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What Conversion Rate Optimization is: CRO
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the set of techniques, tools, and processes aimed at improving the conversion rate of a website or digital asset. That is, persuading as many users as possible to carry out a “desired action” for the website owner.
These actions are known as conversions and range from closing a sale to clicking on a simple link or CTA.
Why it is important
All company websites are built to generate conversions.
This is the only way to monetize the effort involved in digital marketing actions.
In short, there are two ways to increase conversions on a website.
Either by generating a greater flow of visits to it (capturing more traffic) or by improving conversion rates.
The CRO deals with the latter and tries to increase the percentages to reach the optimum.
How the conversion rate is calculated
Conversion rate=(Conversions/Total visits)*100
What a good Conversion Rate is
The truth is that an acceptable conversion rate depends a lot on the industry we are in.
In any case:
Studies suggest, especially in the retail sector, that an optimized conversion rate is around 1%.
| Sector | % Conversion | Desktop | Mobile | Tablet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food | 1.77% | 3.51% | 1.06% | 1.85% |
| Food Delivery | 14.77% | 31.15% | 11.76% | 21.44% |
| Sports | 1.41% | 2.64% | 1.00% | 1.33% |
| Education | 1.44% | 1.67% | 0.58% | 4.18% |
| IT equipment and electronics | 0.69% | 1.08% | 0.39% | 0.52% |
| Hardware and Gardening | 3.44% | 6.16% | 2.68% | 2.80% |
| Home and decoration | 0.41% | 0.99% | 0.26% | 0.41% |
| Jewelry and accessories | 0.28% | 0.86% | 0.18% | 0.20% |
| Pets | 1.18% | 2.51% | 0.90% | 1.21% |
| Fashion | 1.26% | 3.16% | 0.94% | 1.29% |
| Ocio y tiempo libre | 2.02% | 2.55% | 1.76% | 1.67% |
| NGOs | 1.10% | 1.63% | 1.005 | 0.79% |
| Other | 1.92% | 2.84% | 1.39% | 1.94% |
| Parapharmacy | 1.95% | 3.55% | 1.37% | 2.12% |
| Service provider | 0.77% | 2.03% | 0.27% | 0.66% |
| Gifts and parties | 1.54% | 1.64% | 1.37% | 1.14% |
| Health & Beauty | 0.69% | 1.57% | 0.46% | 0.66% |
| Insurance | 0.35% | 0.75% | 0.26% | 0.18% |
| Trips | 0.71% | 1.08% | 0.59% | 0.86 |
| Grand Total | 1.22% | 2.27% | 0.86% | 1.28% |
Source: Annual Study of Conversion in E-Commerce and Digital Businesses 2021. Flat 101.
How to Improve the Conversion Rate or CRO
Sometimes, to improve a conversion rate, it is enough to apply small changes, such as the colors or the text of a button, or to use a larger font or reduce the fields in a registration form.
Or simply reduce the number of steps in a shopping basket.
Removing friction points or using psychological triggers helps to increase conversions.
However, these are minor improvements that produce small and temporary increases, but are not very significant in the long term.
For that, it is necessary to have a complete and general vision of the users, which implies:
- Discover what drives users to your website
- Identify the barriers that prevent potential customers from converting.
- Find out what are the triggers that motivate visitors to act.
And this is only possible by measuring, experimenting, and asking questions.
That is, knowing how to use quantitative and qualitative web analytics tools and bringing to the table the relevant questions for the business at hand.
All this requires deep knowledge of statistics and analytics.
This is something that is only in the hands of professionals with experience in the field and that is best solved with a reliable CRO service
In Conclusion:
Conversion rate reveals a lot about your website, but CRO goes far beyond one-time improvements.
This field tries to understand the motivations of users on your website while measuring the level of satisfaction with the offer presented and how the different elements of a website help to generate a positive shopping experience.
In other words, it tries to identify the barriers that hold users back, as well as the triggers that persuade them to act the way we want them to.
Frequently Asked Questions
CRO is one of the digital marketing disciplines with the greatest impact on the profitability of a website or app. Understanding what it is and how conversion optimization methodologies work will help you improve your business numbers.
In the Spanish market, any conversion rate higher than 1% is considered acceptable in the retail sector, while for B2B websites it should be somewhat higher. In any case, this rate depends largely on the sector, the product, and the type of offer presented to the user.