CRO Strategies and Tools: Your Path to Better Conversion Rates on Shopify

Did you know the average conversion rate for Shopify stores is just 1.4%?

Let's imagine you have a store with 1,000 visitors per month. Firstly, there's already separate statistics showing that you're likely to lose almost a third of that thousand (701 to be precise) to cart abandonment, but with an average of 1.4%, you'd be left with only 21 paying customers regardless of what happens.

Most businesses would look at those odds and want to improve them, which is why we've put together this list of strategies to help you.

While cart abandonment is a common challenge facing merchants, it only describes one half of a more complex issue. In this article, we’ll be focusing on the other half: conversion rate optimization (CRO).

CRO is all about understanding how users interact with your website and making improvements to encourage them to take the actions you want. By focusing on this type of optimization, you can turn more of your website’s visitors into customers and ultimately grow your business.

What is conversion rate optimization (CRO)?

Conversion rate optimization is a structured approach to improving the performance of your store’s website.

CRO involves understanding how users move through your site, what actions they take, and where they might start to become disinterested.

By analyzing this data, you can make informed decisions to optimize the user experience and prevent the “drop-off,”

CRO isn’t just about increasing the number of conversions, though. With enough effort, you can also use it to increase the value of those conversions. This is to say that if you can optimize to increase the average order value or the lifetime value of a customer, you're not just getting more conversions; you're getting more valuable conversions.

Why is CRO important?

1. Improved ROI: By increasing your conversion rate, you can get more out of your existing traffic without overspending on acquisition.
2. Better user experience: CRO involves understanding your users' needs and behaviors, which leads to a better overall experience.
3. Data-driven decisions: CRO relies on data and testing, so you're getting the benefit of real insights that you can use to make other business decisions.
4. Competitive advantage: In a crowded market, even small improvements in conversion rates can give you a significant edge over competitors.

Top CRO strategies and tools to implement

1. A/B testing

A/B testing is the cornerstone of CRO. It involves creating two versions of a webpage (Version A and Version B) and then comparing them to determine which performs better.

By splitting traffic between the versions and analyzing user behavior, businesses can identify the most effective design, copy, and layout elements. This data-driven approach helps optimize user experience and maximize conversions by making informed decisions based on real user interactions.

Tip: Test different headings, calls-to-action (CTAs), or images to see which version your audience resonates with and interacts with.

2. Heatmaps and user session recordings

Heatmaps and session recordings are helpful for CRO as they visually map user behavior.

Heatmaps show high-interaction areas and overlooked spots through clicks and scrolls, while session recordings reveal individual user journeys, highlighting navigation issues and drop-off points. These insights enable targeted adjustments to improve the user experience and boost conversions.

Tip: Use tools to identify areas of your site that are getting a lot of attention and areas that are being ignored. Adjust your design accordingly to guide users towards conversion points.

3. Optimize forms

Form optimization focuses on streamlining forms to enhance the user experience and boost conversions.

Long forms with multiple unnecessary fields can annoy users, leading to higher abandonment rates at the checkout or signup process. By reducing the number of form fields, enabling autofill options, and ensuring mobile responsiveness, businesses can minimize friction and make the form completion process more efficient. This approach helps eliminate barriers, improves user satisfaction, and ultimately drives higher conversion rates.

Tip: Consider using external tools to create multi-step forms that break down the process into smaller steps.

4. Personalization

Personalization is a powerful strategy in all areas of business. When it comes to CRO, merchants should focus on tailoring the user experience to individual preferences and behaviors.

By leveraging data to deliver personalized content, offers, and recommendations, businesses can create a more engaging and relevant experience for each user. This approach helps build stronger connections, reduces bounce rates, and ultimately drives higher conversion rates by making users feel valued and understood.

Tip: Use Optimizely to show personalized product recommendations based on a user's browsing history or past purchases.

5. Improve Site Speed

Slow loading times on webpages is one of the biggest issues that can frustrate users, leading to higher bounce rates.

By improving site speed, you will reduce customer frustration and therefore reduce the risk of customer losses. Site speed can be optimized in many ways, ranging from image optimization, minifying code, and leveraging caching techniques, all of which lead to a better user experience and smoother movement through the conversion funnel.

Tip: Use Google PageSpeed Insights to identify and fix speed issues, such as optimizing images and minifying code.

6. Clear and Compelling CTAs

Enhancing calls-to-action (CTAs) is a small but useful strategy for driving conversions.

By experimenting with different button designs, colors, and language, businesses can create CTAs that resonate with their audience. Effective CTAs should be prominently placed, use contrasting colors, and convey clear, action-oriented messages.

Tip: Use the previous strategy of A/B testing to try out different CTA buttons like “Start Free Trial” vs. “Get Started Now” to see which performs better.

7. Leverage Social Proof

Leveraging social proof, such as customer testimonials and reviews, can significantly boost conversions.

By collecting feedback through surveys and questionnaires and prominently displaying positive reviews on your website, you build trust and credibility. This approach reassures potential customers and reduces hesitation when they are completing their purchase.

Tip: Use Hotjar to collect customer feedback and display reviews and ratings prominently on your product pages.

8. Optimize for Mobile

With the number of people who browse and shop on their mobiles, optimizing your site's mobile version is crucial.

In the U.S., mobile devices account for roughly 63% of organic search visits.

Ensure your site is responsive and provides a seamless experience on all devices (web, phones, and tablets). This approach reduces bounce rates, enhances user satisfaction, and drives higher conversion rates by making your site accessible and easy to navigate for all users, regardless of where they're accessing from.

Tip: Use Google Optimize to test mobile-specific designs and Unbounce to create mobile-responsive landing pages.

Tools for conversion rate optimization

• Adobe Target: Offers A/B testing capabilities to test multiple variations across various channels to quickly identify the best-performing experiences.
• VWO (Visual Website Optimizer): A comprehensive CRO platform that offers A/B testing, behavior analytics, as well as personalization features to create targeted experiences for different user segments.
• Hotjar: Provides heatmaps, session recordings, and user feedback tools to help you understand user behavior.
• Crazy Egg: Offers heatmaps, click and scroll analysis, and session recordings to help you create a more user-friendly site, along with the ability to directly edit website elements based on insights.
• Unbounce: A landing page builder that focuses on conversion optimization and offers dynamic text replacement to make forms more relevant. Unbounce also provides mobile-responsive landing page templates and mobile-specific CTAs.
• Optimizely: Offers robust features for CRO, including AI-driven experimentation, personalization, and content marketing tools, including A/B Testing.
• Google PageSpeed Insights: A free but effective tool that analyzes your site's speed and provides recommendations for improvement across multiple devices.

Conclusion

Though we have touched on multiple strategies and tools, it's important to remember that CRO is not a one-size-fits-all solution. What works for one business might not work for another. The key is to continuously test and optimize based on your specific audience and goals.

By using data-driven strategies and leveraging the right tools, you can make informed decisions that enhance the user experience and boost your conversion rates. This leads to sustainable growth for your business.