CRO and SEO: A winning combination for business growth
Introduction
Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) is the process of improving the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or downloading a lead magnet.
When CRO and SEO are effectively implemented together, they can create a powerful synergy that maximises the performance of a website or online business. SEO attracts targeted traffic, while CRO focuses on converting that traffic into leads or customers by optimising the user experience and conversion process. By combining efforts, businesses can achieve higher search engine rankings, increased conversions, and ultimately, improved online success.
CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) are two complementary marketing strategies that can be used to improve a website’s performance. SEO focuses on increasing a website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs), while CRO focuses on improving the website’s conversion rate, or the percentage of visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
When done effectively, CRO and SEO can work together to create a virtuous cycle. By improving a website’s SEO, you can increase the number of visitors who arrive at your site. These visitors are then more likely to convert if your website is well-designed and optimised for CRO. As your conversion rate increases, you can then use this data to further improve your SEO efforts.
There are many different aspects to CRO & SEO, but they also overlap and work together:
User intent and relevance
Both SEO and CRO prioritise understanding user intent and delivering relevant content. SEO aims to match the user’s search queries with valuable and informative content, ensuring that the website appears in relevant search results. CRO focuses on aligning the website’s messaging, content, and design with the user’s needs and expectations to increase conversions. By catering to user intent and relevance, both disciplines strive to provide a satisfying user experience.
Content optimisation
Both SEO and CRO involve optimising content to enhance performance. SEO focuses on keyword research and optimisation, ensuring that relevant keywords are incorporated naturally into the website’s content, meta tags, and headings. CRO also considers the impact of content on conversions, testing different headlines, copy variations, and messaging strategies to identify the most effective content elements. Effective content optimisation in both SEO and CRO involves understanding the target audience, their pain points, and delivering compelling content that drives both organic traffic and conversions.
Usability and user experience
User experience is a critical aspect of both SEO and CRO. SEO emphasises website usability and technical optimisation, ensuring that pages load quickly, have proper mobile responsiveness, and are easy to navigate. CRO focuses on improving the user experience by analysing user behaviour, optimising website design, and streamlining the conversion funnel. Both disciplines recognise that a positive user experience is crucial for attracting and retaining visitors, as well as converting them into customers.
Data analysis and testing
Both SEO and CRO rely on data analysis and testing to make informed decisions. SEO practitioners analyse search engine metrics, keyword rankings, and website analytics to measure performance and identify areas for improvement. CRO specialists use data-driven insights from A/B testing, heat maps, and user behaviour analysis to optimise conversion paths and increase conversion rates. By leveraging data and conducting tests, both disciplines seek to refine strategies and achieve better results.
Business goals
Ultimately, both SEO and CRO share the same overarching goal of improving business outcomes. While SEO primarily focuses on driving organic traffic and improving search visibility, CRO aims to convert that traffic into leads, sales, or desired actions. Both disciplines contribute to the success of a website or online business by increasing its visibility, attracting relevant traffic, and optimising the conversion process.
Why is CRO important?
CRO is important because it can help businesses to increase their website traffic and revenue. A higher conversion rate means that businesses are getting more out of every visitor to their website.
For example, if a business has a website that gets 10,000 visitors per month and its conversion rate is 1%, then it will get 100 conversions per month. If the business can increase its conversion rate to 2%, then it will get 200 conversions per month. This is a 100% increase in conversions, which could lead to a significant increase in revenue.
How does CRO work with SEO?
SEO and CRO are two sides of the same coin. SEO helps businesses to get more traffic to their websites, while CRO helps businesses to convert that traffic into customers.
For example, a business can use SEO to improve its website’s ranking for relevant keywords. This will help the business to attract more relevant visitors to its website who are already interested in what it has to offer.
Once the business has attracted these visitors, it can use CRO to convert them into customers. This could involve using persuasive content, clear call-to-action buttons, and effective landing pages.
By using SEO and CRO together, businesses can create a more holistic marketing strategy that will help them achieve their business goals.
Here are some examples of how SEO and CRO can work together:
- A business can use SEO to improve its website’s ranking for keywords that are related to its products or services. This will help the business to attract more visitors who are already interested in what it has to offer.
- Using SEO to drive traffic and then introducing CRO to pages that already have a reasonable amount of traffic is an effective strategy to accelerate the CRO process and make data-driven decisions more quickly.
- Once the business has attracted these visitors, it can use CRO to convert them into customers. This could involve using persuasive content, clear call-to-action buttons, and effective landing pages.
- By using SEO data to re-optimise pages to improve the relevance of content and improve CRO by getting the right users to the right pages/sites.
- A business can use CRO to test different elements of its website to see what works best. This data can then be used to improve the business’s website’s SEO performance.
Conclusion
The combination of Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a powerful strategy for driving business growth in the digital landscape. These two marketing approaches are closely intertwined and share common principles, enabling businesses to achieve higher search rankings, attract targeted traffic, and optimise conversions, leading to improved online success. CRO and SEO prioritise understanding user intent, delivering relevant content, content optimisation, usability, and user experience. Data analysis and testing play a significant role in both CRO and SEO, enabling businesses to make data-driven decisions and refine strategies for better results.
CRO is crucial because it allows businesses to maximise the value of every visitor to their website. By increasing the conversion rate, businesses can generate more leads and sales from the same amount of traffic, leading to increased revenue and a better return on investment. When combined, businesses can create a comprehensive marketing strategy, focusing on attracting targeted traffic, optimising the user experience, and driving relevance. By leveraging SEO data to re-optimise pages and drive relevance, businesses can capitalise on traffic generated by SEO efforts and enhance conversions through CRO strategies.
In conclusion, businesses that harness the power of CRO and SEO together can unlock substantial growth opportunities. By attracting relevant traffic, optimising the user experience, and continually refining strategies based on data, businesses can drive higher conversions, increase revenue, and achieve long-term success in the competitive online landscape.
