How can you analyze user behavior to improve CRO metrics?

With Generative search becoming the next thing, tracking branded searches will be crucial. But also to optimize your content, marketing comms based on interest and not demographics

The end goal is always an increase in sales. Therefore conversion rate optimization must always begin with a solid understanding if the demand for the product or service you are selling is growing or diminishing. Without this, you risk optimizing conversions on a diminishing amount of inbound leads. A simple yet extremely effective way of understanding this is through branded searches, this gives you an accurate understanding if demand is created for the product for you to convert. You can do it manually for free using keyword planner data or use a specialised tool for this like MyTelescope.

Site owners don't really need complex tools to improve their conversion rate. The easiest tools to rely on are Google Search Console and Google Analytics. Taking it to another level would be using heat map software like Hotjar to see recordings of users on your site. These recordings give you insights you will likely overlook and most people are intimidated by Google Analytics and Search Console when there is rich data ready to analyze.

Beyond the surface metrics lie nuanced insights waiting to be discovered. While tools like Google Analytics provide valuable data, a profound understanding of quantitative analysis goes beyond the basics. Delve into advanced metrics such as user cohorts, lifetime value, and attribution modeling. Utilize segmentation to dissect user behavior based on demographics, devices, or referral sources.

Also great to note is that baseline metrics should be established so they can guide the optimization objectives and tracking for measurement. Google tag manger is a great tool I have used to help set up tracking tags and with Google Analytics, I can then restrict internal traffic, monitor the data is coming in as expected. Another tool for websites I have enjoyed using and have found helpful are Google Optimize (for website) and heat map observational services like CrazyEgg.

Just like UX design, CRO and A/B testing, many business owners don't do any form of qualitative analysis. This can be the least painful exercise to do and one that can yield results if you and your teams put some time into this. This can include SWOT analysis and building user personas to build upon your analysis either in parallel or done after basic data has been captured.

Qualitative data can add meaning behind quantitative metrics. Otherwise how would you know why a customers didn’t convert and ultimately what to change? How would you know if you’re even getting the right customers to begin with? While this type of data is very helpful, it’s important to also ask the right questions at the right time, especially when focusing on CRO. Customers have to be able to accurately recall the situation to be able to give useful feedback. There are many other ways in which qualitative data can be useful here to understand preferences and pain points but it’s important to choose questions with care and use a human eye especially when analyzing this data at scale with AI tools.

Qualitative analysis is the art of distilling the essence of user experience. It entails the intricate process of collecting and deciphering non-numerical data, encompassing the diverse spectrum of feedback, opinions, emotions, and preferences. Leveraging an arsenal of methodologies, including surveys, interviews, polls, reviews, and user testing, it unravels the enigma behind user behavior. By peering into the 'whys,' qualitative analysis uncovers the underlying motives, the challenges users face, their aspirations, and the tapestry of their expectations. In this nuanced exploration, we unveil the treasures of user values, pinpoint the triggers that sway them, and expose the roadblocks that impede conversion.

Mouseflow and heat maps help to show you where you can start looking for clues to potential A B or multivariate testing. Services like Google Optimize can run live experiments for your website experience and are helpful tools.

The best thing about using tools like Hotjar for heatmap analysis is you don't really need a lot of recordings to learn if your user experience is good or not. Sometimes 10 videos on a single page can be enough to realize if you need to improve that page or if that page is performing well. Heatmap tools are great for getting started on a website redesign as well as post design production to test if new designs are working well.

Tools like Google Analytics, Mixpanel, or Kissmetrics are great for understanding user behavior on your site. A way to broaden your understanding is to analyze organic searches, and breaking the searches down into funnel stages. 1. Awareness of your brand = brand name searches 2. Consideration of your brand = "brand name + reviews" or "brand name vs competitor" 3. Purchase intent = "brand name price" or "brand name buy" All of these are important signals that help you guide your marketing and improve conversions in each step.

A/B tools are not as intuitive to use and often can be expensive. The companies that do use A/B tools tend to see increase in conversion rate because this is what about 1% of companies do. Often the companies doing A/B split testing as the ones growing the fastest. What you need for a successful A/B split test is enough traffic such that your results have meaning.

Regarding design including user experience and user interface design, many designers have no UX experience or experience using A/B split testing or CRO tools. Many design agencies claim they have this experience but quite often, designers can be simply looking at what everyone else is doing for inspiration. In my experience, designers that have more experience on UX and UI tend to help you in other areas of your business. A Good UX will keep users on your site longer, which can lead to lower bounce rates, which can translate into higher rankings in Google. Just remember that the top ranking websites all use these tools and some companies see immense growth when they use them.