Introduction to Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) #
You’ve spent hours building your store, but conversions still suck? Welcome to the world of CRO.
Did you know that the average website conversion rate is only 2.35%? Imagine the growth if you could just double it.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the process of optimizing your website or landing page based on visitor behavior to improve the chance of that visitor taking the desired action—like signing up, buying, or downloading something. Let’s break it down.
What is a Conversion? #
A conversion is when someone does exactly what you wanted them to do—buy something, sign up, book a call. It’s that simple. Examples of conversions:
- Making a purchase
- Booking an appointment
- Signing up for a newsletter
To track conversions effectively, integrate tools like Google Analytics into your website. Head to the “Goals” section and set up actions like completed purchases or form submissions. This data helps you spot friction and fix it.
We break this down more in our guide: How Track Conversion The Simplest Way
What is the Rate? #
It’s just math—but chill, it’s simple. Say 100 people visit your site and 10 buy something. That’s 10 conversions. 10 / 100 = 10%
Boom. That’s your conversion rate.
What is Optimization? #
Optimization is tweaking your site, your buttons, your copy, your layout—whatever helps people convert.
Example: You have a tiny “Add to Cart” button and only 10 people click it out of 100. You make it bigger, bolder, and now 20 people click. That’s optimization. And yes, you just doubled your CTR.
See? No rocket science here.
Why is CRO Important? #
Because it gets results. Period. You need to constantly improve the conversion rate, otherwise the opposite is stagnation. If something is working today it might not work tomorrow, that's why we should always do constant updates and keep the website updated, run A/B tests, test, update.
This might feel a little bit too much work, you might think "I did not start the business to keep staying working again and again," well, I guess we don't have a choice and also we can always have a team to do it and we will just oversee it. Our agency is designed to help Shopify merchants with conversion rate optimization and ongoing A/B tests and support. You can check out shopify retainers or if you don't know where to start, you can always use our Shopify CRO audit for full website audit and redesign revamp file.
How CRO Works #
CRO isn’t just A/B testing (although we love that too).
It starts with:
- Identifying where users drop off
- Highlighting important areas
- Making small, smart changes
- Testing, measuring, repeating
And no—it’s not just for analytics nerds. It’s for growth.
Shopify-Specific Tips #
Doing CRO on Shopify? You’ll need to know its quirks.
- Forget checkout UX changes—Shopify locks that down.
- You can’t change URL structures. So work with what you’ve got.
- Apps can help... but bloat your store fast.
You’ll need a CRO strategy built for Shopify.
Want to go deeper? Start with a full Shopify CRO audit and level up your store.
Shopify for $1/month + Earn 1% of all sales as subscription credits, up to $10,000.
Glossary Terms in This Article:
- Analytics: Analytics is a service for tracking website performance.
- Cart: Cart is a temporary holding area for items in Shopify.
- Checkout: Checkout is the process of completing a purchase in Shopify.
- CRO: CRO is the process of increasing the percentage of users who convert.
- SEO: SEO refers to Search Engine Optimization.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick Answers for CRO Explained
- What is a CRO audit?
- A CRO audit analyzes your website's performance and user behavior to improve conversions.
- What is conversion in CRO?
- A conversion is when a visitor to your website takes a desired action, such as making a purchase, booking an appointment, or signing up for a newsletter.
- How is conversion rate calculated?
- Conversion rate is calculated by dividing the number of conversions by the total number of visitors and multiplying by 100. For example, if 100 visitors come to your website and 10 make a purchase, your conversion rate is 10%.
- What does optimization mean in CRO?
- Optimization in CRO refers to the process of making changes to your website to improve the likelihood of visitors taking the desired action, such as changing the layout, adding call-to-action buttons, or improving user experience.
- Why is CRO important?
- CRO is important because it can help improve website performance, increase ROI of marketing efforts, and identify and fix issues preventing visitors from taking desired actions, ultimately improving user experience and increasing conversion likelihood.