Six years in numbers
What is CRO and website conversion optimization?
CRO services cover page structure, UX/UI, content, forms, CTAs, mobile version, speed, trust, and technical errors. Each project has its own set of tasks, as the causes of low conversion for online stores, SaaS services, and B2B websites typically lie at different stages of the conversion path.
CRO, or Conversion Rate Optimization, is a systematic approach to managing a website's conversion rate. The goal is to increase the proportion of visitors who complete the desired action: placing an order, submitting a form, calling, registering, booking a service, or moving on to the next stage of the funnel.
Website conversion optimization is based on web analytics, user behavior data, UX audits, and testable hypotheses. Changes are selected after root cause analysis, so the same recommendations cannot be automatically transferred between projects with different traffic, products, and user scenarios.
What is considered a conversion?
A conversion is defined as an action that is related to the business goal of a page or website. For e-commerce, this action is often a paid order; for a service website, it's a submitted request; for SaaS, it's registration or starting a trial; and for B2B, it's a potential customer contacting you through a form or other channel.
For an educational project, a conversion might be a course enrollment, a consultation booking, or a webinar registration. Lead generation projects typically track form completion, phone calls, price requests, or contacting a manager, so the goal system is tailored to the actual customer journey.
Macroconversions
A macro conversion represents the achievement of a primary business goal that is directly related to a sale or a full-fledged lead. These actions include a paid order, a completed subscription, a registration for a paid service, a submitted request, or a completed booking.
Macroconversions should be evaluated in conjunction with the traffic source, device, page type, and lead quality. Simply increasing the number of form submissions won't always improve results if the share of non-targeted leads increases or the average order value decreases.
Microconversions
Microconversions show the user's intermediate actions before the main goal. A visitor may open a product page, add an item to their cart, initiate checkout, view pricing, download a document, access contact information, or begin filling out a form, but may not yet complete the main goal.
Such events help us understand where exactly audience behavior is changing. If users actively initiate registration and then abandon it en masse at the same step, CRO analysis gains a specific point for further analysis, rather than focusing on the general goal of "increasing conversion".
How is the conversion rate calculated?
Conversion rate shows the proportion of users or sessions that completed the selected target action. The basic formula is as follows: the number of recorded conversions is divided by the number of users or sessions, then the resulting value is multiplied by 100%.
The specific denominator is chosen depending on the analytical model and the task. For some projects, it's more accurate to calculate the metric per user, for others, per session, and when analyzing individual stages of the conversion funnel, it's more useful to compare transitions between successive steps.
What is included in conversion rate optimization services?
Conversion rate optimization services begin with data quality checks and end with post-implementation monitoring. This work may include analytics audits, conversion funnel analysis, user behavior, UX/UI, content, forms, mobile version, technical condition, and commercial factors.
A set of tasks is determined after an initial assessment. An online store might prioritize checkout, a service website might prioritize the form and the page's arguments, and a SaaS site might prioritize registration or onboarding. Therefore, a single checklist doesn't replace a specific scenario analysis.
CRO audit and analytics verification
A CRO audit begins with checking what data is available and how accurately it's being collected. We review Google Analytics 4 settings, Google Tag Manager, events, conversions, traffic sources, and ecommerce events if the project involves online sales.
Analytics errors can provide an inaccurate picture of audience behavior. If some events are duplicated, goals are recorded incorrectly, or an important stage is not tracked at all, decisions made on such data will rest on a distorted funnel.
Conversion funnel analysis
The conversion funnel is broken down into sequential stages from user entry to the main goal. For each step, we evaluate the number of transitions, the percentage of users who continued the process, traffic sources, devices, and pages where the change in metrics is most noticeable.
The schematic diagram helps to see the principle of analysis:
| Stage | Users | Moving on to the next stage |
|---|---|---|
| Landing page visit | 1,000 | 100% |
| Go to form or cart | 320 | 32% |
| Beginning of the target action | 140 | 14% |
| Completed conversion | 52 | 5.2% |
The figures in the table are calculation examples and do not represent a real project. In a real-world CRO, the actual sequence of actions for a specific website is analyzed, and the causes of decline are examined separately at each problematic stage.
User behavior analysis
Behavioral analysis shows what users do on a page after landing on it. This is done using session recordings, heatmaps, scroll depth, click data, form interactions, device segmentation, and comparison of different traffic sources.
Microsoft Clarity and Hotjar help identify recurring patterns that are difficult to spot in aggregate analytics alone. This data is considered alongside GA4 events, as a single session recording represents a specific instance, and the solution should be based on a consistent pattern.
UX/UI analysis
A UX audit assesses how clear the user's journey is and how many unnecessary steps a user must perform. We analyze navigation, block order, visual hierarchy, CTA placement, mobile interface, readability, and potential friction points.
The interface is evaluated based on the page's purpose and user data. A change to an element makes sense when it can be explained what problem it solves, what segment it impacts, and what metrics will be used to measure it after implementation.
Content and offer analysis
Users should quickly understand what the company offers, who the service or product is for, and what action they should take next. If a landing page responds to a different intent, hides key terms, or overloads the first screen with secondary information, some users will abandon the page before completing the desired action.
We check headlines, arguments, benefits, objections, social proof, CTAs, and the consistency of the advertising promise with the content. For SEO traffic, we also consider the search query that led the user to the page to ensure the sales pitch aligns with their expectations.
Form and CTA Analysis
A form can create a significant barrier if it contains unnecessary required fields, requires data without explanation, or performs poorly on a mobile device. Further problems arise from unclear error messages, unnoticeable submission confirmation, and a complex sequence of steps.
The CTA is evaluated in the context of the page, not separately from the rest of the content. We check the wording, placement, repetition, relevance to the funnel stage, and the clarity of the next action after clicking.
Trust analysis
Users are more likely to postpone a decision when the page lacks information about the company, product, payment terms, delivery, returns, or contact information. For certain niches, real case studies, a team, certificates, guarantees, and proven track record are of great importance.
Social proof and other trust signals should be based on real data. Fake reviews, fictitious ratings, and unverified figures undermine trust and should not be used for the sake of visually filling a sales page.
Technical conversion factors
Slow loading times, shifting interface elements, form errors, or a broken button can interrupt the user experience, regardless of the offer's quality. Therefore, PageSpeed Insights, Core Web Vitals, and manual verification of key actions are part of the technical analysis.
The mobile version requires special attention, as errors often only appear on certain resolutions or devices. We check page speed, menu functionality, forms, checkouts, fixed elements, and user flow transitions.
How does a CRO agency work?
A CRO agency structures its work around a sequential cycle: define the goal, verify the data, identify problematic stages, formulate hypotheses, implement or test changes, and compare the results with baseline metrics. This process reduces the number of accidental edits.
At Seo-Gen, CRO is linked to SEO, analytics, and the technical aspects of a website. If the cause of a loss is an incorrect GA4 event, a slow page, or a mismatch with search intent, the issue is handled together with the relevant service line.
Define business goals and KPIs
First, we define the primary target action and the metrics by which the business evaluates results. This could be a sale, an inquiry, a registration, a subscription, a booking, or another step that has clear value for the project.
We also identify microconversions and supporting metrics to monitor movement within the funnel. This set of KPIs helps us evaluate changes beyond the final conversion rate and more quickly identify areas where deviations begin.
Collect and verify data
At this stage, web analytics, events, traffic sources, and available CRM data are checked. If the project uses multiple systems, we compare the goal logic and ensure that the required actions are recorded consistently and without critical discrepancies.
After technical verification, we segment the data by landing page, device, source, and other significant characteristics. A single average may mask significant differences between mobile and desktop traffic, or between organic and ad traffic.
Finding user loss points
The funnel shows stages with a noticeable decline in user numbers, but the numbers themselves don't explain the cause. Therefore, the problem area is examined using events, behavioral data, page structure, content, and the technical condition of the interface.
If a user opens a form but stops filling it out on one field, we examine this scenario. When the problem occurs earlier, for example after the first screen, the analysis shifts to the offer, structure, speed, and meeting audience expectations.
Formulating CRO hypotheses
Each hypothesis links the identified problem to a specific change and testing method. The working statement specifies the observation, the proposed cause, the affected audience, the expected effect, and the metric by which the outcome will be measured.
This format is essential for prioritization and subsequent analysis. Without it, the backlog quickly devolves into a design wish list, making it impossible to understand why a particular task was given high priority.
How are hypotheses prioritized?
Priority depends on the potential impact on business metrics, the number of users affected by the problem, the confidence in the initial data, and the complexity of implementation. A hypothesis with broad scope and clear evidence usually receives more weight than an expensive change with an uncertain effect.
For systematization, you can use ICE, PIE, or your own evaluation model. The specific system is secondary to the quality of the data, since the same final score does not make two hypotheses equally valid.
Implement or test changes
Once prioritized, changes are implemented or tested. Depending on the hypothesis, the page structure, content, CTA, form, step order, mobile interface, product page, pricing, or individual checkout elements are adjusted.
The testing method depends on the traffic and the nature of the task. A/B testing suits some changes, while a technical form error or an obvious user flow glitch usually requires a fix without artificially keeping the problematic version.
Measuring the Results
After implementation, we compare metrics with the baseline and assess how user behavior has changed. The primary conversion rate is assessed alongside microconversions, lead quality, acquisition cost, and other metrics selected before work began.
We monitor potential side effects separately. For example, an increase in the number of form submissions cannot be considered a sufficient result if the quality of requests simultaneously declines or users abandon the next step of the process more frequently.
Repeat the cycle
Once testing is complete, new data emerges and is used for the next round of work. A successful hypothesis can open up additional growth opportunities, while the failure to meet the expected result helps eliminate assumptions and adjust future priorities.
Regular CRO optimization is especially beneficial for projects with constant traffic and frequent product changes. Such sites receive sufficient new data to consistently analyze individual parts of the funnel and update the backlog of hypotheses.
How long does Conversion Rate Optimization take?
The timeframe depends on the project scope, the quality of the analytics, the number of pages, and the chosen hypothesis testing method. A one-time audit takes less time than a regular cycle with implementation and A/B testing.
For experiments, the duration also depends on the traffic volume and the required sample size. Therefore, the exact duration is determined after analyzing the site and available data, and a universal number of days rarely reflects the actual task.
Cost of Conversion Rate Optimization services
The cost of conversion rate optimization services depends on the size of the project and the scope of the research. The calculation is influenced by the number of page types, the quality of current analytics, traffic volume, funnel complexity, the need for technical improvements, and the number of hypotheses to be tested.
A one-time CRO audit and regular work have different task sets. Before assessing a project, it's important to understand which systems are already connected, what goals are being measured, and whether the involvement of a developer, designer, or analyst from Seo-Gen is required.
The cost is also affected by the depth of integration with the CRM and other data sources. For a project with a simple request form, the scope of work will differ from that of an e-commerce project with multiple checkout scenarios, categories, filters, and a large number of landing pages.
After an initial analysis, Seo-Gen determines the scope of work and prepares an estimate tailored to the specific website. This calculation helps align the budget with the actual scope of CRO, rather than with a one-size-fits-all package that applies equally to different business models.
Why order CRO services from Seo-Gen?
Seo-Gen considers conversion optimization alongside SEO, analytics, and the technical health of the site. If an issue relates to search intent, GA4 events, speed, or form implementation, it is immediately assigned to the appropriate area of work.
This approach is especially useful for sites where a single issue affects multiple systems simultaneously. For example, a change to a page's structure can impact UX, internal linking, SEO content, and user flow, so implementation requires a comprehensive review.
We work based on data: Before making recommendations, we review the available data and formulate the problem through a specific user scenario. This process helps us distinguish the real obstacle from the specialist's personal impressions or the team's wishes to change the page's appearance. For each significant hypothesis, the testing logic and outcome metric are specified. If the necessary data are not yet available, the measurement is set up first, and conclusions are not based on unconfirmed assumptions.
We take into account SEO, analytics and the technical part
A page can have a good UX yet lose organic traffic due to a technical error or poor structure. The opposite situation is also common: SEO brings in visitors, but the interface and sales pages fail to lead them to a request.
Both areas are considered in the work. CRO agency Seo-Gen links search intent, web analytics, technical condition, and user behavior within a single page objective.
Hypotheses are prioritized and have measurable results
The list of ideas is ranked by expected impact, audience reach, quality of initial data, and implementation complexity. This helps to first evaluate tasks that have a clear connection to a business metric and affect a significant portion of users.
After implementation, the results are compared with the baseline. The hypothesis may be confirmed, yield a neutral result, or show a negative change, and each option is used for further planning.
We monitor the results after implementation
A change is considered complete after testing it on the live site and analyzing post-release data. Forms, events, the mobile version, and related funnel stages are monitored separately to ensure that fixing one element doesn't create a new problem.
The subsequent observation period depends on the traffic volume and the type of change. A sufficient sample size is required for the experiment, and a technical error can be verified immediately after implementation and its impact on metrics can then be monitored.
Answers to your questions
What do CRO services include?
CRO services can include reviewing analytics, conversion funnels, user behavior, UX/UI, content, CTAs, forms, mobile version, speed, and technical errors. After the assessment, hypotheses are formulated and a method for testing them is determined.
The scope of work depends on the issue identified. One site will require a thorough checkout analysis, while another will focus on the landing page, request form, or user registration.
How does a CRO audit differ from regular conversion optimization?
A CRO audit is typically conducted as a separate assessment of the current state of a website. The client receives identified issues, a data analysis, a list of hypotheses, and recommendations for implementation priorities.
Regular optimization involves repeating cycles of analysis, implementation, testing, and monitoring. This format is suitable for projects with sufficient traffic where the team wants to consistently improve different parts of the user funnel.
When does a website need conversion optimization?
CRO is needed when a website receives traffic, but the number of requests or sales doesn't meet business expectations. Analysis is also useful when the cost of acquisition is high, there are losses within the funnel, and there are significant differences in performance across devices.
An additional signal comes from website changes the team implements without measuring the results. CRO helps connect such decisions to data and identify which tasks truly require priority review.
Do you need a lot of traffic for CRO?
High traffic expands the scope of quantitative analysis and accelerates A/B testing, but a lack of high traffic doesn't preclude CRO. For smaller projects, you can analyze the funnel, session recordings, UX, technical errors, and forms.
Limitations arise specifically in statistical experiments. If the sample size is too small, the test result may remain uncertain, so a different testing method is chosen or data is accumulated for a longer period.
How is CRO different from SEO?
SEO is aimed at organic visibility and attracting relevant users from search engines. This work includes structure, technical optimization, content, internal links, indexing, and other search engine optimization elements.
CRO focuses on the actions a person takes after landing on a website. These two approaches intersect on landing pages, where search intent, content, and user journey all impact commercial results.
Is it possible to guarantee an increase in conversion rate?
It's impossible to guarantee a specific growth rate in advance, as the result depends on the initial data and the response of real users to the changes. Even a well-founded hypothesis may not yield the expected effect after testing.
A robust process provides another level of control: a clear starting point, analysis methodology, measurable hypotheses, and post-implementation data. Based on these, the team makes its next decision without relying on arbitrary forecasts.
What's included in conversion rate optimization services for an online store?
For ecommerce, categories, filters, product cards, search, cart, checkout, delivery, payment, mobile version, and ecommerce events are analyzed. The stages at which customers most often abandon the checkout process are also analyzed.
If necessary, the analysis is supplemented with data on new and returning customers, traffic sources, and devices. This helps us understand whether the issue affects the audience uniformly or is concentrated in a specific segment.
More on: Conversion rate optimization (CRO)
Why does a business need Conversion Rate Optimization?
CRO helps understand how effectively a website is using the traffic it already receives. If advertising, SEO traffic, and direct visits bring in visitors, but a large portion of the audience is lost between landing on the page and taking the desired action, increasing traffic alone won't solve the problem.
Conversion optimization services are aimed at identifying such losses and testing solutions that can change the user journey. Results are assessed based on conversion rate, number of target actions, CAC, CPA, CPL, revenue, ROI, and other metrics that are truly aligned with the business's objectives.
More leads and sales from existing traffic
A website may receive a stable number of clicks but lose users due to an unclear offer, a complex form, poor navigation, an inconvenient checkout, or a lack of trust. In such a situation, additional advertising budgets lead more people into the same problematic scenario and increase the cost of errors.
CRO helps first identify the area where loss occurs and then identify the causes and potential improvements. If, after changes, more users move through the existing funnel to a request or purchase, the business achieves additional results without necessarily increasing paid traffic proportionally.
Reducing the cost of customer acquisition
The cost per customer depends on acquisition spend and the number of conversions achieved. When the budget remains consistent and the share of targeted actions increases, CAC, CPA, or CPL may decrease if other advertising model conditions remain unchanged.
This effect must be assessed using real data, as the cost per lead depends on the channel, competition, traffic quality, and product features. CRO services work with the part of the system associated with user behavior after the click-through, so the results are always verified against the underlying marketing metrics.
Increased SEO and advertising efficiency
SEO drives relevant organic traffic to landing pages, categories, product pages, and informational materials. If a page poorly addresses the commercial intent or creates unnecessary barriers, some of the value of the SEO traffic already generated is lost once the user clicks through from the search results.
A similar situation arises with Google Ads and other advertising sources. Paid traffic may be precisely aligned with the target audience, but a weak landing page, an inconvenient form, or a discrepancy between the advertising promise and the page content reduces the number of targeted actions.
Improving user experience
User experience is directly related to how easily visitors understand the offer and complete the desired flow. A clear visual hierarchy, predictable navigation, a prominent CTA, a user-friendly form, and a fast mobile version reduce unnecessary interactions.
UX/UI is considered in conjunction with the page's business objective. A beautiful interface alone doesn't determine the outcome, so changes are evaluated through user behavior, click maps, scroll depth, session recordings, and the user's subsequent journey through the funnel.
When does a website need CRO services?
CRO services are useful for projects that are already receiving traffic and want to understand why some users aren't achieving their desired results. The analysis is motivated by discrepancies between traffic and the number of requests, orders, registrations, or other macro-conversions.
CRO is also necessary after significant changes to a product, website structure, advertising strategy, or user journey. Even with a stable average, individual pages, devices, or traffic sources may show different results, so the overall figure rarely fully explains the problem.
There is traffic, but few requests or sales.
An increase in traffic without a corresponding increase in requests often indicates problems after the user enters the site. The cause may lie in the offer, page structure, traffic quality, form, speed, mobile version, or a mismatch between the visitor's expectations and the actual content.
During a CRO audit, such a scenario is broken down into segments and stages. Comparing sources, devices, landing pages, and user actions helps separate traffic issues from interface problems and identify areas requiring more detailed analysis.
Paid traffic is becoming too expensive
As the cost per click rises, a constant increase in the advertising budget gradually increases the cost of customer acquisition. If the site loses a significant share of interested users, some paid clicks end up in areas where specific barriers could have been eliminated.
Website conversion optimization services help assess the effectiveness of the landing page itself and the subsequent user journey. The analysis covers the offer, content, forms, CTAs, trust signals, speed, and audience actions after clicking through the ad.
Users are leaving important stages of the funnel
In e-commerce, significant loss can occur between the product page and the cart, between the cart and checkout, or when selecting delivery and payment. On a service website, users sometimes open a form but stop after encountering a required field or an unclear requirement.
In SaaS, a similar problem occurs between registration, onboarding, and product activation. Breaking down the conversion funnel into specific stages reveals where the bottleneck is occurring, after which the team examines the page, event data, and user behavior at the problem point.
The site is updated based on opinions, not data.
Design discussions within the team often revolve around personal preferences: someone thinks a form is too long, someone dislikes the button text, and someone else suggests completely redesigning the first screen. Without data, it's difficult to understand whether such a change is related to a real user problem.
CRO transforms the discussion into a hypothesis that can be substantiated and tested. First, the problem is identified, followed by the suspected cause, the expected effect, and the method of measurement. After this, the change is clearly prioritized relative to other tasks.
Conversion is worse than businesses expect
There's no single, ideal conversion rate for all websites. It depends on the niche, product price, traffic source, device, geography, type of target action, and how familiar the user is with the company's offering.
Therefore, comparing solely to the industry average often provides a weak basis for decisions. It's more practical to analyze your own dynamics, individual segments, and transitions between stages, and then examine the causes of changes within a specific project.
A/B testing in CRO
A/B testing compares multiple variations of an element or page across comparable groups of users. The control group sees the original version, the test group receives the modified version, and the results are then compared using pre-selected metrics.
Experimentation requires a well-defined hypothesis and sufficient data. Running multiple variants without a clear objective complicates the interpretation of results and increases the risk of mistaking a random change in conversion rate for a consistent effect.
What can be tested?
An A/B test can compare the H1, offer, CTA, form structure, block placement, product page, images, pricing, trust elements, and individual checkout steps. The choice depends on the problem revealed by analytics and user behavior.
Before testing, you need to define the expected change and the key metric. If the hypothesis concerns the request form, it makes more sense to track completed submissions and lead quality than to evaluate the result solely by the number of button clicks.
When does A/B testing make sense?
A classic A/B test requires a sufficient sample size and a stable user flow. If traffic is too low, the experiment can take too long, and the resulting results will remain statistically weak and won't provide a solid basis for a decision.
Seasonality, advertising campaigns, and major website changes during the experiment should also be taken into account. If conditions vary significantly between groups, interpreting the results becomes more difficult and requires additional verification.
What to do when there is little traffic?
When data volumes are small, it's helpful to combine funnel analytics with qualitative methods. Session recordings, interviews, UX analysis, technical testing, click mapping, and form analysis help identify recurring issues without lengthy experiments.
Obvious technical errors also don't require A/B testing for its own sake. If a form doesn't submit on a certain device or a button is obscured by the interface, the issue is fixed and then the metrics are monitored after the release.
Why can't you end the test too early?
The initial results of an experiment can change significantly as data accumulates. Terminating early increases the risk of selecting an option that accidentally performed better on a small sample but lost its advantage after further testing.
The evaluation takes into account sample size, duration, stability of conditions, and statistical significance. Specific thresholds depend on the methodology and testing instrument, so a universal timeframe cannot be applied to all projects.
What exactly are we optimizing?
CRO services can cover the entire user journey or a specific area where a problem is detected. Work is built around pages and actions that impact commercial results, so the list of tasks varies for landing pages, ecommerce, and SaaS.
Before making any changes, we define the current conversion path and associate each task with a specific stage. This approach helps avoid wasting resources on elements that have little impact on the core user experience.
Landing pages and service pages
The landing page is tested for its offer, headlines, structure, argumentation, CTA, forms, and the order of sales blocks. The user should understand the offer, understand the terms, and proceed to the next step without searching for information.
For an SEO page, search intent and keyword matching are additionally analyzed. Commercial content should meet user expectations after clicking through the search results and simultaneously lead to a logical target action.
Online stores
In an online store, CRO covers categories, filters, search, product pages, cart, checkout, delivery, and payment. At each stage, the user makes a separate decision, so the overall sales metric is broken down into more precise micro-conversions.
Particular attention is paid to mobile scenarios, forms, and purchase conditions. Hidden shipping costs, complex payment method selection, or an overloaded product page can impact order completion even when interest in the product is high.
Lead generation forms
In lead generation projects, the form often becomes the page's main selling point. The number of fields, required data, completion sequence, errors, labels, mobile display, and clarity of post-submission actions are all checked.
If users open a form but don't complete it, specific interaction steps are analyzed. Sometimes the reason is related to the number of fields, while in other cases, the user doesn't understand why the company is requesting certain data.
SaaS and web services
For SaaS, the user journey is analyzed from initial product discovery to registration, trial, onboarding, and subsequent activation. Pricing, plan selection, functionality explanations, and transitions between key screens are all assessed separately.
Registration alone rarely reflects the full impact. Therefore, CRO for SaaS links initial conversion to subsequent product usage, ensuring that account growth doesn't come at the expense of a decline in the share of truly activated users.
Mobile version of the site
Mobile and desktop users can experience the same scenario completely differently. On smartphones, the size of active elements, the keyboard, form length, speed, fixed blocks, and the number of actions required to reach the target button have a greater impact.
Therefore, mobile conversion rates are analyzed separately. If the site's average conversion rate appears stable, the differences between devices may conceal a specific issue affecting a significant portion of traffic.
Conversion Rate Optimization Tools
Tools help collect quantitative and qualitative data, but the choice of service depends on the project's objectives. For one site, accurate analytics and session recordings are sufficient, while another requires a dedicated system for experiments, reporting, and CRM integration.
CRO consulting services should begin with the question of what data is needed to solve a specific problem. Adding an additional service is justified when it fills a measurement gap or significantly simplifies analysis.
Google Analytics 4 and Google Tag Manager
Google Analytics 4 is used to analyze events, conversions, traffic sources, segments, and user journeys. Google Tag Manager helps manage some events and tags without constantly changing the code for each analytics setting.
Before starting work, the event logic and alignment with business goals are verified. A large number of events alone does not improve analytics if the names, parameters, and recording rules do not allow for linking the user's action to the funnel.
Microsoft Clarity and Hotjar
Microsoft Clarity and Hotjar are used to analyze session recordings, heatmaps, clicks, and page behavior. They help identify recurring issues that are difficult to explain with a single event table.
Behavioral analytics are used in conjunction with quantitative data. One unusual session doesn't warrant a major page overhaul until a similar scenario is confirmed by other observations or analytics.
Looker Studio
Looker Studio is suitable for regular reporting on selected KPIs if project data can be properly organized into a single structure. The dashboard helps monitor conversion rates, sources, individual stages, and progress after implemented changes.
The set of metrics should remain aligned with CRO objectives. A cluttered report with dozens of secondary charts complicates monitoring, so it's better to display metrics that influence the team's decisions in the working dashboard.
PageSpeed Insights
PageSpeed Insights helps identify loading issues and Core Web Vitals that can degrade the user experience. The service's results are considered alongside actual page performance and user behavior, as a single lab assessment doesn't capture the entire scenario.
Issues affecting important landing pages and commercial actions are prioritized. After technical changes, speed, interface accuracy, and subsequent metric trends are checked.
A/B testing tools
Optimizely, VWO, AB Tasty, and other solutions that support user distribution between variants and subsequent analysis of results can be used for experiments. The choice depends on traffic volume, infrastructure, budget, and project requirements.
The tool doesn't replace experimental methodology. Before launching, you still need a hypothesis, a primary metric, a control group, a test group, and clear end-of-test conditions.
What results do CRO services provide?
CRO results are assessed using metrics selected before the start of the project. For one project, the key metric will be the conversion rate, while for another, it might be the number of qualified leads, completed purchases, acquisition cost, or completion of a specific stage of the funnel.
The expected impact can't be set with a single figure for all websites. It depends on the initial state, traffic volume, identified issues, the quality of implementation, and the extent to which the chosen hypotheses are confirmed after testing.
Conversion rate growth
An increase in the conversion rate indicates that a higher proportion of users are completing their chosen target action. When analyzing, it's important to compare comparable segments, as changes in traffic structure can significantly impact the average.
If the primary conversion rate increases after implementation, microconversions and the quality of the results are further checked. This monitoring helps ensure that the change has improved the user journey and not pushed the issue to the next stage.
Decrease in CAC, CPA or CPL
CRO can impact CAC, CPA, and CPL if a website receives more targeted actions for a given cost. For advertising channels, this metric helps align user experience with the cost of customer acquisition.
Cost reductions are estimated based on actual data for a specific period. Changes in the advertising campaign, bids, seasonality, and audience quality are also taken into account to avoid attributing a CRO effect to something else.
Increase in leads and sales
It makes sense to compare the number of leads or orders along with the volume and quality of traffic. If traffic has increased sharply, the absolute sales figure alone doesn't indicate whether the page itself has improved its conversion rate.
Therefore, the analysis includes relative and absolute metrics. For leads, the quality of inquiries is additionally checked if the CRM or sales process provides such information.
Reducing losses inside the funnel
In some projects, the main effect first appears within a single stage. For example, more users move from the cart to checkout or complete a form after they've started filling it out.
This result can be significant even before overall sales volume changes. It demonstrates that a specific section of the customer journey is more stable and requires fewer unnecessary actions.
Revenue growth or ROI
Revenue growth and ROI are only considered with accurate data on sales, expenses, and traffic sources. For e-commerce, some of these metrics can be linked to website analytics, while for B2B, comparison with CRM is usually required.
CRO doesn't promise a predetermined growth rate. The work should demonstrate which changes yielded measurable results, which hypotheses weren't confirmed, and where additional areas remain for analysis.
CRO, SEO, and PPC: How Do They Work Together?
SEO, PPC, and CRO address different aspects of the overall marketing objective. SEO helps drive relevant traffic from organic search results, PPC drives paid traffic, and CRO analyzes what happens to users after they land on the website.
It's helpful for businesses to consider these areas together, as a weak landing page reduces the return on investment from both sources. Similarly, CRO won't fix a problem where advertising is driving irrelevant traffic or an SEO page is ranking for the wrong intent.
CRO and SEO
SEO addresses page structure, relevance, indexation, internal links, content, and other organic visibility factors. CRO utilizes post-click audience behavior data and seeks ways to help users complete the commercial scenario.
Working together, we can identify pages that receive significant SEO traffic but are weak in converting visitors to their target actions. We then analyze the offer, sales elements, UX, and the next step in the user journey.
CRO and PPC
PPC allows you to quickly drive targeted traffic to selected landing pages. If a page's conversion rate is low, a high cost-per-click (CPC) has a greater impact on the CPA and the overall economics of the advertising campaign.
CRO helps validate the landing page, form, and post-click experience. Audience quality remains a separate analysis, as a good interface doesn't compensate for poor targeting settings.
CRO and web analytics
Web analytics shows events, sources, transitions, and metric changes over time. CRO uses this data to identify problems, formulate hypotheses, and validate post-implementation results.
Without proper analytics, it's difficult to establish a baseline and evaluate impact. Therefore, event setup and data quality control are often the first practical steps for a conversion optimization agency.
CRO audit or regular CRO optimization?
The work format depends on the site's size, traffic volume, number of user scenarios, and the team's ability to implement changes. Some projects require a one-time diagnostic, while others benefit from an ongoing cycle of analysis and experimentation.
Before choosing a format, current analytics, the number of page types, and the available data volume are assessed. This helps determine where a one-time audit will provide a sufficient work plan, and where changes will need to be tested step by step.
When is a CRO audit sufficient?
A CRO audit is suitable when a business needs to identify key barriers and develop a prioritized task list for its team. This format is useful before a redesign, after a noticeable drop in conversion, or when reviewing a specific part of the funnel.
The audit results capture issues, data, hypotheses, and implementation recommendations. Further changes can be implemented by the client's team if they have developers, designers, and specialists who can monitor metrics after the release.
When is an ongoing CRO service needed?
Regular work is suitable for projects with stable traffic, a large number of pages, and the ability to consistently test changes. This format is especially useful for e-commerce, SaaS, and sites with active paid advertising campaigns.
In this case, the CRO service includes continuous hypothesis updating, data monitoring, implementation, experimentation, and results analysis. Priorities are reassessed after each cycle, taking into account new data.
CRO helps consistently identify areas of the website where potential leads, registrations, and sales are being lost. The work is based on analytics, user behavior, UX, technical testing, and hypotheses, so each change can be linked to a specific problem and a measurable metric.
If your website is receiving traffic, but some users aren't completing their target actions, start with a CRO audit from Seo-Gen. We'll review your analytics, analyze your funnel, identify key loss points, and prepare a prioritized change plan for further implementation.
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He will look at the site himself instead of passing it to a manager.