CRO and UX: Does Improving User Experience Lead to More Conversions?

CRO and UX

Even if you’re new to online business, you must have heard these two terms: user experience (UX) and conversion rate optimization (CRO). And if you are a little bit more familiar with these terms, you might wonder how these two can be the main focus of an article simultaneously? Well, UX and CRO are way more related than you might think. 

Today, we’re going to discuss these two important fields and see how they can affect each other.

What Are CRO and UX?

So, how does CRO differ from UX? Well, I must say they’re two completely different things, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have anything to do with each other. In fact, an adjustment in one of the two will leave an impact on the other. For now, let’s define UX and CRO.

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the process of improving the possibility of users completing a desired activity, such as adding an item to a shopping cart or buying something.

Meanwhile, the interaction between a website and the users, or how it feels to use a product, is called the user experience (UX). A good user experience is one that is easy and pleasurable.

How Does UX Affect CRO?

So we learned that UX and CRO are two different things that can affect each other, but is UX design crucial for CRO? Yes, One hundred percent! Improving user experience and conversions are closely interrelated and will affect each other to a very great extent. Now let’s see how these two fields are related.

1. The Data from UX Research Helps CRO

CRO is based on the idea of making modifications to the website and then putting them to the test. CRO tests and assumptions based on UX research findings reduce the CRO team’s reliance on guessing.

So, while CRO indicates that something has to change, UX research aids in determining where to begin.

Note: The process of UX research can differ from one business to another. Different tools and approaches are used to conduct UX research. One of the greatest and most cost-effective tools you will need during this process is WatchThemLive. It’s a combination of various tools and features such as session recordings, heatmaps, visitor tracking, etc. Now you have the opportunity to SIGN UP and receive a FREE package. 

2. CRO Can Benefit from the UX Designers’ Perspective

Doing CRO the way you would do UX will undoubtedly open a path to new possibilities.

For example, a modification that may increase conversions on a desktop site may not do so on smartphones. Most CRO experts build their hypotheses based on the desktop version of a website. At the same time, UX Designers are much more likely to consider various types of devices, and better know which improvements will perform better on which platform.

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3. Good UX, Happy Users, More Conversions

User experience design aims to improve the visitor’s experience when they visit your website.

Enhancing your users’ engagement with your website significantly impacts your conversion rate. The reason is that when a visitor has a positive online experience, they are more likely to perform the desired action.

How Does CRO Affect UX?

It’s not only UX that affects the conversion rate. The process of CRO can also have a great impact on UX improvements. 

1. Design Issues Can Be Discovered During CRO

When it comes to UX design, minor tweaks in shape and pattern may make a big difference, and when it comes to conversions, the adjustments can only be effective if UX is already in place.

For example, in the process of conversion rate optimization, you might realize that the cart abandonment rate is too high, and that tells you that there must be something wrong with the UX design. Simple adjustments, such as personalizing CTAs, may sometimes generate excellent results.

When UX and CRO work together, your website’s friction points are reduced, and the buying experience is smoother.

2. Too Much Focus on CRO Might Hurt Your UX

Mere concentration on conversion rate will inevitably reduce the user experience quality in the long run and result in problems such as high churn rate and low brand equity, customer retention, and customer lifetime value.

Assume you want to increase your lead generation by increasing the amount of CTAs, pop-up windows, or push notifications on your website or app. What that will lead to is a bad user experience, and what bad user experience leads to is a reduction in conversions and revenue.

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed the definitions of CRO and UX and how they will affect each other.  In fact, their relationship is so close.

For example, as an e-commerce business owner, your rivals are other businesses that do a similar job. The objective of your rivalry and what determines who is ahead and who is behind is your users’ satisfaction. The better your users’ experiences are, the better your conversion will be. It’s quite as simple as that.

By the way, if you’re thinking of doing conversion rate optimization and don’t know where to start, make sure to take a look at our step-by-step guide to conducting a CRO audit.
SIGN UP to WatchThemLive too! It’s a behavioral tool you’ll need in the process!

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Cyrus Nambakhsh
Cyrus Nambakhsh
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