Conversion rate optimization

Sara Heegaard May 10, 20212 minute read

Sara is a copywriter focused on lifting up Recharge's merchants, partners, and their customers. Before Recharge, her past lives included writing and editing at four different subscription... Full bio

What is conversion rate optimization (CRO)?

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the process of improving your website and content in order to increase conversions, or the percentage of users who complete a desired action. Conversion actions can include clicking a link on your landing page, downloading a file, filling out a form, purchasing a product, and more. CRO does not necessarily mean trying to increase web traffic for your site; rather, it involves tweaking the website experience so your existing visitors behave in a certain way. To calculate your conversion rate percentage, divide your total conversions by your total website visitors and multiply by 100. Average conversion rate can also be calculated with the number of visitor sessions rather than website visitors.

What are the benefits of CRO?

Depending on how your business defines conversions, CRO can have enormous benefits for everything from generating revenue to increasing average order value and customer lifetime value to increasing MRR and/or ARR for subscription model businesses. Beyond this, conversion optimization improves the user experience, boosting customer loyalty and trust in your brand. It also allows for a deeper understanding of your target audience and the design features and language they find most compelling. 

How to optimize conversion rate for your site

Because conversion optimization depends on your individual business, customers, and conversion goal, the most effective technique for this is to learn more about your site visitors and target audience. Collect information and conduct analysis of things like what draws users to your site, what makes them leave, where on your site they spend most of their time, and what channels, devices, and browsers they use. You can also conduct A/B testing to identify the design features, copy styles, and CTAs they find most compelling.