segments. This will enable you to optimize a more tailored and personalized customer journey.

6. Measure and Review Results

Measure and track your results based on the KPIs you outline in the goal-setting phase. Did your conversion rate increase? Were you able to gather qualified leads that fit into your ideal customer profile? Has your cost-per-acquisition been reduced significantly?

Positive results mean that your hypothesis may be working well. But, note that in A/B testing, you need to reach statistical significance to prove your hypothesis.

7. Learn and Improve

You’ve tested your hypotheses and stacked them up against your goals and KPIs. What did you learn from it, and how can you improve your customer journey and experience?

Now, you can develop and iterate on your process.

Conversion rate optimization is a continuous process to help you ensure that you’re reaching the right customers at the lowest cost possible. Each cycle can take anywhere from three to six months to make sure that you’re reaching statistical significance in your tests.

Your CRO process doesn’t stop when you’ve reached a point where you’re getting high-enough conversions while reducing your acquisition costs. Once you’ve gathered and analyzed results, you need to keep gathering data so that you can test again and again. This will help your business grow and soar to new heights. Just imagine!

This guest post was authored by Dianne Carillo of PureB2B.com