This week I'll be diving into conversion rate optimization (CRO) and A/B testing, how they work together, their benefits, and their differences. In my previous article, I talked about web analytics, something crucial to understanding the building blocks of what digital marketing is all about. If you haven't checked it out, it's a good place to gain some background about measuring website data before today's topic. Have you ever wondered how companies determine the best formula for their website design? Or how you can improve your own site's metrics and conversions in a simple, data-driven way?
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Conversion rate optimization is the process of increasing the amount of desired actions that visitors take on a site (an action known as a conversion). Conversions can take on the form of a few different goals. There are micro-conversions, which are the small steps a user can take before completing a typical conversion. These look like: a user signing up for an email list or adding an item to their cart. These micro-conversions are likely to lead to macro-conversions, which can look like: a user purchasing an item, signing up for a subscription, etc.
Why Should We Care?
CRO benefits not only the business/site but the customers/users as well. It's a beneficial process that can improve your search engine optimization (SEO), give you better customer insights and ROI, and an overall easier interface for everyone to use. CRO helps you understand what your target audience prefers, allowing you to better speak to their needs. It also allows you to increase conversions with pre-existing resources and customers. Additionally, having a professional, secure site gives customers the peace of mind to trust you and your site's security, all while having a faster, more engaging experience.
How Do I Get Started?
The best way to figure out where to start with CRO is to break it down into a simple: where, what, and who format.
-Where do I need to optimize my conversions? (What pages am I losing users on? Where do the conversions get cut off? Where are they entering the site?)
-What do I need to optimize? (Does the site's interface need improvement? Are there any issues with the speed? What devices are they using?)
-Who do I need to optimize for? (Knowing your audience is key to tailoring your site's improvements to fit their preferences for best results)
Once you have a general idea of what the issue at hand is, you need to gather data. This can be quantitative (metrics derived from platforms such as Google Analytics like engagement, devices, and demographics) or qualitative data (why behavior happens, through surveys and individual studies). Using concrete data to back up your CRO choices is vital to facilitating improvement. Making guesses can only get you so far.
Once you know what needs the most work and which pages could have the biggest impact, it's time to start implementing changes to your site. This can vary based on the needs of your site and the areas that it is lacking. For example, you could add live chat software to web pages like the home page, or set a timer to display it when a couple of minutes of idle time occurs, aiding users in any confusion that arises which can cause them to not make a conversion. On the other hand, adding small-scale changes like call-to-action buttons that have bright colors to stand out, or adding testimonials and reviews could boost conversions.
A/B Testing
A/B testing is a method used to compare two versions of a webpage against each other to see which one performs better. Essentially, you have version "A"-the control, and version "B"-the experiment, randomly shown to site users to collect data. Typically, only one thing is altered on the experimental page version so that you can pinpoint exactly what increased engagement. This could look like a different banner on that page or a different font. The two pages are measured, and results are analyzed to see which specific changes improve conversion rates.
Why Is This Important?
A/B testing is an extremely useful, data-supported tool to improve your overall CRO, user experience, and any given goal in a controlled manner. A/B testing allows companies to make specific and thoughtful changes to their site, collect data, and understand the impacts of different site layouts on user behavior.
Breaking Down the Steps
1) A helpful process to follow when performing A/B tests include:
2) Measure the current performance/metrics (target pages with high drop-off rates)
3) Determine the testing goal (what metrics to improve)
4) Develop a hypothesis (predictions based on current data)Identify test pages/audiences
5) Create the A and B versions to test (decide on a design variation for "B")
6) Perform the test
7) Track and evaluate results using web analytics (ex: Google Analytics)
8) Apply findings to improve user experience and improve CRO
Ultimately, A/B testing is a process within the scope that is CRO. It is a tool and technique that can be used to improve conversions, while CRO itself encompasses a larger scope of other additional methods to reach conversion goals, not just one structured method.
Putting CRO into Practice
In my previous article, I mentioned how I was hoping to aid a local nonprofit, Bellingham Makerspace, in obtaining and managing a Google Ads Grant. In terms of increasing CRO for them, I would love to help them set some goals for what conversions to improve, run an A/B test using Google Analytics, and implement changes based on the data I find. Given that I don't currently know what their metrics look like, I would look at those to get a better understanding of which pages need more traction, which ones are doing well, and their overall user behavior better. Looking at their website currently, I want to know more about how their homepage is funneling users to complete conversions since it is a pretty short and simple homepage. I assume that setting a conversion goal for class sign-ups would be the most impactful and realistic way to start. Then, I would run an A/B test with a few different home page designs to hopefully increase engagement leading to class sign-ups. Other ideas to increase CRO could include more pictures and testimonials from the volunteers/students/teachers to hone in on the sense of community that surrounds their mission, which ultimately attracts people to their nonprofit.
Patience + Data = ProgressUltimately, understanding the different tools under the umbrella that is conversion rate optimization, will allow you to strengthen your website and benefit all parties who use the site. Tailoring your website to optimize conversions takes time, but it is worth the energy and effort, especially once you see your metrics improve. Think of it like a fun experiment you can track in real-time!
