Why SEO and Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Should Always Go Together

Your website has only ONE job. And that’s to drive traffic. But not just any traffic, mind you, but high-quality, high-converting traffic that translates into leads, and if we’re lucky, sales. Because without this kind of traffic, then what’s the point?Why bother having a website in the first place?Imagine you have to pay for your domain, your hosting plan, and maybe even someone for its maintenance.Without high-quality traffic, your website would be useless. You might as well stick to a free Facebook page. But a website DOES matter. It’s your business card on the internet, after all, and makes your business appear more legitimate and trustworthy.So what can we do to make sure that it does its job? Read on to find out.

The sole purpose of SEO is to drive traffic to a website—this is a myth

Traffic in and of itself doesn’t have intrinsic value. Because anybody and everybody can come to your website, but if they’re not your target audience, then it’s pointless. So, traffic has to convert. It has to translate to a sale, or at the very least, an inquiry.And this is why your website needs Content Rate Optimization (CRO).

The goal of any site is to keep visitors on it for as long as possible

Simply put, CRO is about understanding what drives your visitors to your website and what barriers drive them away. The goal of any site is to keep visitors on it for as long as possible, so they will see the value that it provides. So it’s your job to make it an excellent experience for them.Make it effortless for them to move down your marketing funnel. For example, you intend to collect visitors’ emails for future marketing purposes. Make it easy for them to sign up for your newsletter or grab your freebie. Don’t give them a long form to fill out just to provide you with their email address. A form asking for their first name and email would do.

Different Conversion Rates (CRs) depending on the marketing channel and industry

SEO marketing will have a different CR than paid media (Google or Facebook ads) and email marketing and social media. These channels will have different CRs, owing to the different audiences they attract.Different industries may also have a different CR. For instance, manufacturing industries will probably have a different CR than SaaS (software as a service) companies or the beauty industry.Lead generation websites will also have different CRs than eCommerce websites.

If CRO is so important, why are people NOT talking about it?

It’s already obvious that SEO has one of the highest conversion rates, and it’s one of the most powerful drivers of high-quality traffic.But with all the fuss over SEO, what about CRO? Why are people not paying much attention to the latter?The reason behind that is simple. And it’s because most marketers claim to know all about CRO, but they only have a vague idea on how to go about it—if at all.CRO is also harder to package and sell. It’s difficult to guarantee results, especially by marketers who don’t know what they’re doing.Plus, talking about CRO and its benefits isn’t as sexy as saying, “I have 20k website visits or views.”

If you want to get the most out of your website and you want more conversions, what you need is a CRO specialist.

So, if you want to get the most out of your website and you want more conversions, what you need is a CRO specialist, not a digital marketing generalist. Now, we know how it can be challenging to spot the difference between the two, so here are a few pointers:

• CRO specialists talk with extreme detail. They’ll even pinpoint tiny details about layouts, buttons, and placement of text.
• On the other hand, generalists gloss over the tiny details and will be more likely to talk about CRO in a general sense—using common and typical CRO terms.

To sum it up…. 

SEO is important for sure, and it is necessary. You still need to drive traffic to your website, and the best organic approach is through powerful SEO strategies. CRO, on the other hand? It’s essential. If SEO is the driving force of traffic to your website, CRO will help your traffic convert. If you have a well-planned strategy when launching both SEO and CRO campaigns, you’ll find that you’ll see better results with less effort. Thanks for reading! Then follow me on Twitter: @colinmelia1 If you don’t want to miss more marketing guides (like this one), please join my newsletter.

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