Conversion rate optimization is all the rage these days, but what is it, and why is it important that you hire an expert conversion optimization consultant to implement it? In this article, we look at exactly that.

Why does your business need conversion rate optimization, and how do you choose the best conversion rate optimization consultant?

Pro Tip: If you want to skip the research and cut straight to getting great advice from multi-award-winning CRO experts, then click through to the JMarketing Enquiry page, and leave your details for a personalized assessment of how you can influence consumer behavior and drive more business online!

WHAT IS CRO?
First things first, what is conversion rate optimization (CRO)?

Contrary to what the name might suggest, CRO is not actually about optimizing conversion rates. It’s about better marketing, better understanding customers, and ultimately about increasing profits by building a better website. CRO identifies weak spots in your website; it comes up with potential solutions, tests them to see what works best, and ultimately implements the best of the best. All of this is done with one goal in mind — increasing profits.

WHY DO YOU NEED A CRO CONSULTANT? IT WORTH IT?
There are many reasons why websites don’t perform as they should, including:

• Terrible looking website
• Moving images on the screen
• Doesn’t sell outcomes
• No obvious next step call to action near the top of page
• Not clear what value they provide
• Looks spammy
• Incorrect grammar
• No specific examples
• DIY landing page builders

But you think your website is beautiful, sales are ticking over at a fair pace, and you don’t really see a problem with it (and you don’t know what a lot of that jargon means)? So why should you pay someone to change it?

Seeing it this way is understandable — if it’s not broken, why fix it, right?

But there’s a good chance that your website isn’t generating as many sales as it can. We’re willing to bet big that your website can sell a whole lot more than you can ever imagine! CRO is the answer and to get the best out of CRO, you need a specialized conversion rate optimisation consultant!

Here are six reasons why hiring a CRO consultant can be the best business decision you make this year:

1. CRO is an extremely specialized field
Despite what many websites will lead you to believe, CRO is not just a couple of best practices that you can implement yourself, because no two websites are the same.

CRO consultants are experts who use special conversion-focused, persuasive design, copywriting, and analytics and insights to pinpoint exactly where your website can be improved upon to generate maximum profit.

All of this is driven by data, carefully developed and finely tuned processes, and years of experience.

2. CRO consultants understand user psychology
To implement effective CRO you need to ask a lot of questions. Questions like: ‘why do people buy your products?’, ‘How much do they trust you?’, ‘What causes people to leave your site?’, ‘Why do people leave items in their cart without actually buying them?’, and so on.

What questions to ask and how to interpret the answers require a knowledge and understanding of user psychology. You need to get into the user’s head to figure out what will make them buy from you, or buy more! Conversion rate optimization consultants know exactly how to use this to maximum effect.

3. CRO consultants test, test, and test
A key element of conversion rate optimization is testing. Understanding user psychology is not enough, you need to test ideas in real-world scenarios. CRO consultants know what to test, how to test, and when to test.

4. CRO consultants can build a strategy
Conversion rate optimization consultants use the results from testing, insights, analytics, and other consumer data to not only develop highly optimized websites but also conversion strategies.

Building an optimized website is great, but there needs to be an optimization strategy in place to take it beyond the launch. CRO is not a one-off exercise, it’s ongoing, and no two strategies are the same. CRO consultants develop robust strategies that are specifically tailored to your business goals and needs. They understand that conversion is about more than just generating more traffic.

5. CRO consultants give guidance
The best CRO consultants don’t just come in, optimize your website, build a strategy, then leave. They provide guidance and support to help you implement and manage the CRO strategy and ensure your website is always optimized to you reach your business goals, even if they change.

6. CRO consultants are objective
One of the greatest advantages of hiring a conversion rate optimization consultant is their objective perspective. They look at your website without preconceptions, which allows them to spot problem areas and elements. Their objectivity ensures that they focus on what needs to be done to improve conversions.

To give you an idea of the difference this can make, below is an example of one of JMarketing’s client websites before and after they hired us to do conversion rate optimisation work. Needless to say, the client saw a big boost in conversions after we optimised the homepage.

Before CRO

After CRO

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN HIRING A CRO CONSULTANT
Many people call themselves CRO experts, but most are not. They will promise the world, then take your money and leave you with a terrible (or no) return on investment.

So how do you make sure you choose a real expert conversion rate optimisation consultant?

Experience, examples & testimonials
Conversion rate optimisation consultants worth their salt have years of proven experience. They can show you real-world examples of previous projects, as well as numbers that prove their success, with testimonials of actual customers to back it up.

A solid framework and process
Expert CRO consultants have carefully developed frameworks, processes, and methodologies that are adaptable and deliver great results. They explain the process from the beginning so you have an understanding of exactly what they are doing, and what you’re investing your money into.

Great communication (from the start)
Conversion rate optimization is an ongoing process, thus having a good relationship with your CRO consultant is important. Excellent CRO consultants know this and have great communication from the very first consultation. You want to be able to have frank discussions about the project, both good and bad.

They practice what they preach
One of the best ways to see whether a CRO consultant knows what they’re doing is to check out their website. What does it look like? Does the site do what they tell you your site must do? Does their website make you want to hire them?

BEST CRO EXPERTS
Like anything, you often get what you pay for. Below is a list of some of the most highly recommended conversion rate optimization consultants. These are trusted brands that have been in the market for years. While these consultants charge a premium, you can be certain they deliver results.

• PRWD
• Conversion
• Fresh Egg
• CXL
• Tangent

The great thing about the connected world we live in today is that you can employ the absolute best experts in the world, no matter where they (or you) are.

If you want your business to make the most money it possibly can, then conversion rate optimization is critical. CRO is a complex, multi-step process that requires experts to do it properly and deliver its fullest potential. Choosing the right one can mean the difference between so-so sales and exceptional profits!

Want a cheaper highly effective solution?
JMarketing is among the most awarded agencies for their high converting landing pages targeting a price-conscious market. Our solutions are founded on award-winning consumer psychology, which you can read about in our free eBook ‘The Digital Marketing Playbook’.

Want to take your digital marketing results to the next level? Enquire with JMarketing today and receive a free review of your current structure and the easy next steps to enhance your results.