There are many elements you can change with CRO, the trick is knowing how to do this effectively.

Luckily for you, we’re old hands at this and we’re feeling generous! Here’s a list of the most common elements you can change with CRO, with some advice on how to go about this. Enjoy!

Why do you need to change parts of your site?

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) is all about improving user experience in a way that boosts your conversion rates.

If you’re not happy with your conversion rates – and statistics would show you that you probably aren’t – you’re going to have to make some changes.

By tweaking and changing different elements, you can see what your audience responds to best. You can then make changes across your whole site, and create an engaging experience for your users.

This will also help plug any holes in your conversion funnel, so increasing numbers of visitors will make it to the point of conversion. More conversions mean more transactions, which in turn means more revenue – Hooray!

How do you change parts of your site?

Identifying the elements you can change with CRO is a substantial task, but before you even get close to that you need to put a process in place for making those changes. Here’s a quick recap:

Set up analytics software

The first thing you should do is establish a baseline for your site’s performance. Set up analytics tools and platforms to collect data, and all that information will be at your fingertips.

By using tools like Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Kissmetrics and Amplitude to collect website and user behaviour data, you can get a great overview of your user experience.

There are several CRO data collection methods you can use, including:

• Heuristic analysis
• Conversion funnel analysis
• Segmentation
• Interviews with customers
• Heatmaps and mouse movement tracking

We suggest using all these (and more) to get a precise picture of your visitors. However, it’s important that you fully understand these methods before you implement them. Otherwise, you won’t be able to gather insights effectively.

Create a schedule

Test frequency is extremely important when considering which elements you can change with CRO. You need to have a realistic and effective strategy which tests different areas of your site regularly.

Your test frequency should be determined by how long it will take to gain statistically-significant insights and to make changes accordingly.

At this stage, you need to consider that your tests should align with your company’s goals, and the test frequency of your competitors. If they are carrying out more tests than you, they’ll have more insight and more effective content. You wouldn’t want to be left behind, would you?

Think of a goal for each test

You can now start planning your tests on an individual level. The first step is to decide what you’re trying to achieve with this series of tests.

So, what do you want to improve? Conversions can be anything, including:

• Link click-throughs
• Button presses
• Email sign-ups
• Content downloads
• Purchases

Choose one area to focus on, then create hypotheses to test linked to this area. Try using this format:

If I change X, then Y will increase/decrease*

*dependent on which factor your goal relates to

Start A/B testing

A/B or ‘split’ tests are one of the most popular forms of CRO testing, and one of the most effective.

Use your CRO software to create ‘variations’ based on your hypotheses. You’ll have one ‘control’ and at least one variation. However, in some cases you could have three or four of these. Here’s an example where we’re testing button colour:

• Control – the original colour (red)
• Variation 1 – blue
• Variation 2 – purple
• Variation 3 – yellow

If your page traffic isn't high, we suggest doing fewer variations. This will help you reach a significant outcome in a much quicker time.

At this stage, you might want to consider multivariate testing. It’s thought to speed things up as it tests multiple things at once. However, this will make it hard to attribute what caused the change, and even harder to replicate it across your site.

Elements you can change with CRO

There are hundreds of elements you can change with CRO, so this is by no means a definitive list. However, it’s a great place to get started – take a look!

Headlines

One of our favourite elements you can change with CRO is a title. After all, it's one of the most important things on the page – so it’s vital that you get it right!

Your headline is your first impression and your chance to hook your audience in. If your users don’t like it, they’re not going to read the rest of your page.

Here are a few things you can test to make sure hits the right notes:

Formatting:

• Font type
• Font size
• Colour

Written style:

• Question – e.g. Is content marketing here to stay?
• Split into two parts – e.g. Content marketing: what lies in store?
• Direct address – e.g. Can you rely on content marketing?
• Number first – e.g. 10 ways to prepare for changes in content marketing
• How to – e.g. How to prepare for the future of content marketing

You can mix these up a bit, but be careful to remember what you’re testing. Patterns will soon emerge, and you’ll be able to see which types of headlines are most effective.

Text

Written copy is crucial for all website pages. However, there are lots of choices you have to make here. Luckily, by selecting the elements you can change with CRO, you can test most of them to see which are most effective.

Make sure your message is clear and that any changes tie in with your brand persona, but otherwise just start testing the following elements:

Formatting:

• Cutting up paragraphs
• Use of subheadings
• Bullet points
• Font type
• Font size
• Font colour

Written style:

• Tone of voice
• Stylistic elements (imagery, metaphors, adjectives etc)
• Direct address
• Key phrases and words

Type of content:

• Call to actions (could test several different CTAs, or not including one at all)
• Testimonials and/or social proof

Different segments may respond to different elements in your copy, so make sure you account for this in your analysis.

Formatting elements

The way a page looks is what draws people in. If it’s not clear and aesthetically-pleasing, users will look for answers elsewhere. Always remember the message you’re trying to convey, and make sure it has pride of place on the page.

Here are just a few of the elements you can change with CRO testing:

Formatting:

• Overall page layout
• Image choice
• Image size
• Image placement
• Buttons and links formatting (colour, size, text)
• Trust awards and badges

Marketing offers

The previous elements you can change with CRO are the most common, and are pretty simple to tweak with a quick A/B test. However, you can also test different marketing or sales offers using CRO techniques.

It’s best to get advice from your sales team (and other relevant colleagues) to ensure that the offers you’re giving are viable, but you could see if the following get results:

• Pricing structures for different audience segments
• Free delivery or next day delivery
• A month-long free trial of service
• Early-bird offers

Within these, you can test the formatting and textual elements for other areas of the page.

You see? There are lots of elements you can change with CRO. Just make sure you take a well-thought out and structured approach, and you’ll have a great CRO strategy to get started with.