What are the best ways to use user testing for CRO optimization?

1 Choose the right type of user testing

Depending on your goals, budget, and resources, you can choose from different types of user testing, such as moderated, unmoderated, remote, or in-person. Each type has its advantages and disadvantages, so you need to weigh them carefully and select the one that suits your needs. For example, moderated user testing allows you to ask follow-up questions and observe users' emotions, but it can be costly and time-consuming. Unmoderated user testing is cheaper and faster, but it can be less reliable and insightful.

2 Define your user testing objectives and metrics

Before you start user testing, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. You should define your user testing objectives based on your CRO goals, such as increasing conversions, reducing bounce rate, or enhancing user satisfaction. You should also choose the metrics that will help you evaluate your user testing results, such as task completion rate, time on task, number of errors, or satisfaction score.

3 Recruit the right users for your user testing

The quality of your user testing depends largely on the quality of your users. You want to recruit users who match your target audience and have relevant experience and expectations. You can use various methods to find and recruit users, such as online platforms, surveys, referrals, or social media. You should also consider the size and diversity of your user testing sample, and aim for a representative and realistic group.

4 Prepare your user testing tasks and scenarios

The user testing tasks and scenarios are the core of your user testing process. They are the instructions and situations that you give to your users to guide them through your website and test your hypotheses. You should design your user testing tasks and scenarios to be clear, realistic, and relevant to your objectives and metrics. You should also avoid leading or biased questions that might influence your users' behavior or feedback.

5 Conduct and analyze your user testing

Once you have everything ready, you can conduct your user testing and collect the data. You should follow the best practices of user testing, such as being respectful, neutral, and attentive to your users, and recording and documenting everything. After the user testing is done, you should analyze the data and look for patterns, insights, and recommendations. You should use both quantitative and qualitative methods to interpret your user testing results, such as charts, graphs, quotes, or videos.

6 Implement and test your user testing findings

The last step of using user testing for CRO optimization is to implement and test your user testing findings. You should prioritize the most impactful and feasible changes that you identified from your user testing, and apply them to your website. You should also test the effectiveness of your changes by running A/B tests or other experiments, and measuring the difference in your CRO metrics. You should keep iterating and improving your website based on your user testing and testing results.