How Does CRO Work with SEO?

In the competitive digital landscape, businesses must capitalize on every opportunity to enhance their online presence and drive revenue. Two critical strategies that play a significant role in achieving these goals are Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO). While often viewed as separate entities, SEO and CRO can work synergistically to create a powerful framework for attracting more organic traffic, engaging visitors, and ultimately increasing conversions and revenue. This article explores the interplay between CRO and SEO, providing businesses with a comprehensive understanding of how to combine these strategies effectively.

Interestingly, the acronym "CRO" also has a meaning in the medical field, referring to a Contract Research Organization. These organizations are hired by companies or research centers to manage clinical trials¹. However, in the context of this article, we will focus on CRO as it relates to digital marketing.

What is CRO?

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the practice of increasing the percentage of website visitors who complete a desired action. This "desired action," also known as a conversion, can be anything from making a purchase and submitting a contact form to signing up for a newsletter or downloading an ebook². It's important to align conversion goals with user intent, considering the actions visitors are most likely to take when they arrive on your website³. For example, if your target audience is primarily seeking information, your conversion goals might include downloading a whitepaper or signing up for a webinar. If your visitors are ready to purchase, your primary goal should be driving sales.

Successful CRO strategies aim to increase conversions by focusing on the customer experience⁴. Here's a quick-start guide to CRO, outlining six steps for success:

1. Identify important conversions: Decide on the desired action you want to target, depending on your business goals.
2. Analyze your conversion funnel: Conduct funnel analysis to identify factors that make visitors leave before converting.
3. Gather user data: Gather as much information as you can about your users to understand their drivers, barriers, and hooks.
4. Create hypotheses: Use the insights you gathered to hypothesize what funnel features to add, adjust, or remove.
5. Test your hypotheses: Implement data-driven optimizations and A/B test web page variants.
6. Review and iterate: Continuously review everything you've done and mark the effect your tested changes had on your conversion rate.

CRO is a valuable tool for any business with an online presence because it:

• Increases revenue: By optimizing your website for conversions, you can generate more leads, sales, and revenue from your existing traffic⁵.
• Reduces customer acquisition costs: CRO helps you get more value from your existing visitors, which can lower your customer acquisition costs⁵.
• Improves customer engagement: By providing a better user experience, CRO can lead to increased customer engagement and encourage visitors to spend more time on your website⁶.
• Enhances brand awareness: A well-optimized website can help improve your brand awareness and reputation⁶.

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) aims to improve a website's visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). When people search for information, products, or services related to your business, you want your website to appear as high as possible in the search results. Higher rankings lead to more organic traffic, which can translate into more leads, sales, and revenue⁷. SEO involves optimizing various aspects of your website, including:

• On-page optimization: This includes optimizing your website's content, title tags, meta descriptions, and headings to make them more relevant to search queries⁸. It also involves optimizing individual web pages to gain more traffic from search engines. A couple of on-page elements that can be optimized include the title tag and the URL. These elements play an important role for the reader and user experience, and they also help search engines crawl, or read, and understand your pages⁹.
• Off-page optimization: This involves building high-quality backlinks to your website from other reputable sources. Backlinks are tied closely to your website's domain authority (DA), a score that measures a website's rapport with search engines. Generally, more links correlate to a higher DA, and a higher DA theoretically helps your pages rank for more difficult keyword phrases. This is because search engines equate backlinks with authority⁸.
• Technical SEO: This focuses on improving the technical aspects of your website, such as site speed, mobile-friendliness, and site architecture, to ensure that search engines can easily crawl and index your pages⁸.

How CRO and SEO Work Together

While SEO focuses on driving traffic to your website, CRO focuses on converting that traffic into customers. By combining these strategies, you can create a website that not only ranks well in search results but also effectively guides visitors toward taking desired actions⁸. Here's how CRO and SEO complement each other:

• Increased Traffic Value: SEO drives relevant organic traffic to your website. CRO improves the value of that traffic by increasing the conversion rate⁷.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Both SEO and CRO rely on data to guide optimization efforts. By combining data from both strategies, you can gain a deeper understanding of your audience and make more informed decisions⁷.
• Lower Acquisition Costs: SEO brings in organic traffic, which is more cost-effective than paid advertising. CRO maximizes the value of that traffic, further reducing acquisition costs⁷.
• Improved User Experience: Both SEO and CRO contribute to a better user experience. SEO ensures that visitors find what they're looking for, while CRO makes it easy for them to take action⁷.

Furthermore, CRO techniques can bolster SEO efforts. For example, A/B testing, a common CRO practice, can help identify the most effective content and design elements for driving conversions. These insights can then be used to improve the overall user experience and make the website more appealing to search engines¹².

It's important to remember that CRO and SEO are not competing forces but rather complementary strategies that can enhance each other's effectiveness. By integrating both approaches, businesses can create a website that is both visible and persuasive, leading to increased traffic, engagement, and conversions¹³.

Benefits of Combining CRO and SEO

Combining SEO and CRO can lead to significant improvements in website performance, including increased traffic, more engaged visitors, and higher conversion rates at scale¹⁴. Some of the key benefits include:

• Improved User Experience: CRO and SEO both contribute to a positive user experience. By testing different versions of a webpage, businesses can identify which design elements, layout, or copy works best for their intended audience. Optimizing a website for search intent ensures that users find what they are looking for when they search for relevant keywords¹³.
• Increased Conversion Rates: CRO leads to increased conversion rates by optimizing a website's design and user...source
• Improved Search Engine Rankings: Optimizing a website for search intent can lead to improved search engine rankings. By ensuring that a website's content aligns with user intent, search engines will recognize the website as an authoritative source and rank it higher in the SERPs¹³.
• Cost-Effectiveness: CRO and SEO are both cost-effective practices that can deliver significant return on investment....source

Case Studies

Examining real-world examples can provide valuable insights into how businesses have successfully combined CRO and SEO to achieve remarkable results. Here are a few noteworthy case studies:

• Going: By conducting A/B testing on their landing page CTA copy, Going achieved a 104% increase in trial start rate month-over-month. This demonstrates the power of even minor changes in marketing strategy when guided by data-driven insights¹⁵.
• Bear Mattress: Through strategic optimization of their "Cross-sell Flow" on product detail pages, Bear Mattress increased revenue by 16%. This highlights the importance of understanding user behavior and leveraging cross-selling opportunities to boost conversions¹⁷.

How to Identify Areas for CRO Improvement

Identifying areas for CRO improvement requires a deep understanding of user behavior and website analytics. CRO marketing extends beyond just increasing conversions; it involves understanding user behavior, leveraging data-driven insights, and refining marketing strategies to align with user needs¹⁸. Here's a table summarizing key areas and how to improve them:

How to Implement CRO Tactics Without Impacting SEO

Implementing CRO tactics should complement your SEO efforts, not hinder them. Here are some best practices to ensure your CRO strategies align with your SEO goals:

• Align SEO and CRO Goals: When making changes to your website, consider both your SEO and CRO goals to avoid conflicts and ensure both strategies work together effectively²⁰. For example, if you're considering removing a form to improve page speed, weigh the potential benefits for SEO against the potential loss of conversions.
• Pick the Right CRO Strategy: The most effective CRO strategy will depend on several factors, including your target audience, budget, and product/service division²¹. For example, a content-centric approach might be more suitable for businesses with diverse audiences, while a consumer-centric approach might be better for those with niche segments.
• Focus on Consumer Behavior: Leverage behavioral analytics to understand how customers search for your company and its products. This includes analyzing the time, location, device information, and other metrics to gain a better understanding of how to cater to your audience²¹.
• Optimize for Keyword Search Intent: Understand the intent behind a user's search query and create content that aligns with that intent. This will improve your SEO and increase the likelihood of conversions²⁰.
• Create High-Quality, SEO-Friendly Content: High-quality content is essential for both SEO and CRO. Ensure your content is informative, engaging, and optimized for relevant keywords²⁰.
• Focus on Title Tags and Meta Descriptions: Craft compelling title tags and meta descriptions that entice users to click through to your website from search results²⁰.
• Use Calls to Action: Include clear and compelling calls to action (CTAs) that guide users toward desired actions²⁰.
• Harness the Power of Social Proof and Testimonials: Incorporate social proof elements, such as reviews and testimonials, to build trust and credibility with your audience²⁰.
• Try A/B Testing: Conduct A/B testing to experiment with different versions of your webpages and identify what resonates best with your audience²⁰.
• Enhance Site Speed for Better User Experience: Optimize your website's loading speed to improve user experience and search engine rankings²⁰.
• Leverage Analytics: Use analytics tools to track website traffic, user behavior, and conversion rates to make data-driven decisions²⁰.

Resources and Templates

Here are some helpful resources and templates to assist you in your CRO and SEO efforts:

• Google Analytics: A free web analytics service that provides valuable insights into website traffic, user behavior, and conversions.
• Google Search Console: A free tool that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site's presence in Google Search results.
• Hotjar: A powerful CRO tool that provides heatmaps, session recordings, and user feedback to help you understand how visitors interact with your website.
• Unbounce: A landing page builder that offers A/B testing and other CRO features to help you optimize your landing pages for conversions.
• Semrush: An all-in-one marketing toolkit that includes SEO and CRO features to help you improve your website's performance.

Conclusion

CRO and SEO are two essential strategies that can significantly impact a website's performance. By understanding how these strategies work together and implementing them effectively, businesses can enhance their online visibility, attract more organic traffic, and ultimately increase conversions and revenue. Combining SEO and CRO offers numerous benefits, including improved user experience, increased conversion rates, improved search engine rankings, and cost-effectiveness.

To successfully integrate CRO and SEO, prioritize user experience, leverage data-driven insights, and continuously test and optimize your website. By focusing on user needs and aligning your CRO and SEO goals, you can create a website that is both visible and persuasive, driving sustainable business growth.

Works cited

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