1. If you pay any attention to trends in modern business, then you’ve no doubt heard the term ‘Conversion
Optimization’ by now. It’s an old concept, but the massive increase in available data for business owners
and marketing teams means massive changes in the optimization game. A modern marketer can see every
step on the path to conversion or failure, often in real time, with the right tools. And with those tools and
others, that same marketer can refine their pipeline into a highly tuned, extremely effective conversion
machine. In this article, we’ll be discussing conversion optimization starting at the basics and working
our way through metrics, tools, and advanced applications of the concept—so read on and learn what the
noise is about.
Definition. Also known as conversion rate optimization (CRO), conversion optimization is a
methodology utilized in internet marketing to reduce bounce rate (the rate of customers leaving the site
within a few seconds), optimize site layout to direct customers down conversion paths, and greatly
improve the ratio of visitors to buyers. It should be noted that conversion optimization typically exists as
an ongoing process, a regular tweaking of content and layout based on collected data.
Important metrics. There are a number of important metrics you’ll need to be aware of to implement
conversion optimization in your business; without concrete data, you simply can’t do the sort of fine­
tuning the process demands. That means collecting, analyzing, and acting to change these metrics (we’ll
discuss how to do those things in a moment):
Overall Bounce Rate
Conversion Rate
Area­by­Area Bounce Rate
Common Visitor Paths (Home Page­>About Us­>Bounce, or Article­>Author Bio­>Article­
>Convert)
Return Visitor Rates
ROI on Sales, Promotions, Etc.
Conversion rate optimization isn’t about guessing or hunches, or bringing in as many visitors as possible
no matter the quality of those visits. It’s about taking the numbers, breaking them down, and making
every visit worth your and the customer’s time. Hard data rules the day.
Analysis. There are any number of ways to collect the metrics you need for informed, effective
conversion optimization. For online purposes, there are many analytics­focused software suites that do
exactly that with minimal configuration, interfacing with your website and reporting any information you
might need.
Actions to Optimize. There are any number of ways to optimize your conversion channels on your, but
you’re best off starting with the simple, tried, and true method of split testing. If you’re unfamiliar with
the concept, split testing is performed by making an adjustment to your layout, content, etc., then
splitting your visitors between the two possibilities and recording the results.
With a website, this is a trivially performed action, as a single link can redirect visitors to two or more
wholly different websites if you like. Most metric­recording software will come by default with tools for
recording the results of split testing, making this even more trivial with digital sales channels.
When split testing is impossible or undesirable, you’re left with change­and­check methods; adjust, read
the data, react. You will likely benefit from research on conversion optimization specific to your industry
and business model, so don’t forget your research.
Advanced Conversion Optimization. Advanced levels of conversion optimization differ little from

2. beginner optimization in form, changing only in scope. When you’re ready to truly optimize for
conversions, you need to take big chances and invest in possibilities. Split testing entirely different
websites, targeted at different demographics. There are really no limits to split testing and improving
your conversion rates; you’ll never hit 100% visitors converting, but you can edge closer and make more
of your converting visitors return for more. The best businesses never stop optimizing.