Measure the Success of Your CRO Efforts

Statistical Significance Is Our Everything #

When it comes to measuring the success of your CRO efforts, statistical significance is the key. It's not enough to see a slight increase in conversion rates or a decrease in bounce rates. You need to know if these changes are statistically significant and not just due to random chance.

Statistical significance is not something hard to understand, but it is crucial to get it right. It is the probability that the observed results are not due to random chance. In other words, it tells you if the changes you see are real or just a fluke.

Usually, the tools for A/B testing provide this data, but to make sure that your A/B winner is really the winner, you can use calculators for statistical significance, as they are very easy to use.

Again, it is very important to remember that when we jump into A/B testing or any kind of experiment that changes something on the website to improve conversion, we should be able to measure the success.

The simplest but not the most accurate is to capture the before result and then just compare, sometimes in the world of AB testing we have to do such brutal measures, when the normal measurement is making the test more complicated.

Simple Metrics for CRO Success #

There are several key metrics you should track to measure the success of your CRO audit efforts:

1. Conversion Rate #

The most obvious metric to track is your conversion rate. This is the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. By tracking your conversion rate, you can see how effective your CRO strategies are at turning visitors into customers. For a deeper understanding of conversion rate optimization and how it ties into SEO for Shopify, you can refer to our comprehensive guide on what is conversion rate optimization.

If you want to calculate your conversion rate, you can use the Conversion Rate Calculator tool.

Capture the data before you start the experiment and then compare it with the data after the experiment. If you see an increase in the conversion rate, it means that your experiment was successful.

You can checkout guide for ab testing here where we go through the process of A/B testing and how it can help you to improve your conversion rate.

You better starts getting comfortable with the conversion rate, because it is the most important metric in the world of CRO. You will deal with it every day, so better to understand it well.

You don't need strong math skills to understand the conversion rate, especially we have nowadays all required tools, automation, and calculators that can do the job for you.

Click-Through Rate (CTR) for Measuring Success #

The click-through rate (CTR) is another important metric to track. This is the percentage of visitors who click on a specific link or call-to-action (CTA) on your website. By tracking your CTR, you can see how effective your CRO strategies are at getting visitors to take action.

CTR serves as an indicator of how well your marketing messages - whether through emails, advertisements, or calls-to-action - resonate with your target audience. When your CTR increases, it shows that more users are actively engaging with your content, which moves you closer to meeting your conversion objectives.

This metric provides a straightforward but effective method for evaluating your marketing campaign performance.

Create engaging and targeted ad copy that resonates with your audience's specific pain points and desires. Implement action-oriented, contextual language in your CTAs rather than using generic phrases such as "Talk to Sales", "Click Here", or "Learn More".

Break down your audience into segments and customize both your ads and landing pages to maximize relevance and drive engagement.

Remember: When the CTR is very low for the email campaigns, it is a sign that your emails go to the spam folder. You need to check the email deliverability and how correctly you set up the SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. This is one of the crucial parts of the email marketing strategy. If you are not sure if the settings are done correct you can contact and hire web developers to help you with this.

Bounce Rate for Measuring Success #

The bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave your website after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate can indicate that visitors are not finding what they are looking for or that your website is not engaging enough.

By tracking your bounce rate, you can see how effective your CRO strategies are at keeping visitors on your website and encouraging them to explore further. A lower bounce rate indicates that visitors are finding your website valuable and engaging, which can lead to higher conversion rates.

Ecommerce cart actions and cart abandonment #

Ecommerce cart behaviors encompass every interaction customers have with their shopping basket - including product additions and removals, entering payment details, basket viewing, and finalizing purchases.

Meanwhile, cart abandonment metrics indicate the frequency at which potential buyers exit without completing transactions. When these rates are elevated, it often points to friction in the checkout journey. Making improvements here can lead to a smoother customer experience and increased conversion rates.

How to measure cart abandonment:

• Track the number of abandoned carts
• Calculate the cart abandonment rate
• Identify common reasons for cart abandonment
• Implement strategies to reduce cart abandonment

Average Order Value (AOV) for Measuring Success #

The average order value (AOV) is the average amount of money customers spend on each order. By tracking your AOV, you can see how effective your CRO strategies are at increasing the value of each transaction.

A higher AOV indicates that customers are spending more money on each order, which can lead to increased revenue and profitability. By implementing strategies to increase your AOV, such as upselling or cross-selling, you can maximize the value of each customer interaction.

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) for Measuring Success #

Customer lifetime value (CLV) is the total amount of money a customer is expected to spend with your business over their lifetime. By tracking your CLV, you can see how effective your CRO strategies are at retaining customers and encouraging repeat purchases.

A higher CLV indicates that customers are loyal to your brand and are likely to make multiple purchases over time. By focusing on increasing your CLV, you can build long-term relationships with customers and maximize the value of each customer.

How to measure CLV:

• Calculate the average purchase frequency
• Determine the average customer lifespan
• Multiply the average purchase value by the average purchase frequency and customer lifespan

More Advanced Metrics for CRO Success #

We recommend starting with the simple metrics mentioned above, fully getting comfortable with them, making sure youare controlling them, and then moving to more advanced metrics.

Return on Investment (ROI) for Measuring Success #

Return on investment (ROI) is a measure of the profitability of your CRO efforts. By tracking your ROI, you can see how effective your CRO strategies are at generating revenue and increasing profitability.

A positive ROI indicates that your CRO efforts are generating more revenue than they cost, leading to increased profitability. By focusing on maximizing your ROI, you can ensure that your CRO strategies are delivering a strong return on investment.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) for Measuring Success #

Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the amount of money it costs to acquire a new customer. By tracking your CAC, you can see how effective your CRO strategies are at acquiring new customers and growing your customer base.

A lower CAC indicates that your CRO strategies are cost-effective at acquiring new customers, leading to increased profitability. By focusing on reducing your CAC, you can maximize the return on investment of your CRO efforts and grow your customer base.

Tools for Measuring CRO Success #

If you are using Shopify you might be attempting to measure the success of your CRO efforts with the tools which are promoting themselves as the best for Shopify. But from our experince we advise to avoid those tools, as they arenot hight quality and they will lock you up more in Shopify enviroment.

There more global and more advanced tools that you can use to measure the success of your CRO efforts. We don't promote any, just from our experince Optimizely and VWO are the best tools for A/B testing.

Most of thetime we use Optimizely, as it is more user friendly and has more features that we need.

You can setup you google analytics to track the conversion rate, and even AB tests, but if you are already in AB testing "mode" you better to use the tools that are designed for that.

If you want to find the weak spots of your website, you can use our popular Shopify CRO Audit service, where we will provide you with a detailed report on how to improve your website and increase your conversion rate.

If you are not sure where to start with, you can book a consultation with us, and we will guide you through the process of CRO and AB testing.