Tom Qiao.pdf

Scaling Profits with CRO
How to Get 50−100% More Sales &
Leads with A/B Testing
Presented by: Tom Qiao
Founder, Convert Better

Poll Results

About Me
●

Founder of Convert Better (convertbetter.co)
○

CRO Agency (Turn Clicks Into Customers)

●

Instructor at IMG Courses (CRO for Beginners: More Profit, Same Traffic)

●

Former Lead SEO at Treefrog Inc. (Canadian Digital Marketing Agency)

●

Former Private Equity Analyst at CPP Investments (Canada Pension Plan)

●

Where I’m from:

●

○

Born in Nanjing, China

○

Grew up in Toronto, Canada

○

Living in Bangkok, Thailand

Get in touch:
○

Email: [email protected]

○

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tomqiao/

○

WeChat: tom_convertbetter

1.

Why CRO?
(will be your new best friend)

2.

What is CRO?
(5−min crash course)

Table of Contents

3.

CRO for B2C
Case Study: +35% Add to Cart

4.

CRO for B2B
Case Study: +119% Leads

5.

CRO for SaaS
Case Study: +80% Sign Ups

6.

Okay, what now?
(5 simple steps to get started)

1. Why CRO?
(will be your new best friend)

First… a story about a whale

“DeepSeek Moment”
Jan 27, 2025
Estimated $1 trillion
market cap loss

What did DeepSeek show us?
Everyone Else
●

Focused on scaling model inputs
○

●

Data, hardware, power

Results?
○

Complex

○

Expensive

Inputs

Process

Outputs

DeepSeek
●

Focused on optimizing model process
○

●

Increase algorithm efficiency

Results?
○

Less complex

○

Cost effective

I hope today will be your “CRO moment”
SEO
Focused on scaling organic traffic

●

○

Content, backlinks, schema, user signals

Results?

●

SEO

○

Often unpredictable and unstable

○

Often expensive (esp. competitive verticals)

Traffic

Funnel

$$$

CRO
●

Focused on optimizing conversion funnel
○

CRO

●

Increase avg. revenue per user (ARPU)

Results?
○

Lower cost of customer acquisition

○

Higher ROI on all marketing channels

CRO is just applying the 80/20 rule (Pareto’s law)
What Actually Drives Sales (20% of your efforts)
●

Price & Shipping

●

Headlines

●

Social Proof

●

Images

●

Trust Signals

●

Mobile UX

●

Call to Action

●

Above The Fold

Everything Else (80% of your time)
●

Long Form Content
○

Blog Posts

○

Product Descriptions

●

Backlinks

●

Technical SEO

●

Website Design

●

Website Maintenance

How to identify the 20% that drives 80% of sales?
Consumer Research

CRO

Surveys / Polls

User Behavior

(“Many people think

(“Users are seen to

X is better than Y”)

prefer X over Y”)

Educated Guess /

User Feedback /

A/B and

Assumption

Reviews

Split Testing

(“I think X is better than Y”)

(“Some users say X is

(“Users choose X over Y with

better than Y”)

statistical significance”)

Least Reliable

Most Reliable

Why invest in CRO?
1. Optimize Customer Acquisition
a.

Increase sales & profits without additional marketing spend

b.

Reduce customer acquisition costs (CAC)

c.

Unlock new customer groups and markets

2. Increase ROAS
a.

Scale all marketing channels easier and faster

b.

Unlock new marketing channels like affiliate, influencer, display ads

c.

Grow organically via cash flow (no funding required)

3. Increase Company Valuation
a.

Higher profitability = higher valuation multiple

b.

Create defensible “moat” as advertising costs increase

c.

Maximize growth potential with lower CAC and higher ROAS

2. What is CRO?
(5−min crash course)

What is CRO?
Textbook Definition

My Definition
CRO is the process of identifying and scaling the factors that drive 80% of your business
(sales, leads) using data-driven methods like A/B testing, heatmaps, and session recordings.

Role of SEO & CRO in the Marketing Funnel

SEO

Awareness

SEO

Consideration

SEO

Conversion

CRO

CRO

CRO

The CRO Process

Problem /
Question

Repeat

Conclusion /
Learning

“My traffic is not generating sales/leads.”
“Why is my conversion rate so low?”

Identify the winning variations and
draw insights from test results.

User Behavior
Analysis

Hypothesis &
A/B Testing

Analyze what real users are doing:
• Heatmaps
• Session recordings
• GA4 engagement data

Run scientific A/B tests to find what works
and what doesn’t with your visitors.

What is A/B testing? (and why you need it)
1. It’s a Scientific Process
a.

Compare A and B using statistical framework

b.

Avoid type I errors (false positives)

c.

More reliable than sequential testing (before/after)

2. It’s a Decision-Making Framework
a.

Ensures we only implement winning variations

b.

Provides degree of certainty (statistical significance)

c.

Make decisions based on real-world data, not guesswork

3. It’s Scalable & Repeatable
a.

Works best with high traffic pages (but can be adapted for lower traffic levels)

b.

Provides continuous incremental improvements

c.

High return on investment - can become a revenue driver, not cost center

What are CRO factors?
CRO factors are variables that can impact the conversion rate
a.

We must be able to easily change the variable (e.g. domain name cannot be a CRO factor)

b.

CRO factors can vary from website to website (depends on industry, traffic, user behavior)

The most common CRO factors include:
a.

Call to Action (CTA): button, text link, contact form, phone, email, etc.

b.

Trust Signals: refund policy, secure payment, money-back guarantee, etc.

c.

Social Proof: customer reviews, third-party reviews (Trustpilot, BBB, Google), endorsements, etc.

d.

Headlines: product titles, landing page titles, subheadlines, etc.

e.

Images: first product image, number of images, image quality, etc.

f.

Price: discount, promotion, coupon, bundle, buy 1 get 1, etc.

g.

Shipping: shipping cost, delivery time, free shipping options, etc.

h.

Payment: checkout process, payment methods, financing options, etc.

Example of CRO Factors: Amazon

Social Proof

Price (financing)
Trust Signals

Call to Action

3. CRO for B2C
(eCommerce)
w/ Case Study: +35% Add to Cart

CRO Challenges for B2C

Low
Add to Cart Rate

Low
Checkout Rate
(Abandonment)

Low
Avg. Order Value

The Result?
1.
2.
3.
4.

Low Return on Investment (ROAS)
High Customer Acquisition Costs
Long Cash Conversion Cycle
Limited Marketing Options

Low Add to Cart Rate
Common Reasons:
1.

Product Page Issues
a.
b.

Low
Add to Cart Rate

2.

Pricing & Shipping Issues
a. Price is not competitive
b.
c.

3.

Price is not shown in user’s currency
No free shipping options

Poor Social Signals
a. Limited reviews/ratings
b.

4.

Sales copy (title, description)
Images / video

Limited social media mentions

Poor Trust Signals
a. Missing information on refund,
b.

exchange, money back guarantees
Missing information about company
(team, offices, phone number

Low Checkout Rate
Common Reasons:
1.

Low
Checkout Rate
(Cart Abandonment)

Unexpected Costs at Checkout
a.
b.
c.

2.

Long Checkout Process
a. Stick with 1−page (e.g. Shopify)
b.
c.

3.

No guest checkout option
Excessive upsell/cross-sells

Limited Payment Options
a. Lacks user pref. payment method
b.

4.

Shipping cost / no free shipping
Sales tax /duties (tariffs)
Credit card processing fees

Lacks financing or “pay later” options

Poor Trust Signals
a. Refund/exchange/shipping policies
b.

Website/payment security concerns

Low Avg. Order Value
Common Reasons:
1.

Ineffective Upsell/Cross-Sell
a.
b.

Low
Avg. Order Value

2.

Not visible enough to users
Not relevant recommendations

Low Trust/Reputation
a. User not willing to spend more due to
trust concerns, esp. first time buyers

3.

Poor Search & Navigation
a. Difficult to search for products
b.

4.

Hard to use navigation menu

Lack of Promotion/Urgency
a.
b.

Users don’t perceive a good deal or
sense of urgency
Place small order even if they have
the need or ability to buy more

CRO Best Practices for B2C - Checklist
1. Focus on “Reasons to Buy”
❏

Do you know what motivates your target customer to buy?

❏

Do you offer a satisfaction guarantee, after-sales warranty, or refund/exchange policy?

❏

Are the “reasons to buy” shown in key positions? (e.g. header/footer, near “Buy” button, checkout page)

❏

How do your “reasons to buy” compare against competitors?

2. Eliminate Checkout Friction
❏

Are users greeted with unexpected costs at checkout? (e.g. shipping, taxes, extra fees)

❏

Can the entire checkout process be completed in under 1−2 minutes?

❏

Do you offer multiple payment methods and financing options?

❏

Would someone feel comfortable providing their credit card information?

3. Improve Trust/Social Signals
❏

Do you show customer reviews, ratings, or testimonials?

❏

Do you show any third-party ratings? (Trustpilot, BBB, Google, etc.)

CRO Best Practices for B2C - Checklist
4. Reduce Cart Abandonment
❏

Do you have a cart abandonment sequence? (e.g. exit intent popup, email reminders)

❏

Do you offer a price match guarantee, extended refund policy, or 24/7 customer service?

❏

Do you offer incentives like free gifts, samples, loyalty points, or first-time buyer discounts?

5. Optimize Search & Discovery
❏

Can users find any product after 2−3 pages? (i.e. category/collection pages)

❏

Are product pages organized in a logical and consistent hierarchy?

❏

Do category pages provide sufficient filter/sort options?

❏

How often do customers use the search bar? Are there any “abandoned” searches?

6. Monitor User Behavior Trends
❏

Do you regularly review heatmaps and session recordings of user activity?

❏

Is there a process to pass user behavior insights back to the marketing team?

Case Study: U7BUY
+35% Add to Cart CTR

U7BUY: eGaming Marketplace

Case Study Summary: U7BUY
●

Key Challenge
○

●

Low checkout rate

Key Insights
○

Competitors used more trust signals than client, including:
■

○

Users didn’t spend a lot of time on page
■

●

Make a purchase decision within 20−30 seconds

Hypothesis
○

●

Satisfaction guarantee, after sales warranty, TrustPilot reviews

Adding trust signals to the purchase process will boost checkout rates

A/B Tests
○

A/B Test #1: Trust Signal - Game Coins

○

A/B Test #2: Trust Signal - Game Accounts

A/B Test #1: Add Trust Signal below CTA - Game Coins

Control

Variation

+35% clicks

A/B Test #1 Results: +35% Add to Cart

+35% CTR, 95% stat. significance

A/B Test #2: Add Trust Signal below CTA - Game Accounts

Control

Variation

+8% clicks

A/B Test #2 Results: +8% Add to Cart

We always try to replicate the same result on
different pages to validate the hypothesis

+8% CTR, 97% stat. significance

4. CRO for B2B
w/ Case Study: +119% Leads

CRO Challenges for B2B

Low
Traffic / Leads

Low
Lead Quality
The Result?
1.
2.
3.
4.

Low Return on Investment (ROAS)
Long Lead Times
Low Visibility into Sales Pipeline
Idle Sales Team

Long
Sales Process

Low Traffic / Leads
Common Reasons:
1.

Low
Traffic / Leads

Low Search Volume
a.
b.

2.

High SEO Difficulty
a.
b.

3.

Difficult/expensive to rank
Competitors want the same keywords

High Cost per Click (CPC)
a.
b.

4.

Niche product/industry
Only a few relevant keywords (e.g.
[product name] “manufacturer”)

Often expensive to run ads
Competitors want the same keywords

Conversion Funnel Issues
a.
b.
c.

High bounce rate
Low user engagement (dwell time,
scroll depth, pages per session)
Call to action (contact form, phone)

Low Quality Leads
Common Reasons:
1.

Low Traffic Quality
a.
b.
c.
d.

Low
Quality Leads
2.

Trust Signals
a.
b.
c.

3.

Low quality traffic = low quality leads
Investigate traffic by source/medium
Investigate traffic by country
Scale back low conversion rate
marketing channels
Track record? Years in business?
Easy to find company information?
(offices, team, licences, etc.)
Technical specifications (ISO, etc.)

Call to Action / Contact Form
a.
b.

Are CTAs displayed in visible areas?
Are contact forms easy to fill out?

Long Sales Process
Common Reasons:
1.

Multiple Stakeholders
a.

Long
Sales Process

b.

2.

Poor Lead Management
a. Low quality follow ups/proposals
b.

3.

Sourcing/supply chain manager,
sometimes VP Ops/CFO
Need to satisfy all stakeholders

(e.g. spelling errors, lack of
customer research/customization)
Long response times to inquiries

Limited Contact Methods
a. No phone number (only email)
b.
c.

No LinkedIn page or sales rep profile
No sales rep available during US/EU
business hours

CRO Best Practices for B2B - Checklist
1. Communicate Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
❏

Can you articulate your USP in one sentence? (pref. 10−15 words)

❏

Examples include price, quality, speed (deadline), reliability, reputation, after sales support, etc.

❏

Is your USP visible on every page of your website?

2. Understand Your Target Customer
❏

Have you created any buyer personas? (age, gender, country, company position, preferences)

❏

Use tools like RB2B to collect LinkedIn profiles of your website visitors

❏

Does your USP match your target customer’s requirements?

3. Provide Multiple Contact Methods
❏

Do you have a phone number? Can it be called from the US/EU during their business hours?

❏

Do you have a chatbot or live agent chat?

❏

Consider additional channels based on target country: WhatsApp, FB Messenger, LINE, etc.

❏

What is your response time to inquiries?

CRO Best Practices for B2B - Checklist
4. Demonstrate Your Track Record
❏

B2B customers want to know if you can handle their requirements

❏

Do you have relevant and recent case studies of successful clients?

❏

Do you show awards, certifications, or industry recognitions?

❏

Do you use KPI metrics to demonstrate experience or expertise? (e.g. # of clients, # of orders,

$

value of orders, # of offices, # of countries, % on time, years in business, etc.)

5. Include Social Proof
❏

Do you show customer testimonials? Previous client logos?

❏

Do you have third-party reviews? (TrustPilot, BBB, Google, etc.)

6. Investigate Lead Abandonment
❏

Use heatmaps and session recordings to investigate lead abandonment (why leads don’t contact)

❏

What pages do leads usually bounce on? What are they doing before that?

❏

Do you regularly test your contact form?

Case Study: High Voltage SEO
+119% Leads

High Voltage SEO: Leading SEO Agency

Case Study was featured at Chiang Mai SEO 2024

Case Study Summary: High Voltage SEO
●

Key Challenge
○

●

Low number of leads per month

Key Insights
○

Engaged users spent a long time on site (over 5 min, 2−5+ pages per session)
■

○

But engaged users frequently bounced on booking page
■

●

As confirmed by session recordings

Hypothesis
○

●

Visited homepage, service pages, blog posts

Optimizing the booking page will increase leads

A/B Tests
○

Split Test: Booking Page

○

A/B Test #1: Lead Magnet

○

A/B Test #2: Service Page

Split Test: Booking Page

●

Headline: replaced with benefits-driven headline

●

Content: added short sales copy focusing on benefits to users

●

Call to Action: increase visibility above the fold

Split Test Results: +119% Bookings

+119% CTR, 99% stat. significance

A/B Test #1: CTA Button Color - Lead Magnet

●

CTA Button: increased color contrast for higher visibility

A/B Test #1 Results: +78% Sign Ups

+78% CTR, 99% stat. significance

A/B Test #2: CTA Button Text - Service Page

●

CTA Button: changed button text from “Book a Call” to “Get Started”

A/B Test #2 Results: +150% Clicks

+150% CTR, 91% stat. significance

Full Case Study:

Case Study: https://convertbetter.co/case-studies/high-voltage-seo/
Featured by VWO: https://vwo.com/success-stories/convert-better/

5. CRO for SaaS
w/ Case Study: +80% Sign Ups

CRO Challenges for SaaS

Low New User
Sign Up Rate

Low Paid User
Sign Up Rate
The Result?
1.
2.
3.

Hard to Scale MRR/ARR
High User Acquisition Costs
Dependent on SEO & Affiliate

High
Churn Rate

Low New User Sign Up Rate
Common Reasons:
1.

Low New User
Sign Up Rate

Complex Sign Up Process
a.
b.
c.
d.

2.

Unclear Value Proposition
a. Features not connected to benefits
b.

3.

Too many steps
No 1−click signup option
Requires sensitive information
Requires credit card

No compelling reason to sign up

Lack of Social/Trust Signals
a. Customer reviews & rating
b.
c.

Awards & recognitions (e.g. G2)
About the company (e.g. team,
office locations, track record)

Low Paid User Sign Up Rate
Common Reasons:
1.

Low Paid User
Sign Up Rate

Free Plan/Trial Is Sufficient
a.
b.

2.

Unsatisfied with Features
a.
b.

3.

Missing important key features
Product not working as expected

Unsatisfied with Pricing/Payment
a.
b.
c.
d.

4.

Users satisfied with free plan limits
Users completed task with free trial

Compared to competitors
Compared to perceived value
Lack of pricing options (e.g. annual,
lifetime, pay-per-use, bulk pricing)
Lack of payment options

Poor Social/Trust Signals
a.
b.

Negative reviews (G2, Trustpilot)
Low trust checkout process

High Churn Rate
Common Reasons:
1.

High
Churn Rate

No Longer Needed
a.
b.

2.

Can’t Afford
a.

3.

Found better product/deal
Found alternative solutions

Product/Service Issues
a.
b.

5.

Need to cut costs, reduce budget

Switched to Competitors/Alt.
a.
b.

4.

Users completed task already
Users not actively using product

Difficult to get started or integrate
Poor customer experience

Billing Issues
a.
b.

Price different from expected
Duplicate charges, refunds, disputes

CRO Best Practices for SaaS - Checklist
1. Simple Sign Up Process
❏

Can users sign up in under 15 seconds?

❏

Are there 1−click sign up options? (e.g. Google, Facebook, Apple)

❏

Are you asking users for potentially sensitive information? (e.g. job title, # of employees, revenue)

❏

Are you asking users for credit card information? (often a strong obstacle for new users)

2. Connect Benefits to Features
❏

Are benefits to users clearly articulated? (e.g. save money, save time, make more money)

❏

Are there clear reasons to sign up? (e.g. free daily usage, save personal data, earn bonus credits)

3. Include Trust/Social Signals
❏

Are reviews and ratings visible on the homepage and sign up page?

❏

Are awards and recognitions prominently displayed?

❏

Can users easily find out more about the company? (team, offices, track record)

CRO Best Practices for SaaS - Checklist
4. Experiment with Pricing & Plans
❏

Consider restricting the Free Plan/Trial (e.g. features, daily limit, credit usage, duration of trial)

❏

Optimize pricing by conducting small price changes with A/B tests (e.g. $39/mo -> $44/mo)

5. Identify Checkout Issues
❏

Does the checkout page have high abandonment rate?

❏

Do you offer multiple pricing options (e.g. monthly, annual, lifetime, pay-per-use, etc.)

❏

Do you offer multiple payment options? (e.g. credit card, PayPal, Apple/Google Pay, bank transfer)

❏

Do you offer a money-back guarantee?

6. Monitor Customer Feedback
❏

Are you collecting customer feedback at every stage of the journey?

❏

Is there a process to respond to and implement customer feedback?

Case Study: AMZWatcher
+80% Sign Ups

Case Study Summary: AMZWatcher
●

Key Challenge
○

●

Low sign up rate

Key Insights
○

Competitors were all using CTA copy like:
■

○

But client was using CTA copy:
■

●

“Get My Free Trial”

Hypothesis
○

●

Get Started, Start Now, Sign Up

Changing the CTA button text will boost sign up rates

A/B Tests
○

A/B Test #1: CTA Button Text - Homepage

○

A/B Test #2: CTA Button Text - Pricing Page

AMZWatcher: SaaS Tool for Amazon Affiliates

A/B Test #1: CTA Button Text - Homepage

Control Page

Variation Page

+80% clicks

A/B Test #1 Results: +80% Sign Up Clicks

+80% CTR, 97% stat. significance

Source: https://convertbetter.co/case-studies/amzwatcher/

A/B Test #2: CTA Button Text - Pricing Page

Variation Page
+56% clicks
Control Page

A/B Test #2 Results: +56% Sign Up Clicks

+56% CTR, 76% stat. significance

We always try to replicate the same result on
different pages to validate the hypothesis

Source: https://convertbetter.co/case-studies/amzwatcher/

6. Okay, what now?
(5 simple steps you can take)

5 simple steps to get started with CRO
1.

2.

3.

Review Your Last Month’s Conversions:
a.

By source/medium

b.

By country

c.

By page

d.

By device

Install Microsoft Clarity (or similar heatmap tool)
a.

Check heatmaps for top pages

b.

Watch session recordings to see what users actually do

Run a simple User Survey
a.

4.

Run a simple A/B test in Visual Website Optimizer (VWO)
a.

5.

Ask questions to validate your assumptions/beliefs about your target customer

Test a different color, copy, headline, image, etc.

Start a CRO Audit
a.

Get my free CRO checklist or book an audit with me

Ready to Scale Your Sales with CRO?
Scan and message me to get your:
●

Free CRO Checklist

●

Shenzhen SEO Presentation Link

●

Exclusive 50% discount on my CRO for Beginners Course (includes Chinese subtitles)
○

Everything you need to start A/B testing on your own



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