The Conversion Optimization Process for High Converting Websites

Have you ever rebuilt a landing page or updated a website, only to realize that web conversions are low or non-existent?

It’s more common than you think, which is why we’re sharing the exact conversion rate optimization process and CRO strategies we use at Conversion Sciences to optimize ecommerce pages, conversion funnels, digital marketing campaigns, and more. 

In this guide, you’ll learn core elements of the conversion rate optimization process:

• The biggest reason you’re struggling to get people to take the desired action you ask for on your site (It’s not what you think!)
• The steps of conversion rate optimization (CRO), and why they matter
• How to generate test ideas (or hypotheses, as we like to call them) that can improve pages with lower conversion rates
• How to prioritize those ideas based on their ability to drive results
• The exact process our conversion experts use to develop messaging and web designs that convert
• Tips for experimenting and split testing to ensure your optimization efforts pay off

Note: If you’re looking for marketing strategies, how to set up Google Analytics, a list of CRO tools, or even the benefits of conversion rate optimization, we have those for you as well. But in this guide, we’re inviting you into the lab so you can see how experienced optimizers do their job: generating ideas that are worth testing and then getting those ideas ready for AB testing. 

After learning the optimization strategies we reveal here, you’ll know how professional optimizers design pages that persuade people to fill out your forms, improve your checkout process, or simply take the desired action for that page. 

Of course, if this feel like too much work and you’d prefer fully-managed conversion optimization services, we can help with that as well.

Why Website Conversion Rates Aren’t What They Ought to Be

In a minute, I’ll walk you through the website design process we use to improve conversions for our clients. But first, we need to acknowledge the elephant room: confirmation bias.

Confirmation bias, is just one of the biases our brains use, causing us to favor information that aligns with our existing beliefs or hypotheses while disregarding or undervaluing evidence that contradicts them. CRO is designed to combat this.

Confirmation bias is everywhere, even the conversion lab. That’s why we need the conversion rate optimization process.

We struggle to build websites, landing pages, and digital experiences that convert because we like to take shortcuts.

Our brains are always looking for the shortest route possible when making decisions. As marketers, that means we tend to put things on our sites that worked for us in the past and to avoid things that didn’t work in the past, regardless of what our customers need and want. 

We need to find a way to circumvent our biases so we can include the page elements our visitors want and exclude the elements they don’t want — so we can get the results we’re looking for. 

That’s where science comes in

For centuries, science — including conversion optimization — has been used to get our biases out of the way so we can make better decisions and drive higher conversion rates. 

For marketers, that means discovering what’s really going on with our visitors. We do that by thinking like a behavioral scientist — using people’s behaviors to determine what their pain points are and what they like and don’t like.

We just need to formalize that process to keep confirmation bias out of the picture — which is where the scientific method comes into play. Instead of designing a page we think will convert, we run experiments and tests to build a page that actually converts. 

Here’s what the scientific process looks like when applied to the CRO web design process:

• Do some research.
• Generate and prioritize some ideas. 
• Select an idea.
• Design a change to our landing page to test our promising idea. 
• Run the experiment. 
• Listen to what the data says.
• Evaluate and learn.
• Iterate: Generate more ideas, investigate, test, listen, repeat.

When we follow this process, we can keep ourselves honest. Instead of adopting the highest paid bias in the room or relying on the biases of an expert designer, we can experiment to increase conversions on the website or marketing campaign.

Now, let’s look at how our Conversion Scientists® do that.

The (Science-Based) CRO Process for High Converting Websites

Most people think conversion optimization and conversion focused web design is about AB testing. And yes, optimizers love AB testing. It’s a core feature of the conversion optimization process. But in reality, we deal with ideas.

When a page is not performing as expected, the first step is to identify why. We have to generate ideas and conduct research to identify the underlying issues.

The insights you gain from this process help you understand the website visitor on a deeper level. You come away with better ideas for how you can improve the user experience for them. You also understand what it will take to improve conversions and sales. 

I’ve condensed the scientific process into five actionable steps you can take to improve your average conversion rate — erasing any worries about confirmation bias or mental shortcuts.

The Optimizer’s Process: How to Optimize Your Website or Landing Page

• Generate Optimization Ideas
• Prioritize Ideas
• Develop the Messaging
• Design the Page for Conversions
• Test and Optimize

Step 1. Generate Optimization Ideas

Improving a webpage starts with ideas about what’s not working right or what can be improved on the website or web page. For example:

• Put a call to action at the top of [this landing page].
• Redesign [this page] because it’s too cluttered.
• Let’s produce videos for all of our products to show how they get used.

We call these ideas hypotheses, and you want to collect as many ideas as you can that could potentially boost conversions. Here are some sources for generating test ideas:

Data You Already Have

Use data from ad platforms and paid search to understand what language and offers get attention.

A/B Testing

Conduct A/B tests to determine if an idea will improve conversions.

Before and After Testing (BA Testing)

Compare performance of changes made to a page or site to a similar period before the change. This method doesn’t control for external factors like market changes.

Online Focus Groups

Use online focus groups to get input from a larger number of people. Use this to narrow down messaging and design options.

Surveys

Conduct surveys of customers or prospects to answer important questions about their motivations, needs, and questions.

Analytics

Analyze website analytics to discover problem areas, evaluate traffic sources, grade landing pages and much more.

Site Feedback

Collect feedback from your website visitors to help identify why they are struggling.

Chat Transcripts

Review chat transcripts to discover common questions that your website could perhaps answer better.

Talk to Salespeople and Customer Service Reps

Salespeople and service reps can tell you the kinds of questions customers and prospects are asking when they talk.

Authoritative Blogs

Look at industry blogs for ideas that have worked for others and for research.

Customer Knowledge

Use your own experience and knowledge of your customers to generate ideas.

By collecting ideas in this way, you will void the brainstorming sessions that provide only limited ideas and hypotheses. These sessions can help generate ideas, but suffer from the biases of the group. Instead, use a structured CRO approach to choose the right ideas to research and test.

As you gather ideas, add them to a spreadsheet like this one. 

Download Conversion Sciences’ Hypothesis Prioritization Framework spreadsheet here:

• Google Docs
• Excel

Start by capturing your ideas in the “Hypothesis” column.

For each idea, record:

• The page or section it appears on
• The design element on the page you want to address (component)
• Write the idea in hypothesis format.

The Hypothesis Format

If I [hypothesis], I expect [behavior] to change as measured by [metric].

Then put that idea into one of five buckets that describe its impact on the page’s performance:

1. Messaging
2. Layout/UX
3. Credibility
4. Social proof
5. Security
6. Fix it (e.g., the page is broken)

You should have ideas for each of these five buckets. 

Step 2. Prioritize Your Ideas

Once you’ve collected your ideas, evaluate them on a scale of 1 to 5 based on the following criteria:

1. Evidence: How much evidence supports the idea.
2. Impact: The potential impact of the idea.
3. Effort: The level of effort required to implement the idea.
4. Traffic: How much traffic is affected.
5. ROI: The potential return on investment.

Being consistent with the way you rate each of these ideas is more important than being accurate with your rating.

Time is an issue when you’re optimizing website performance. We can’t test everything, and in truth, not all good ideas are worth pursuing. So how do you identify the ideas you don’t want to spend time on? We’ll start by deprioritizing the ideas that aren’t worth testing

Here are four reasons to kill a good idea:

1. Too Few People Will See It: If not enough traffic sees the change, it’s not worth testing. 

• It’s on a page that doesn’t get a lot of traffic
• It’s in the footer, and heat maps tells you that people don’t scroll that far

To rise to the top of your list, the change should be very visible or in a key location.

If an idea is not visible, score it lower.

2. It’s too Much Work: Ideas that require a lot of website design, video production, or development pull a lot of resources before you know they will work. 

If the idea requires too much preparation, score it lower.

3. It’s too Small of an Idea: The idea needs to have a significant impact to score highly.

Changing one word in a headline may not have enough of an impact. However, there are small changes that could make a large impact. For example, on this product page for the Paul Frederick website, we added a little guarantee statement next to the “Add to Bag” button. 

A small change can have a big impact.

This looks like a small change, but it’s next to the CTA, which is a high-impact design element. Visually, it appears to be low impact, but it delivered an 11% lift in an AB test.

If an idea has the potential to make a big impact, score it higher.

4. You don’t have any supporting Data: You need evidence that you’re addressing a real problem that, if addressed, could improve conversion rates. As a result, you need to find data that supports your hypothesis and justifies an experiment.

Turn to your conversion rate optimization tools, customer research, and competitive research for this:

• Analytics
• Customer surveys
• Site feedback
• Chat transcripts
• Sales conversations
• Support conversations
• Competitor websites and campaigns 

The more evidence you can find to support your idea, the higher it will rise on your list.

Step 3. Select a high-ranking idea and design a test

Once you’ve prioritized your ideas, you’re ready to begin experimenting. Having the right messaging and value proposition is table stakes for any persuasive website. This is a good place to start.

Example: Testing Copy

Keep in mind, testing long versus short copy will only get you so far. Instead, test different ways of writing copy to engage the greatest number of visitors.  

There are four personalities that you need to optimize for, and they align with four research modes outlined in Brian and Jeffrey Eisenbert’s book, Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? I talk in depth about these buyer personas here, but let’s look at a quick overview:

Competitives 

• Decision making: quick and logical
• Expectation: Help them make a smart decision quickly. 
• Their learning mode: “I need to know what’s in it for me.”
• Tip: Put key information at the top of the page.
• Myers-Briggs equivalent: NT

Methodicals 

• Decision making: deliberate and  logical
• Expectation: Give them enough information to make their own decision. 
• Their learning mode: “I understand the processes and details.”
• Tip: Include a logical navigation that helps them find additional pages with more information.
• Myers-Briggs equivalent: SJ

Humanists

• Decision making: deliberate and emotional
• Expectation: To know, like, and trust you, as a company. 
• Their learning mode: “I want to know how I will feel if I take action.”
• Tip: Use social proof and trust symbols on the page.
• Myers-Briggs equivalent: NF

Spontaneous 

• Decision making: quick and emotional  
• Expectation: The basic information they need to take action, and an obvious way to respond quickly. 
• Their learning mode: “I tend to just give things a try.”
• Tip: Put the call-to-action form in the hero area.
• Myers-Briggs equivalent: SP

Be aware, when you craft your web copy, you will be battling your own biases. I’m a very humanist writer. My head of content is more of a competitive. Both of us write copy from our own quadrants.

But there are workarounds that we use to design messaging that appeals to everyone who visits the website. 

How to Optimize a Page to Speak to All Modalities

Here’s an example of a page from our website that attempts to speak to all four types.

Unfortunately, when we try to speak to everyone, we end up speaking to no one.

Conversion-optimized messaging will appeal to the personality types of your target buyers. So start by evaluating your ideal buyers against the four personality types I listed above. That may be all four types or just a few. For example, at Conversion Sciences, our clients don’t align with the Myers-Briggs “SP” personality, so we don’t optimize for that.

Once you’ve identified the personalities you need to engage with, you can use this process to rewrite the copy to align with other modalities.

1. Write the web as you normally would.

As I mentioned above, your copywriter will likely write from their own modality. That’s okay. Just make sure it’s persuasive copy that can drive visitors to take a desired action.

2. Rewrite the copy in another voice.

This has always been a challenge for writers. We tend to write in our own style and have difficulty writing for the specific modes.

With AI, however, this is easy. Since AI recognizes the Myer’s Brigg’s personality types, you can ask it to rewrite your copy in another voice to ensure it appeals to these modalities:

• Competitive: NT
• Methodical: SJ
• Humanist: NF
• Spontaneous: SP

For instance, if you’re a humanist writer (an NF) like me, you’ll ask AI to rewrite the copy for another modality. 

“Please rewrite this copy for a digital marketer who has an SJ Myers Briggs Type.”

Note: One of the best GPTs for copywriting is Claude, though Google’s Gemini was recently found to outperform ChatGPT. AI is evolving quickly and “what’s best” is likely to change. So use whatever tool you’re most comfortable with.

3. Rewrite the copy again for each personality.

This gives you substantially different versions of the same web copy, and that’s exactly what you want when we’re AB testing messaging. We want very different results, so we can get make big impacts.

4. Create a variation of the copy that could appeal to all personalities.

Take elements from the winning variations of the copy you generated above and consolidate them into one version that speaks to all personalities.

This process helps you create messaging that’s specifically designed to increase the percentage of people who convert, since it speaks to every visitor’s personality type. Once you have conversion-optimized copy, you’re ready to focus on the design of the page.

Note: You need to check AI outputs because they can hallucinate, making claims in your copy that aren’t true. Use a diff checker like Editpad to see where the AI is making changes to your copy.

Step 4. Designing landing pages that convert

When a visitor opens a landing page, we want them to know two things:

Number one, we want them to know they’re in the right place. So the landing page has to keep the promise that was made in the ad, email, or social media post that brought them to the page.

Number two,  we want to give them a reason to read on. Highlight something that is unique or unexpected about your product or brand. Make them curious about how you solve a problem or make a product unique.

We also want them to know we’re asking them to do something. It needs to be clear, visually that there’s a next step in their journey with us.

Good web design ensures nothing on the page distracts users from achieving the goal you’ve set for them on the page, whether that’s to fill out a form, make a purchase, or click a button.

But when most people hear the term “designing landing pages” or “website design,” they tend to focus on the layout, colors, fonts and images. They aren’t thinking about the conversion potential of a page.

Remember, we want a conversion-focused website design that draws the visitors’ to the information that builds the value proposition of the page or site. Designers use techniques that create a visual hierarchy, leading the eye through the page in a way that highlights key messages and calls to action. 

We’ve trained our design teams to design for the business executives, not the business’s customers.

Keep in mind, like the rest of the optimization team, designers have their own confirmation biases. They’re likely to create a visual design based on their own preferences. When they’re done, they’ll bring in an executive and other people on the team who review the landing page or website’s design — who will ask for changes based on their biases.

At the end of the day, this process will result in a webpage that works for the organization, but not necessarily the end user. 

Conversion designers, like conversion copywriters, know how to design for conversion. They understand their own biases. They understand the importance of the user experience and to use design to help you meet your conversion goals. 

Here are some of the tools designers will use to create a successful visual hierarchy for a conversion-focused page design. This will provide a better user experience and boost your conversion rate:

• White space – can make an element stand out. Often used around your call to action, so it bumps up in the visual hierarchy
• Negative space – providing blank spaces that guide the user’s eyes.
• Font size and coloring – can be used to communicate key messages when visitors scan the page. 
• Juxtaposition – putting design elements together in a way that amplifies the message
• Color – color is a powerful way to make page elements like buttons “pop.” 
• Highlights – making the pieces of your value proposition and messaging that drive conversions stand out

But conversion-focused web design doesn’t stop there. You also need to think about how you can visually communicate credibility, authority, and trustworthiness.  Here are a few ideas:

Credibility signals:

• The number of years you’ve been in business
• The number of products you’ve sold
• Your experience
• Your awards
• Membership in industry associations 
• Trust organizations, such as the Better Businses Bureau

Social proof signals:

• Testimonials from happy customers
• Ratings and reviews
• Mentions by media outlets, like Forbes or Inc.
• Customer logos

Risk reversal elements:

• Links to your privacy policy
• A lock symbol on your order button
• A guarantee or return policy

Value proposition:

• A navigation bar that answers, “Am I in the right place?”
• Logo, company name, and tagline in the top banner
• Make key product/service categories visible in the navigation bar

Step 5. Test and Optimize

By now, you’ve already done the hardest parts of an optimizer’s job. You’ve created some ideas for optimizing the performance of the page. You’ve developed messaging that speaks to every personality and learning modality represented by your ideal customer. And you’ve used used a design approach that can lift landing page conversion.

You’re ready to start running experiments and AB tests and letting your data guide your decisions. 

The conversion rate optimization process at work

To help, we’ve created this guide that covers everything you need to know about AB testing. Read it next if you want to starting experimenting — or if you’d prefer to get some professional help, explore our conversion optimization services.

Before starting any tests, however, it’s important to adopt the right mindset. So I’m going to give you a quick look inside the optimizer’s brain. (Scary, I know!) 

Optimizers are only concerned with two questions:

1. Am I in the right place for what I’m trying to do or for the problem I’m trying to solve?
2. Is there a reason for me to keep reading?

When your visitors arrive at your website, they immediately scan the page to answer the first question. This is why you website design needs to make it easy to understand what your website is about. 

It’s also why functional headlines work better than clever headlines. For example, which of these headlines makes you understand where you are?

• “A Place of New Beginnings”
• “Addiction Torments the Addict and Their Loves Ones”

You might find the first headline on any number of websites: from a hospital’s maternity page to a home builder’s website. The second one is obviously from an addiction treatment center.

That orients the visitor. They either leave or stay because they know they’re in the right place. Now they try to answer question 2: Is there a reason to keep reading?

To answer that question, they scan your headlines, subhead, and navigation labels. They’re looking for that one part of your value proposition that says, “There’s something different here, something you need to understand.” 

This is why your unique selling proposition should be clearly communicated on every page of your website. It should also be subtly conveyed through your messaging and graphics. 

For example, at Conversion Sciences, our use of the scientific method sets us apart from other CRO agencies. Because of that, we infuse every page with scientific ideas and the scientific method. Science is in our DNA. And if you spend enough time on our website, you’ll understand that. We even call our optimizers Conversion Scientists and have trademarked the name.

Your visitors are looking for your DNA, so you need to communicate it on every page of your website. That means you’ll avoid “lazy design.” By that, I mean:

• Copy that’s written by AI alone, without human editing
• Landing page builders with generic templates
• Stock photos
• Novel design trends
• Design services that focus primarily on how the page looks

Stock photos are a big issue for me. Most websites show images of people smiling, walking through the park, or typing on a laptop. These are “lifestyle images” that don’t move the value proposition forward. 

They don’t express your unique DNA.

I could talk for hours about this (and I do in my workshops). But I’ll save it for another article.

For now, I want you to start thinking like an optimizer. To do that, you’ll prioritize the two questions above. You’ll evaluate your website by how well it answers those two questions. And you’ll redesign your website and build new pages with those same two questions in mind.

Then, when running experiments and tests for conversion-focused web design, follow these two tips to get better conversion rates:

Increase Sample Size: Ensure your experiments have a large enough sample size for reliable results. I talk more about that in this article on behavioral data.

Increase the Quality of Experiments: Focus on conducting high-quality experiments with impactful hypotheses and a methodology that keeps your program from getting derailed.

Optimize for the right things: You want to improve the number of conversions, or actions taken by your customers. But the best way to do that is to optimize your conversion rate (the number of conversions as a percentage of the total sample size). 

The Conversion Rate Optimization Process: Key to High Converting Websites 

Conversion rate optimization is an ongoing process that requires a scientific approach. Otherwise, you’ll fall prey to confirmation biases that lower your conversion potential.

By following the CRO process I’ve shared here, you can significantly improve your conversion rates, website performance, and business growth.

Embrace the scientific method, leverage available data, and continually test and refine your strategies to achieve the best results. Ready to take a data-first approach to your business growth? Let’s talk about how our Conversion Scientists® can apply our proven approach to conversion optimization to your website. Schedule your free consultation here.

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Brian Massey

Conversion Scientist™ at Conversion Sciences

Brian Massey is the Founder and Conversion Scientist™ at Conversion Sciences, a sought-after international speaker, and author of Your Customer Creation Equation. He is passionate about transforming websites through a steady diet of visitor profiling, purposeful content, analytics, and AB testing.

Expertise: conversion rate optimization, AB testing, marketing strategy, digital marketing, analytics, landing page design, computer programming, entrepreneurship

Speaking: IBM, Inbound, LeadsCon, Content Marketing World, Affiliate Summit, and more

Books and Training: Your Conversion Creation Equation, Video CRO, Marketing Videos that Convert, CRO Best Practices

As Seen On: ClickZ, Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, Conversion Sciences Blog, Intended Consequences podcast

Education: Texas A&M University, BS Computer Science and Management

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