--- title: How to Get Started With CRO description: "Learn how to get started with CRO: set a baseline, find where visitors drop off, rank test ideas and run your first A/B test on a B2B website." image: https://www.finemediabw.com/hubfs/Blog/Customer%20Acquisition/Refresh/How%20to%20Get%20Started%20With%20CRO/how-to-get-started-with-cro-share-1200x630-v2.png --- [![Fine\_Media\_logo\_Set\_HubSpot Website Logo Stacked](https://www.finemediabw.com/hubfs/Fine_Media_logo_Set_HubSpot%20Website%20Logo%20Stacked.svg "Fine_Media_logo_Set_HubSpot Website Logo Stacked")](https://www.finemediabw.com/) - Solutions - [Inbound Marketing](https://www.finemediabw.com/inbound-marketing) - [Website Design](https://www.finemediabw.com/website-design-and-development) - [Sales Enablement](https://www.finemediabw.com/sales-enablement) - [Customer Success](https://www.finemediabw.com/customer-success) - [HubSpot Services](https://www.finemediabw.com/hubspot-services) - [Insights](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog) - [About](https://www.finemediabw.com/about-us) Show submenu for About - [About us](https://www.finemediabw.com/about-us) - [Meet the Team](https://www.finemediabw.com/our-team) - [Our Story](https://www.finemediabw.com/our-story) - Solutions - [Inbound Marketing](https://www.finemediabw.com/inbound-marketing) - [Website Design](https://www.finemediabw.com/website-design-and-development) - [Sales Enablement](https://www.finemediabw.com/sales-enablement) - [Customer Success](https://www.finemediabw.com/customer-success) - [HubSpot Services](https://www.finemediabw.com/hubspot-services) - [Insights](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog) - [About](https://www.finemediabw.com/about-us) Show submenu for About - [About us](https://www.finemediabw.com/about-us) - [Meet the Team](https://www.finemediabw.com/our-team) - [Our Story](https://www.finemediabw.com/our-story) - [Contact us](https://www.finemediabw.com/contact) - [Contact us](https://www.finemediabw.com/contact) ![How to Get Started With CRO. Dark type on a pale blue-grey ground, Propello.](https://www.finemediabw.com/hubfs/Blog/Customer%20Acquisition/Refresh/How%20to%20Get%20Started%20With%20CRO/how-to-get-started-with-cro-share-1200x630-v2.png) Nov 1, 2022, 8:57:07 PM | [CRO](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/tag/cro) # How to Get Started With CRO [Tumisang Bogwasi](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/author/tumisang-bogwasi) Share - [mailto:?&subject=How%20to%20Get%20Started%20With%20CRO&body=How%20to%20Get%20Started%20With%20CRO%0A(https%3A%2F%2Fwww.finemediabw.com%2Fblog%2Fhow-to-get-started-with-cro)](mailto:?&subject=How%20to%20Get%20Started%20With%20CRO&body=How%20to%20Get%20Started%20With%20CRO%0A(https%3A%2F%2Fwww.finemediabw.com%2Fblog%2Fhow-to-get-started-with-cro)) - - - If you lead marketing, sales or revenue at a B2B company and your website traffic rarely turns into leads, this guide is for you. The short answer: measure the conversion rate of your key pages, find where website visitors drop off, then test one change at a time against a clear goal. You will leave with a baseline conversion rate, a ranked list of test ideas and a simple routine for running your first A/B testing cycle. The steps below work for any B2B site, from a small marketing team with existing traffic to a larger one with several landing pages to improve.   | **Conversion Rate Optimization** Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the practice of testing changes to your pages so that a larger share of your website visitors take the desired action, such as booking a demo or filling in a form. | | --- | ## You will finish with a baseline, a test list and a running test By the end of this guide you will have three things in hand: a conversion rate for each key page, a short list of test ideas ranked by likely impact, and one live test with a clear measurable outcome. That is a real conversion rate optimization strategy in its first form. It lets you boost conversions from your existing visitors, learn from your own data and avoid buying more traffic before the site is ready for it. Keep the first CRO strategy small on purpose: one page, one goal, one test. CRO is not a redesign and it is not a bag of tricks. It begins with understanding your audience and where friction sits, then runs as a loop of measuring, forming a hypothesis, testing and keeping what works. Our explainer on [what conversion rate optimization is](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/what-is-conversion-rate-optimization) covers the concept in depth, and this article focuses on how to begin. ## What to have in place before you start ![A test that teaches you something at the centre with four basics to check first: analytics that track your goals, enough traffic, one owner and a single place for records.](https://www.finemediabw.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog/Customer%20Acquisition/Refresh/How%20to%20Get%20Started%20With%20CRO/how-to-get-started-with-cro-cro-readiness-checklist-blog-1600x900.png?width=1600&height=900&name=how-to-get-started-with-cro-cro-readiness-checklist-blog-1600x900.png) A few basics make the difference between a test that teaches you something and one that wastes a month. Check them before you change a single page. - **Website analytics that track your goals.** Google Analytics should record the actions that matter, such as form submissions and demo requests. - **Enough traffic to test.** Pages with very few visits take too long to reach a clear result, so start with your busiest key pages. - **One owner.** Someone in marketing should own the backlog of ideas and the calendar, even if the work is shared. - **A single place for records.** Keep a simple log of each hypothesis, the test variations, the dates and the test results. Google defines the thing you are counting. In Google Analytics Help, [a key event](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9267568) is an event that measures an action that is particularly important to the success of your business. For a B2B site, that is usually a form submission, a booking or a pricing page visit that signals intent. ## Get started with CRO in seven steps ![Seven CRO steps in three stages, in order: measure where you stand, learn and plan, then test and repeat.](https://www.finemediabw.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog/Customer%20Acquisition/Refresh/How%20to%20Get%20Started%20With%20CRO/how-to-get-started-with-cro-cro-test-loop-blog-1600x900.png?width=1600&height=900&name=how-to-get-started-with-cro-cro-test-loop-blog-1600x900.png) Work through these in order. Each step ends with what done looks like, so you know when to move on. ### 1. Calculate your baseline conversion rate for each key page Your website's conversion rate is the number of visitors who complete the desired action divided by all visitors, multiplied by 100. If 50,000 people visit in a month and 1,300 become customers, that is 2.6 percent. Run the same math on single landing pages and your pricing pages, because one blended number hides a lot. Check your own reports against raw data from Google Analytics or your CRM so that you trust the figure. Seasonal swings distort a single month, so compare against your average conversion rate for the same period a year ago where you can. Done looks like this: a table with each key page, its visits, its conversions and its conversion rate. ### 2. Set conversion goals that tie to revenue Goals set from thin air produce arguments. Set conversion goals from your numbers instead. Divide your revenue goal by your average deal size to get the customers you need, then divide that by your lead-to-customer close rate to get the leads you need each month. Pick the key metrics that connect a page to revenue, such as leads generated, paying customers and cost per lead. Track micro conversions as well, such as a guide download or a pricing page visit. They show whether visitors are moving toward the main action even when few people convert on a given visit. State each goal against traffic volume, for example 50 more conversions per 5,000 visitors. Done looks like this: one primary conversion goal per page and a lead target that your sales team has agreed with. ### 3. Find the drop off points in your funnel Walk through the journey from first visit to the desired action and note how many people reach each stage. The stage with the sharpest fall is your first target. Leaks in the funnel are where visitors stall, so start with your key landing pages and the web page that follows each form. Prioritize high-traffic pages with a low conversion rate, because a small lift there is worth the most. Use your analytics to see which pages get the most visitors and where your conversion rate is lowest. A high [bounce rate](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/what-is-a-bounce-rate) on a landing page, for instance, tells you people leave without engaging. Our guide to [website metrics to measure and track](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/website-metrics-to-measure-and-track) lists the numbers worth watching. Treat benchmarks as a sanity check. LocaliQ's 2026 search advertising benchmarks report an [average conversion rate for Google Ads of 8.18 percent across industries](https://localiq.com/blog/search-advertising-benchmarks/), and 4.85 percent for Business Services (leads divided by clicks on search ads). Unbounce's 2024 Conversion Benchmark Report puts the [median conversion rate for SaaS landing pages at 3.8 percent](https://unbounce.com/conversion-benchmark-report/saas-conversion-rate/), against 6.6 percent across all industries. Done looks like this: a ranked list of the three pages or stages that lose the most visitors. ### 4. Study user behavior to learn why site visitors leave Analytics tells you where people drop off but not why. Combine behavioral data with user research to find the real pain points. Heatmaps and session recordings show user behavior on the page: where people click, how far they scroll and where they hesitate. Short surveys on key pages, interviews with customers and notes from your sales team add user feedback in the visitors' own words. These sources give you a deeper understanding of what stops users from engaging with the page. Done looks like this: a list of the five most likely reasons visitors do not convert, each tied to something you observed. ### 5. Write a hypothesis and rank test ideas for your landing pages A good hypothesis names the problem, the proposed solution and the expected impact: because we saw X, we believe changing Y will lead to Z, and we will know by measuring W. This keeps testing honest. Typical conversion optimization ideas that encourage visitors to act include a sharper headline, a clear value proposition near the top of the page, a shorter form, stronger proof on pricing pages and a simpler mobile layout. Write call to action buttons in action-oriented language that states the benefit, and make them visually distinct. A clear button reduces hesitation, and testing its wording or color can change how many people click. Simplifying forms and clarifying the call to action are among the most reliable fixes. Our post with [conversion rate optimization examples](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/conversion-rate-optimization-examples) shows what these changes look like in practice. Score each idea with a simple framework such as PIE: potential, importance and ease. Pick the top one for your first test. Done looks like this: one written hypothesis for one page, with the metric you will use to judge it. ### 6. Run an A/B test and read the test results In an A/B test, which some teams call split testing, you show two versions of a page to similar visitors at the same time. The original is the control group, and the second is the variation, so you see which of the multiple versions makes more users convert. Change only one of the key variables so you know what caused the result. Avoid testing multiple variables at once while you are new. Multivariate testing, which changes several elements at once, needs far more traffic than most B2B pages have. Decide the test duration before you begin, and let the test run until it reaches statistical significance, which means the gap between versions is unlikely to be chance. Stopping early because one version looks ahead is the most common way to fool yourself. Done looks like this: a result you can read, with the winner, the size of the lift and the number of visitors behind it. ### 7. Roll out the winner and keep iterative testing going If the variation wins, make it the new default and record what you learned. If it loses or ties, that is still useful, because you now know one idea that does not move your visitors. CRO runs on iterative testing. Each result feeds the next hypothesis, so your list of ideas should shrink and refill as you learn. Our guide to [marketing experimentation](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/marketing-experimentation) shows how to run that loop across the wider team. Done looks like this: a winner live on the site, a note in your log and the next test scheduled. ## Where CRO fits in your marketing strategy ![How CRO supports the rest of your marketing: it lifts paid traffic, works with search, uses one test-and-learn loop across the site, holds up on every device and ties conversions to pipeline.](https://www.finemediabw.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog/Customer%20Acquisition/Refresh/How%20to%20Get%20Started%20With%20CRO/how-to-get-started-with-cro-cro-marketing-fit-blog-1600x900.png?width=1600&height=900&name=how-to-get-started-with-cro-cro-marketing-fit-blog-1600x900.png) CRO makes every other marketing effort worth more, because conversion rate improvements compound across all of your marketing efforts. If your PPC campaigns, content and email bring people to a page that does not convert, you pay again for the same traffic. Our guide to [developing an effective PPC strategy](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/how-to-develop-an-effective-ppc-strategy) shows where paid traffic should land, and testing those landing pages is often the cheapest gain available. CRO and SEO work together rather than compete. SEO brings people in, and CRO decides how many of them act. Our [growth-driven design](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/what-is-growth-driven-design) approach uses the same test-and-learn loop for the whole website. ## Mobile optimization and page speed protect every test Many of your site visitors arrive on mobile devices, and mobile users often see a different page than you do on your desktop. Check every key element, such as the form and the call to action buttons, on a phone before you launch a test. An unclear value proposition and slow pages are two of the most common barriers. Page load speed matters just as much, because slow load times cost you visitors early. Google's web.dev guidance says sites should aim for a [Largest Contentful Paint of 2.5 seconds or less](https://web.dev/articles/lcp). ## Choose CRO tools and decide who runs your CRO efforts You can run CRO with the team you have. A small program needs only analytics, a way to see user behavior, a testing method for your pages and a place to keep records. CRO tools should answer a question you already have, so add conversion rate optimization tools one at a time as your CRO efforts grow. Hire in-house when testing will be a daily job. Bring in a specialist when you lack skills such as test design and data analysis, or when nobody has time to own the backlog. Whatever you choose, keep one person accountable for the roadmap and for research into your target audience. Tools help you run tests, but optimization efforts only pay off when someone decides what is worth testing. ## Mistakes to avoid when you start CRO Most first programs stumble in the same places. - **Copying best practices.** What works for one site may not work for yours, so test it against your own audience. - **Testing without a hypothesis.** Random changes give random results and teach you nothing. - **Changing too much at once.** If you edit the headline, the form and the image together, you cannot tell which one mattered. - **Stopping tests early.** Wait for statistical significance, or you may roll out a change that did nothing. - **Ignoring user experience.** A change that lifts one number but frustrates visitors will cost you later. - **Ignoring mobile optimization.** Many visitors arrive on a phone, so check every test on mobile devices. - **Treating CRO as a one-off project.** The gains come from continuous improvement, not a single round of changes. ## What you gain when this is done properly When CRO runs as a routine, the benefits reach every revenue team, not only the web team. ### Sales gets more qualified conversations from the same traffic Better pages and shorter forms mean more of the right buyers raise their hands. Small, tested changes can boost conversion rates without more headcount. Reps spend time on leads who already understand the offer, and they can feed objections they hear back into the next hypothesis. ### Marketing earns more from every visit When more people act, the site converts better and the cost of each lead drops without a bigger media budget. Every digital marketing channel then brings more value for the same spend. CRO also lowers customer acquisition cost without raising spend and makes revenue easier to forecast, so your next budget conversation is easier. ### Customer success inherits clearer expectations Pages that explain the offer honestly help users engage with the right product and attract buyers who know what they are getting. That leads to smoother onboarding and fewer surprises after the sale. ## Turn your first test into a connected system A single test can lift one page, but the real gain comes when your site, forms and CRM share data, so you can see which conversions turned into pipeline and revenue. Our explainer on [what GTM engineering is](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/what-is-gtm-engineering) shows how that connection works. Propello is a [HubSpot partner](https://www.finemediabw.com/about-us) that designs and builds connected go-to-market (GTM) systems on HubSpot. If you want your conversion data tied to pipeline, a GTM audit is the place to start. [Book a Propello GTM Audit](https://www.finemediabw.com/contact) ## Frequently asked questions What is a good conversion rate? There is no single good number. It depends on your industry, channel and goal. Published benchmarks, such as [Unbounce's 3.8 percent median for SaaS landing pages](https://unbounce.com/conversion-benchmark-report/saas-conversion-rate/), are a rough check, but your best comparison is your own past results on the same page. How long should you run an A/B test? Decide the test duration before you start, and run it until the result reaches statistical significance. That depends on your traffic and the size of the difference, so low-traffic pages need longer. Never stop just because one version leads on day two. What is the difference between CRO and SEO? SEO earns more visitors from search, while CRO raises the share of those visitors who take the desired action. They work together: SEO fills the page, and CRO makes the page convert. Most B2B teams need both, and the order matters less than starting with the pages that already get the most visitors. Do you need special tools to start CRO? No. You can begin with Google Analytics, a way to watch user behavior on key pages, and a simple log of hypotheses and test results. Add testing tools once you have a clear idea worth testing and enough traffic to read a result. How do you calculate conversion rate? Divide the number of visitors who complete the desired action by the total number of visitors, then multiply by 100. For example, 1,300 conversions from 50,000 visitors is 2.6 percent. Run the same formula on each landing page for a clearer picture. ![Tumisang Bogwasi](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/77d7e2eaad8ff71b24463dcc39a31e9e) ### Written By: Tumisang Bogwasi Tumisang Bogwasi is the founder and CEO of Propello, a HubSpot partner that designs and builds connected go-to-market systems. [mailto:tumib@finemediabw.com](mailto:tumib@finemediabw.com) ## You May Also Like ### [![What Is Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)? A Guide for B2B Revenue Leaders. Dark and slate type on a light grey ground with a large Propello mark behind it, Propello.](https://www.finemediabw.com/hubfs/Blog/Customer%20Acquisition/Refresh/What%20Is%20Conversion%20Rate%20Optimization%20-%20A%20Guide%20for%20B2B%20Revenue%20Leaders/what-is-conversion-rate-optimization-share-1200x630-v2.png) *Aug 19, 2022, 8:42:23 PM | CRO* What Is Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)? A Guide for B2B Revenue Leaders](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/what-is-conversion-rate-optimization) ### [![What Is an Inbound-Ready Website? A Guide to Sites That Generate Leads. Dark and slate type on a light grey ground, Propello.](https://www.finemediabw.com/hubfs/Blog/Customer%20Acquisition/Refresh/What%20Is%20an%20Inbound-Ready%20Website%20-%20A%20Guide%20to%20Sites%20That%20Generate%20Leads/what-is-an-inbound-ready-website-share-1200x630-v2.png) *Jul 12, 2022, 11:57:50 PM | Inbound Marketing* What Is an Inbound-Ready Website? A Guide to Sites That Generate Leads](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/what-is-an-inbound-ready-website) ### [![Conversion Rate Optimization Examples: One B2B Demo Page Taken Apart. Dark and slate type on a light grey ground with a large Propello mark behind it, Propello.](https://www.finemediabw.com/hubfs/Blog/Customer%20Acquisition/Refresh/Conversion%20Rate%20Optimization%20Examples%20-%20One%20B2B%20Demo%20Page%20Taken%20Apart/conversion-rate-optimization-examples-share-1200x630-v2.png) *Jun 10, 2023, 12:59:24 PM | CRO* Conversion Rate Optimization Examples: One B2B Demo Page Taken Apart](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/conversion-rate-optimization-examples) [Learn More](https://www.example.com) [![Fine\_Media\_logo\_Set\_HubSpot Website Logo Stacked White BG White-1](https://www.finemediabw.com/hubfs/Fine_Media_logo_Set_HubSpot%20Website%20Logo%20Stacked%20White%20BG%20White-1.svg "Fine_Media_logo_Set_HubSpot Website Logo Stacked White BG White-1")](https://www.finemediabw.com) We help you propel growth at every stage of the customer journey with inbound marketing and Hubspot. ![provider-horizontal-white](https://www.finemediabw.com/hubfs/provider-horizontal-white.svg "provider-horizontal-white") Blogs [What is Inbound Marketing](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/what-is-inbound-marketing) [Why work with a HubSpot Agency](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/why-work-with-hubspot-agency) [Benefits of a Website](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/the-power-of-website-design-a-cornerstone-of-brand-identity) [Ultimate Guide to Closing more Deals](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/how-to-close-more-deals-with-sales-enablement) [Why Every Business Needs Customer Success](https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/why-customer-success-is-important) Services   [Inbound Marketing](https://www.finemediabw.com/inbound-marketing) [Website Design](https://www.finemediabw.com/website-design-and-development) [Sales Enablement](https://www.finemediabw.com/sales-enablement) [Customer Success](https://www.finemediabw.com/customer-success) [HubSpot Services](https://www.finemediabw.com/hubspot-services) Quick Links   [Home](https://www.finemediabw.com/) Services [About us](https://www.finemediabw.com/about-us) [Contact](https://www.finemediabw.com/contact-us) © 2026 Fine Media (Pty) Ltd. 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[Legal Notice](https://www.finemediabw.com/user-agreement) | [Privacy Policy](https://www.finemediabw.com/privacy-policy)  ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Tumisang Bogwasi", "url" : "https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/author/tumisang-bogwasi" }, "dateModified" : "2023-11-09T15:12:59.830Z", "datePublished" : "2022-11-01T18:57:07.000Z", "headline" : "How to Get Started With CRO", "image" : [ "https://www.finemediabw.com/hubfs/Blog/Customer%20Acquisition/Refresh/How%20to%20Get%20Started%20With%20CRO/how-to-get-started-with-cro-share-1200x630-v2.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.finemediabw.com/blog/how-to-get-started-with-cro", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.finemediabw.com/hubfs/Fine_Media_logo_Set%20copy_HubSpot_Logo_Long_Stacked.svg" }, "name" : "Fine Media" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "FAQPage", "mainEntity" : [ { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "There is no single good number. 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