Combining SEO & CRO: All You Need to Know to Boost Conversions

Over 5 billion internet users worldwide use the internet to search for various types of information, engage in different online activities, and find products and services for sale. It's no wonder digital marketers and website owners are working extra hard to drive traffic to their websites through search engine optimisation (SEO) and conversion rate optimisation (CRO). However, it takes more than colossal web traffic to turn random users into paying customers. You need to set up more tactics to lead toward the desired actions on your web page by optimising your site for increased organic traffic and conversion rates.

Wait, what is Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)?

Conversion rate optimisation (CRO) is increasing the percentage of visitors to a website who take the desired action. This could be anything from making a sale to signing up for a newsletter or downloading a white paper. Conversion rate optimisation involves understanding what motivates your users, making it as easy as possible for them to take the desired action, and keeping track of how well your efforts are paying off.

The Advantages of Combining SEO and CRO

While SEO focuses on improving your website's visibility and ranking on search engines, CRO focuses on optimizing your website's user experience to convert visitors into leads and customers.

SEO and CRO work together to create a seamless user experience that is both easily discoverable and easy to navigate. By merging these two powerful strategies, you can:

• Enhance your website ranking: Optimising your website for search engines and users boosts your chances of ranking higher in search results. This can attract more traffic and translate to higher conversion rates.

• Deliver a superior user experience: By providing a better user experience, you can increase the likelihood that users will stay on your site and convert. A good user experience includes easy navigation, relevant content, and a smooth checkout process.

• Attract more targeted traffic: Optimising your website for specific keywords can attract more targeted traffic that is likely to convert.

Focusing on search engine visibility and user experience ensures that your website reaches the right audience and that those visitors are taking the desired action, whether filling out a form, making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.

Ways to Merge SEO and CRO for Higher Conversion

There are many ways to combine SEO and CRO to boost conversions. Here are a few ways to do it:

Conduct keyword research to ensure your website is optimised for the correct search terms.

Identify the keywords and phrases that potential customers use to find your products or services and then incorporate those keywords and phrases into your website content, meta tags, and other elements. This aims to improve your search engine rankings and drive more targeted traffic to your site.

For example, if you're selling handmade jewellery, you might target keywords like "handmade jewellery," "unique jewellery," "artistic jewellery," and so on.

Optimise your website's landing pages for conversions. 

Create landing pages to encourage visitors to take a specific action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. Use persuasive copy, clear calls to action, and eye-catching design elements. 

If you're selling a product on your website, you might create a landing page that features the product, along with a clear call-to-action button inviting visitors to "Buy Now."

Improve the user experience (UX) of your website. 

A positive user experience can have a significant impact on conversions. You do this by ensuring that your website is easy to navigate, has a clear and consistent design, and provides relevant and valuable information to the user. This can also include elements such as a mobile-responsive design, easy-to-use forms, and intuitive navigation.

Suppose you have an e-commerce website. You might improve your website's UX by including a search bar, straightforward navigation, and easy-to-use filters to help users find the products visitors are looking for more quickly and easily.

Use A/B testing to optimise your website's design and content. 

A/B testing plays a crucial role in boosting website conversions by allowing website owners to make data-driven decisions about design and messaging elements that impact conversion rates.

By randomly splitting visitors into two groups and showing each group a different version of a web page or marketing campaign, A/B testing provides insights into which elements drive the best results in terms of conversion rate.

For example, an A/B test may be used to determine whether a red "Buy Now" button is more effective than a green one, or whether a more persuasive headline leads to higher conversions. Based on the results of the test, you can then make informed decisions about which elements to implement on your site.

Use heatmaps and analytics tools to track user behaviour on your website. 

By tracking how visitors interact with your website, you can identify areas of improvement and opportunities to optimise your website for conversions. 

You can use heatmaps to track where visitors click on your website and then use that data to optimise your website's layout and calls to action.

Optimise your website's meta tags and title tags. 

Meta tags and title tags are the text that appears in the search engine results and gives users an idea of what the website is about. Optimising these tags by using descriptive language along with the target keywords can improve your search engine rankings and drive more targeted traffic to your site. 

For example, you might optimise your title tags to include keywords relevant to your products or services, such as "Handmade Jewelry - Unique and Artistic Pieces."

Use structured data to make your website more search engine-friendly. 

Structured data is a standardised format for organising and annotating website content to help search engines understand the content and context of a page. It provides search engines with additional information about a page's content, such as the type of content (e.g., article, product, event), the main topic, the author, and any other relevant information.

This information can then be used by search engines to display rich snippets in the search results, such as ratings, reviews, images, and other relevant information. The use of structured data can also improve a website's visibility in search results, increase click-through rates, and provide users with more relevant and helpful information.

Optimise your website's loading time. 

Website speed and mobile responsiveness are critical factors in both SEO and CRO. A faster loading time can improve the user experience and help to increase conversions. You can optimise images, use a content delivery network (CDN), and minify code. 

You can optimise images by compressing them, using a content delivery network (CDN) to reduce the server load, and minifying code to reduce the size of your website's files.

Also, ensure your website loads quickly and is optimised for desktop and mobile devices. 

Use retargeting to reach potential customers who have previously visited your website. 

This can be an effective way to bring potential customers back to your site and increase conversions.

Use internal linking to guide visitors to relevant content 

Use internal links to refer visitors to other relevant pages on your website. This can improve the user experience, keep visitors on your site for longer, and potentially increase conversions.

CRO and SEO are closely intertwined because one only works with the other. SEO is a prerequisite for CRO success, as it helps establish site traffic. In the absence of organic traffic, generating conversions can be a tricky proposition. Visitors want to be sent to fast, relevant pages with high-quality design and content.

In short, SEO is about increasing the number of visits to your website. You can optimise it with CRO, which helps you handle these visitors once they visit your website and enter your sales funnel.

Instead of weighing the pros and cons of CRO and SEO, consider taking an integrated marketing approach. Make sure you work to target specific keywords that will drive more qualified visitors to your site while leveraging CRO split tests to keep them there. These tests also help improve your SEO rank. Finding a good balance between the two is essential for long-term success, and it's often difficult for everyone involved.

Our agency is transforming businesses' digital presence through the strategic use of SEO and CRO. In today's fast-paced digital landscape, staying ahead of the curve and making the most of every opportunity is essential. Our team of experts knows how to do just that. We have the knowledge and experience to help you increase your visibility in search engines, optimize your website for conversions and drive sustainable growth. Let us help you transform your digital presence and convert more potential customers. Contact us today.