How to Use A/B Testing and Conversion Rate Optimization to Improve Your SEO and Generate More Leads and Sales

Intro

We know this sounds like a cliched, over-used statement, but the marketing industry is really looking like the poster child of the peak digital revolution.

Strategies like changing CTA button colors for A/B tests and sending card abandonment emails for conversion rate optimization, which were once treated as the magnum opus to generate leads and sales, are now being taught as the basics of digital marketing.

So, it’s time to adapt to the technologies around us and use strategies like A/B tests and conversion rate optimization in ways that'll‌ help us acquire leads. Because let’s face it. Changing your action buttons from green to red isn’t cutting it anymore.

On that note, let’s dig in.

1. Don’t forget to cover the basics

Before we even dive in to understand the whole shebang on how to do A/B testing/conversion rate optimization, let’s first cover the basics by looking at whether we’re‌ delivering on UX (user experience).

Consider asking yourself the following questions:

• Have I optimized for communications/websites for mobile phones?
• Does my website load fast (especially in comparison to my competitor’s site)?
• Am I integrating the necessary keywords to increase my SEO score?
• Do all my links work? And can I reduce the 404 links on my website?
• Do my social media ads lead to the correct landing page (and do these landing pages communicate the same offer as on the ad)?
• Am I being strategic with my CTA? (The best practice is to create clear CTAs that show the reader your value proposition instead of using something generic like “Click Here.”)
• Does my website have any friction (especially at the checkout page or landing page)?
• What does my website structure look like? Is it easy to navigate?

Image Source

These questions are just the tip of the iceberg. Think about your own experiences interacting with brands — identify what you liked about their website/communications and what you disliked, and consider tailoring your website/communications to offer the same benefits to your audience, too.

Even as an industry veteran, it’s sometimes easy to overlook the minor details of improving UX because you’re focusing on the advanced stuff, so doing a full UX audit might be worth the effort.

2. Look for the conversations your customers are having

Another way to improve your SEO game and get more leads/sales is to optimize your user experiences with dialogues/problems that are familiar to them.

That’s to say, try hanging out at places your customers are at (industry groups, forums, Slack/Facebook communities, etc.) or tap into the raw conversations they have with your client-facing executives (such as sales and support teams).

Image Source

By identifying their dialogues, pain points, challenges, values, backgrounds, etc., you can create an identity resolution for your customer personas and A/B test communication styles that are relevant to them.

This strategy will also help you deliver a unified experience to your audiences, which will de facto help you reach your conversion goals.

3. Use data from your existing systems

A great way to optimize your conversion rates is to leverage the data you might already get from your existing systems, such as your customer relationship management (CRM) tool or Google Analytics.

You can use this data to segment your audiences and provide personalized experiences. Or you can A/B test certain audience segments based on their buying behaviors and share the insights you get from your CRM tools with your sales, marketing, and support teams so they can provide a personalized experience to your customers, too.

To understand the full capabilities of your CRM systems and how you can use them to make strategic decisions, we recommend getting professional help from a CRM consulting partner.

You can also use other tools you might already have in your tech stack, like conversion rate optimization (CRO) software, email marketing solutions, feedback forms, and web analytics tools.

4. Leverage heat maps

A/B testing and conversion rate optimization to refine digital experiences for better outcomes, and heat maps play a crucial role in this process.

Image Source

With heat maps, you can gain insights into user behavior, visually pinpointing areas of engagement and drop-off on web pages. These visual representations enhance the effectiveness of multivariate testing by highlighting which elements need modification or improvement.

These testing tools can also help in identifying where users click, scroll, or linger, allowing marketers to make data-driven decisions during A/B testing and conversion rate optimization, thus enabling you to fine-tune your strategies more effectively

And in the whole scheme of things, you’ll end up generating more leads and sales by aligning their efforts with user preferences and behaviors.

5. Use buyer psychology to your advantage

Buyer psychology can give you an unfair advantage in making your conversion rates shoot up by a mile.

Some common psychology-based tips you can apply are:

• Try using different people with a diverse set of features and backgrounds in your marketing and promotional material (people relate to people who look like them).
• Add raw social proof wherever you can. Consider using your ratings on peer-to-peer review sites, customer testimonials, analyst reports, awards, results, case studies, etc., on your social pages and websites.
• Use precise numbers to get noticed. Use statements like “We saw a difference of 23.8% in productivity” instead of “We noticed an increase in productivity.”

Screenshot by Juwaria Merchant

• Use different emotional motivators for different target audiences. For example, the brand Huel used different types of emotional motivators for different crowds that have different pain points (see attached image).

Screenshot by Juwaria Merchant

6. A/B test on multiple platforms

When we’re A/B testing, we usually test a single variable, for a limited focus group, on a singular platform.

And while the variables and limited focus groups can stay the same (because, hey, we’re creating A/B tests here!), we’d still recommend using different channels/platforms in A/B tests.

For example, if you’re A/B testing your ad copy on your social media ads, you can’t only test out the ad on socials. The landing page it leads to also has to reflect the same messaging.

Or, if you’re A/B testing different colors for your product images, your product can’t look different on two platforms (e.g., your website and your marketplace). Your buyer needs to be able to recognize your product in an instant jiffy.

The point is to provide a synchronized, seamless experience, even if you’re conducting A/B tests.

So, what’s the easiest way to tackle A/B testing? Enter JSON web tokens. JSON web tokens are a type of token that can store information about your users, such as their preferences, behavior, and identity.

You can use JSON web tokens to create personalized and dynamic experiences for your users, such as showing them different content, offers, or layouts based on their profiles.

JSON web tokens can also help you track and measure the results of your experiments and optimize your website accordingly.

7. Check out your competitor’s SEO strategy

Another way to optimize for conversions is to check out your competitor’s SEO strategy. See what’s been working for them and what hasn’t (and check if there’s any way you can capitalize on their audience’s attention).

For example, Ahrefs could capitalize on its competitor’s audience by answering their questions in the search results itself.

Image Source

Another thing you can do is use social listening tools and find out what potential customers like about your competitors and the experiences they’re offering. Based on that, you can create a strategy, learning from your competitors' mistakes and advantages.

For example, you may find that your audience dislikes your competitor’s packaging because of its effects on the environment, so you can write headlines on your page to tell the reader you’re an eco-friendly brand.

8. Ask your audience for their opinion

Finally, you can directly show split testing options to your direct audience and ask for their opinions. This will also allow you to engage with your audiences and make them think their opinions‌ matter to you and that they’re involved in the process.

Consider this post by Tommy Walker as an example, where he asks about background color preferences.

Image Source

He’s directly asked his network (who also make up a huge part of his audience) about the thumbnails they like the most.

And this isn't an isolated incident, either. He’s consistently asked his audience for their feedback (and has almost always received more comments than reactions on his posts).

Image Source

Since his strategy has gotten fruitful results (read: high click-through rates), you can try replicating it by asking your audiences for their opinions. The takeaway? The testing process can take many forms.

Use SEO tools to improve your conversion rate

Remember how we spoke about the marketing industry living at the peak of a digital revolution? Yeah, we’re back to that topic now.

So, here’s the thing: You can find unique ways to A/B test and convert your audiences, but because sooner or later, everyone’s going to have a handle on these strategies, and they’re no longer going to be unique, and we’d be back to square one.

Our solution? Think of all the unique strategies in the world (and even apply them), but at the same time, use technologies that’ll help you create data-driven strategies that are unique to your brand (not just unique in general).

And that’s where Ranktracker steps into the mix. With our solution, you can get insights on your own SEO performance — including your backlinks, rankings, keywords, SERP results, and website.

Of course, that’s only the gist of what our technology can do. Sign up for a free account to understand the full extent of its capabilities!