5 CRO Examples That Will Increase Your Conversion Rates

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So you’ve built a website for your online store – but now what? You need to convert customers if you want your business to be successful. After all, if you can’t convert your website visitors into something valuable, such as leads or sales, then attracting them to your website has very little value.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through five of the very best conversion rate optimization examples. For each, we’ll offer you an example of that technique in action and advice on exactly how you can apply it to your own website.

Ready to increase your conversion rates?

Why is CRO important?

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) involves making changes to your website and marketing to drive more conversions. This is important because conversions are essential to business success.

For example, picture a new online store that you spend considerable time and money on driving traffic to. And, after a couple of weeks, you’re getting 500 visitors daily! But, on average, you’re only making one sale per day. That means a huge amount of the effort you put into attracting customers to your store isn’t resulting in actual conversions.

In this example, your conversion rate is a low 0.2%!

Taking the time to improve your conversion rate can pay massive dividends. For example, making tweaks to increase your conversion rate by just 0.8% (to a total of 1%) will increase your daily sales from one to five. Increase it to 5% and you’re now making 25 sales per day – all without having to drive any additional traffic to your website.

Find Out More

How can you tell if your conversion rate is good or bad to start with? Our report on Average Website Conversion Rates In 5 Key Industries can help!

Top 5 Conversion Rate Optimization Examples

In this section, we’re going to run you through five of the very best conversion rate examples. We chose these examples because they illustrate how a simple tactic can be applied to a website to drive better conversion rates.

1 - Adding a Video to a Landing Page

Adding video to your website is a powerful way to increase engagement and boost conversions. In fact, one study found that 87% of marketers believe that video has a direct, positive impact on sales, and 90% found that video helped them increase leads.

Video is powerful for several reasons. Firstly, it’s one of the most engaging and easy-to-digest forms of content. It also offers a simple method for explaining complex products or services.

Example: HubSpot

HubSpots online academy leverages tools like video to engage potential participants.

HubSpot is a leading business software company and an expert in generating leads for its business. One way HubSpot optimizes its customer journey to improve conversions is by using engaging videos on its landing pages.

These videos are used to explain the value that someone will get from taking an action, such as buying a subscription or signing up for a course. The videos are informative and helpful, making them very compelling.

You can easily replicate this for your website. Simply follow these steps:

  1. Create or find a high-quality video that explains your product or service in a clear and concise way
  2. Place the video on your landing page or product page in a natural position, and check it works well on both desktop and mobile browsers
  3. Include a call-to-action at the end of the video to encourage viewers to take the action necessary for the desired conversion

2 - Using Social Proof

Social proof is a great way to prove that the claims you make in your marketing material are true and verified by other customers. Using social proof will help you build the trust a visitor needs in your business to take that all-important action. 

Example: Yelp 

Yelp's entire business model is based on offering social proof. They use reviews of their participating businesses to show how businesses use and benefit from working with them.

Yelp is a good example of social proof in action. The company uses social proof on its business pages to show how many people have reviewed businesses. This helps highlight to visitors that Yelp is a trusted source of business reviews and that the businesses that are listed on Yelp are reputable. 

You can replicate the power of social proof for your own website by: 

  • Adding testimonials to your website from satisfied customers 
  • Using social media to show others how many people follow and interact with your brand 
  • Sign up to platforms such as Yelp to get impartial reviews 
TOP TIP: Combine the power of video and social proof by making video testimonials from some of your best clients.

3 - Personalizing the Checkout Process

Personalizing the buying experience is a great way to drive engagement and develop a sense of familiarity with your brand. This can help customers find the products and information which is most relevant to them, streamlining the buying process.

Example: Warby Parker 

Personalizing customers' experience can help them find exactly what they want - making it easier for them to purchase.

Warby Parker uses personalization throughout its checkout process. This focuses primarily on allowing customers to customize their glasses with different frames and for their specific prescription needs. This ensures that customers receive the correct glasses, helping improve customer satisfaction.

You can also add this level of personalization to your store. This can be achieved by:

  • Collecting data on your customers such as shipping address, interests, and payment information
  • Using the data you collect to personalize the checkout process will help to reduce any friction when completing a purchase

4 - Offering Free Trials or Demos

A free trial or demo is a smart way to show customers exactly how great your product is. This approach is especially powerful when your product has a high price point or is purchased on a subscription basis because it allows potential customers to experience its value before investing.

Example: Spotify 

A free trial helps reduce risk for customers and gives you an opportunity to prove how great your product or service is.

Spotify uses free trials to get people to use its music streaming service. This offers a low-commitment option for potential users, allowing them to test the service for free.

Free trials and demos can be applied to lots of different businesses. Think about how this could apply to yours. You could:

  • Set up a free trial or demo of your service on your website
  • Make the sign-up process simple for potential customers
  • Highlight any benefits and ensure that the trial or demo gives users a good idea of how your service works
  • At the end of the free trial or demo, have a strong CTA to encourage people to make a purchase

5 - Running A/B Tests

A/B testing is an established method for identifying areas where conversion rates can be improved. This method simply involves testing different aspects of a website, such as the written content, images, or layout to see which results in the best conversions.

Example: Netflix 

Netflix tests multiple different images to promote their films and series.

Netflix runs A/B testing on its homepage. The streaming platform focuses on changing aspects of its homepage, such as which shows are recommended and which images it uses to see. Netflix will then use the collected data t to make changes, ensuring the best results for the company and its audience.

You can replicate this on your website by following these steps:

  • Use an A/B testing tool to create variations of a webpage or landing page for your website
  • Change one element at a time (such as a headline or CTA), so you don’t get confused about which change impacted the results
  • Use the data to determine future action and apply the changes to your website

Conversion Rate Optimization Example: Summary

CRO is an essential process for any business that wants to grow online. This is especially true for ecommerce businesses that want to turn hard-earned website visitors into actual sales.

In this guide, we’ve walked you through some of the best conversion rate optimization examples, including using social proof and personalizing the checkout process. If you’re ready to get going, you may want to conduct a CRO audit to start with. But, if you have any other tricks to improve conversion rates, let us know in the comments!

Written by:
I’m a content writer for Website Builder Guide. I’m a bit of a business and marketing nerd and love sharing my knowledge and experience to help others achieve their business goals. From complex engineering and brewing to international events and brand design agencies, I’ve worked in marketing roles for well over 10 years now. During this time I developed a skill for turning complex (and occasionally dull) information into exciting, easy-to-understand, and actionable content. I also set up my own content marketing consultancy and launched my own ecommerce business on Shopify.

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