As an ecommerce entrepreneur, your goal is to convert website visitors into customers. But how do you measure whether your site is successful at conversion (beyond your bottom line)? To gauge your website’s impact on guiding visitors towards purchases, consider conducting a conversion rate optimization (CRO) audit. Here’s how to conduct your own CRO audit and the benefits you’ll see when you improve your conversion strategy.
What is a CRO audit?
A conversion rate optimization (CRO) audit, also known as a conversion audit, is a comprehensive analysis of the entire customer journey on your website. The goal of a CRO audit is to identify pain points in the user experience as users proceed toward a specific conversion, like making a purchase or signing up for a subscription service. You can use a CRO audit to inform your website’s technical aspects for better conversion rates.
How to perform a CRO audit
- Define your goals
- Identify priority pages
- Study user behavior
- Focus on quick wins
- Test out improvements
- Monitor results
Every conversion rate optimization audit is unique to the needs of your company and website, but here are some key steps to take when performing your next CRO audit:
1. Define your goals
Start by defining your conversion goals to understand how they align with your larger business goals. For example, if you want to boost sales for a new product line, focus on conversion rates related to these specific product pages and how to include more calls to action for that specific conversion throughout the customer journey.
2. Identify priority pages
Create a list of the most important pages on your website. Focus on high-traffic pages like a main landing page, checkout page, and popular product pages. Use analytics tools like Google Analytics to learn which pages are top candidates for updates; for instance, you might look for high-traffic pages with high bounce rates. Audit these priority pages first to assess how well your website is performing.
3. Study user behavior
Use CRO audit tools to monitor how site visitors interact with your website and detect common patterns. Explore the Shopify App Store for useful applications to improve your CRO audit. For example, Blyp is an AI-powered CRO tool that monitors data and identifies ways to increase sales conversions.
Learning more about how users move through your site can provide valuable information about your target audience and how to develop a more customer-centric experience. Some CRO audit tools offer advanced features like demographic information about website users, geographic location data, and heat maps that show exactly where users are navigating and clicking on web pages.
4. Focus on quick wins
Look for simple issues lowering conversion rates, like slow-loading pages, website bugs, or complicated checkout processes. Quick wins include optimizing your website for mobile devices, improving the design of your CTA buttons, and writing more engaging website content like product descriptions.
Enhancing your site speed and providing clear shipping costs at the outset can boost your conversion rates. By addressing any glaring problems first, you are better able to see immediate results in your conversion rate with minimal effort.
5. Test out improvements
Develop hypotheses for how to improve conversion rates in other areas. Test your hypotheses by implementing changes to your website in areas that need improvement. Use quantitative research like user metrics and qualitative research like customer testimonials to inform your efforts. Explore strategies like simplifying your website design, sending abandoned cart follow-up emails, and showcasing positive product reviews.
Use A/B testing to compare the differences in user behavior when interacting with two versions of your website. Test out your potential solutions until you identify which generate the best results. For example, if you have a product page with a high bounce rate, you could test out versions of your product description and different design options for your add-to-cart button.
6. Monitor results
Use CRO audit tools to identify increases or decreases in traffic to specific parts of your website, and monitor how much your website users perform desired actions, like signing up for a newsletter or buying a product. Consistent data analysis provides insights into how well your new changes drive users toward conversions and helps you identify any pain points.
Run CRO audits at regular intervals, at least every six months. Keep an eye on your conversion rates in between your full CRO audits to make sure you don’t overlook any website issues.
Benefits of CRO audits
There are several benefits to conducting your own CRO audit, including:
Reduced shopping cart abandonment
Data collected during a CRO audit can help you develop an optimization strategy for reducing shopping cart abandonment. A comprehensive conversion audit assesses user behavior and trends and gives insight into drop-off points where potential customers leave your website. Once you’ve identified drop-off points, you can adjust your strategy to improve those areas.
Improved user experience
Performing regular conversion audits can help you make timely adjustments to your user journey and improve your customers’ overall experience with your brand. For example, if you focus your optimization efforts on reducing the number of steps in the checkout flow, you can improve customer satisfaction with a streamlined checkout process.
Informed conversion strategies
Consistent and comprehensive CRO audits can provide valuable data about improving different aspects of your ecommerce website, such as your homepage, product pages, and call-to-action (CTA) buttons. A successful CRO audit involves identifying actionable next steps to drive more traffic toward conversions like sales.
Ecommerce CRO audit FAQ
When should businesses do a CRO audit?
The frequency of CRO audits depends on your needs, but typically it’s good to conduct a CRO audit at least every six months. Other factors include major changes to your website’s copy, design, and structure, new conversion goals, or a sudden increase or decrease in site traffic.
What tools can you use to conduct a CRO audit?
There are various CRO audit tools, including free software like Google Analytics and applications in the Shopify App Store like Firepush, Blyp, and Privy. Some ecommerce platforms offer helpful information. For example, Shopify Checkout provides information on optimizing your checkout process for increased conversions.
What should be included in a CRO audit?
When performing a CRO audit, include clear website goals, priority pages, user feedback, and up-to-date analytics about the customer journey. A successful CRO audit requires a comprehensive understanding of your website’s paint points as well as a monitoring system that can inform your optimization strategies.
What is CRO in ecommerce?
In ecommerce, conversion rate optimization (CRO) is a digital marketing strategy focused on inspiring website visitors to complete certain actions, like signing up for a newsletter or purchasing a product. An ecommerce CRO audit involves analyzing user behavior and testing hypotheses for how to direct visitors of your ecommerce website toward conversions.
