Probably you’ve already heard about conversion rate, something primary when talking about Digital Marketing. But maybe you don’t know Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) yet, don’t worry, we are here to explain it!We wrote this article for you to understand the CRO concept and its benefits for your business. Spoiler alert: for those who are seeking for a Digital Marketing strategy directed to conversion rate, CRO is the best tool!
Let 's read!
What’s CRO?
It’s the abbreviation form of “Conversion Rate Optimization”.
That’s all about a set of techniques that can be applied on your website or landing page with the intention of changing a user to lead or customer. When a visitor executes an expected action in the page - a download or a purchase, for example - you can say there was a conversion.
And there is nothing better than an optimized page to convert more and more. What that means is: the UX in their buyer’s journey will be led by Digital Marketing actions that aim the final goal - the purchase.
For that reason CRO exists. After all, this strategy allows the increase of the leads-to-customers conversion rate.
What’s the importance of Conversion Rate Optimization?
Imagine that your Educational InstitutionI has a website that contains information which can help your potential student before their enrollment. The first step to think about is how attractive this page is visually, right?
Even so, the layout is not the only responsible for leads’ capture or buyer’s journey mapping. It’s essential to consider what interaction your website provides to the visitor, or how this experience is.
Does your website take visitors to the purchase? What are the results, for real?
The truth is you can’t draw conclusions about your page’s customers based on guesses. This is one of the reason Conversion Rate Optimization is so important. After all, Digital Marketing strategies are founded in real data.
You know what’s best? If the optimization is capable of increasing your purchases, hence it will also improve your Return on Investment (ROI). That means you won’t lose the website traffic invested costs.
UX improvements at critical stages, such as checkout, have a direct impact on conversion. Research from the Baymard Institute indicates an average potential increase in conversion rates of up to 35% by correcting recurring usability issues. This is a solid argument for prioritizing CRO even without increasing investment in paid media.
Moreover, CRO can increase your average ticket. Think like this: it’s easier selling to an already-customer than to someone new. Therefore, it’s possible to offer some repurchase option when one becomes a former student, as a post-graduation or a new bachelor.
How the CRO work?
We already talked about what Conversion Rate Optimization is and how important it is, now you’ll understand how this Digital Marketing action works.
CRO strategy has a few steps aiming to identify data and information that can be useful to make necessary improvements. After the data reading, the next step is to apply for tests on the website.
Understand the practical application.
Search Information
As we mentioned before, a good strategy can’t be based on assumptions or shallow observations.
Data gathering may be the longest stage of the process, once it’s the foundation for the other steps. There are some metrics’ analysis suites where you can watch the customer’s behavior information.
Google Analytics
You probably know Google Analytics, right? But can you understand its importance to Conversion Rate Optimization?
The suite provides metrics concerning behavior, profile, acquisition and conversion of your pages’ visitors. You can have access of all these data in real time or personalized time and it’s possible to apply filters to segment what is important to your analysis.
If you use Google Analytics 4, remember that it will definitively replace Universal Analytics in 2024. GA4 adopts an event-based model (not just "sessions"), which improves the understanding of actions like CTA clicks, downloads, and form submissions. Review goals, audiences, and reports with this standard to align conversion measurement and avoid inconsistencies across channels and pages.
Lucky Orange
Why doesn't your website convert? The answer to that question can be simple and Lucky Orange has this answer for you.
Through resources - as real time digital dashboard, heat dynamic display, interactive chat, feedback surveys, conversion funnels, visitors live recorder, forms’ analysis and daily insights by e-mail - it’s possible to find out why 99% of your visitors don’t become customers.
Hotjar
Finally, Hotjar is for those who are not experts in metric analysis. It offers valuable information about your website’s performance concerning user experience, but visually. Use Hotjar to understand why a page has a high bounce rate observed in GA4 (via heatmaps, recordings, and surveys), not to measure the bounce rate itself. Interesting, right?
Besides, it has resources to complete the data you can gain on Google Analytics, which allows a better review.
A good practice is to use Hotjar alongside GA4: let GA4 show you what's happening (e.g., a drop in engagement) and Hotjar reveal why with heatmaps, recordings, and surveys. Integration with Google Analytics speeds up this diagnosis by connecting events and sessions between the tools, prioritizing CRO hypotheses based on evidence of actual behavior.
Data Interpretation
With necessary information gathered, it’s better to interpret before the next step towards conversion optimization.
Remember to verify the visitor’s behavior pattern and possible causes. Note the numbers, but remember that they are your potential clients (or students).
Create tests and apply
This Conversion Rate Optimization stage in essencial. Do you want to increase your conversion rate and your purchase process?
We are talking about A/B tests that create different versions of your Landing Page to know which one of them the public responds better to.
Take care: both versions have to be tested simultaneously, so they won’t be influenced by external circumstances.
When A/B testing, plan sample size and duration beforehand and avoid "peeking" at results mid-experiment, practices that skew conclusions. This guide from Harvard Business Review summarizes common pitfalls and how to avoid them. Important: Google Optimize has been discontinued (September 2023), and GA4 will not have a native solution; use marketplace platforms integrated with GA4/Ads to preserve data and reports.
These are the fundamental principles of CRO. But how is the practical application? Let’s explain in three steps.
Image: CRO: What is Conversion Rate Optimization and How It Works in Practice
3 practical actions of Conversion Rate Optimization
Let’s put our hands on. Next, you will see some methods that can be used to increase your conversion rate.
1. Qualify the leads
What does it mean? Well, lead qualification consists, basically, in selecting those who present better chances of sealing the deal.
The goal is to direct the lead service to those who has greater buying decision potential, avoiding an overload to the sales team.
2. Invest in Chatbots
Talking about services, working with Artificial Intelligence can be a great deal. Chatbots are programmed to help customers, solving their doubts and other demands.
That way, users won’t find it hard to be attended on your page, what’s a positive thing in their UX and it increases the conversion rate.
Chatbots speed up service, but perception matters: when a bot is seen as a mere "cost-cutting tool," satisfaction drops and the effect on conversion can weaken. Harvard Business Review recommends transparency (making it clear it's a bot), empathetic language, and an easy human-friendly interface, simple adjustments that boost trust and impact sales.
3. Use Remarketing
Be aware visitors can still remember you even after leaving your website with no executed action that was expected. That’s how remarketing works: even if the person is on another page or in a social media page, they will be reminded of your offer.
For remarketing, note that Chrome will maintain third-party cookies in 2025, which preserves cookie-based tactics. Still, prioritize first-party data and compliance: for users in the EEA, Consent Mode v2 is a requirement for personalization and conversion modeling in the Google ecosystem. Ensure proper CMP and consent signals to avoid loss of measurement and performance in campaigns.
These are some of the practices that can be applied on a Conversion Rate Optimization strategy to improve your Inbound Marketing strategy.
Summary: Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is a set of techniques aimed at increasing the number of visitors who perform desired actions on websites and landing pages, such as registering or making purchases. Based on real data, CRO improves the user experience, reduces barriers in the journey, and increases the ROI of digital campaigns without requiring additional media investment. The strategy involves collecting and analyzing metrics, interpreting behavioral patterns, and applying A/B testing to validate hypotheses. With practices such as lead qualification, the use of chatbots, and remarketing, CRO strengthens the sales funnel, enhances inbound marketing, and generates sustainable growth by converting more visitors into customers.
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CRO: How to Optimize Conversion Rates in Digital Marketing
What is CRO?
CRO stands for Conversion Rate Optimization. It is a set of techniques applied to websites and landing pages to turn visitors into leads or customers, through actions such as downloads, registrations, or purchases.
Why is Conversion Rate Optimization important?
CRO is essential because it improves user experience and increases conversion rates based on real data. Beyond boosting sales and ROI, it can raise the average ticket by encouraging repeat purchases, such as postgraduate courses or a second degree in the education sector.
How does CRO work in practice?
CRO works in stages: data collection with tools like Google Analytics 4, Lucky Orange, and Hotjar; interpretation of the collected information; and implementation of A/B testing to validate optimization hypotheses. These practices help identify issues, test solutions, and increase conversions.
What are the practical actions of Conversion Rate Optimization?
Three main actions stand out:
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Lead qualification, to focus efforts on those most likely to buy.
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Chatbots, to improve customer support and speed up decision-making.
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Remarketing, to re-engage visitors who didn’t convert and remind them of the offer.
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