How CRO and a Flexible Approach to Design Updates Help Monetize Traffic: Netpeak Ukraine’s Approach

Businesses are always looking to increase revenue. There are two main ways to do so: spend on new marketing and drive more traffic to your site or optimize existing traffic for better conversion. 

In this article, I will explain how conversion rate optimization (CRO) can help businesses increase profitability without incurring additional advertising costs. This is especially true for sites with more than 30,000 visits per month, where even small improvements in conversion rates can significantly impact revenue.

1. What is CRO?
2. The benefits of CRO
3. Stages of CRO implementation
4. CRO with ESR
5. What else is needed for an effective CRO

What is CRO?

Conversion rate is a key business metric. It provides real data on the percentage of visitors or users who performed the desired action, such as making a purchase, calling in, or filling out a feedback form. It is calculated using the formula:

According to the Dynamic Yield portal, which provides industry research for marketers, the average conversion rate for all niches in 2024 is 3.23%.

Month-to-month conversion rate distribution. Source: Dynamic Yield

The average conversion rate on devices by type:

• Desktops: 4.14%
• Tablets: 3.61%
• Mobile devices: 2.94%

These figures are quite low, suggesting that the average business has room for improvement and could achieve better results.  

This is where conversion rate optimization (CRO) comes in. 

It involves making changes to existing elements of a website or mobile application to:

• Maximize the value of existing traffic
• Increase revenue and profitability 

Even a tiny improvement in the conversion rate will positively impact profitability without incurring additional marketing costs.

The benefits of CRO

Let's focus on the key benefits of using CRO to maximize the efficiency of existing traffic.

Improved user experience

One of the most important aspects is improving the UX factor. A clear understanding of how users interact with the resource is crucial. It helps you make informed decisions to improve the user journey and create an intuitive product interface.

1. Increase customer loyalty and encourage customers to return, leading to more successful targeted promotions and increased business revenue.
2. Reduce bounce rate and sales funnel leakage.
3. Increase average session duration.

Quick results

Compared to other marketing tactics, CRO delivers results quickly. By testing and implementing changes, you can see results within the first few weeks with little investment.

Marketing tactics comparison

Data-driven decision-making

CRO involves a thorough analysis of website data, which helps identify customer needs and growth opportunities. 

These valuable insights are needed to adjust marketing strategies, improve site design, and enhance the user experience.

Budget optimization

Investing in CRO leads to a better ROI than scaling advertising. By understanding the needs and behaviors of your target audience, you can optimize digital products and marketing efforts to drive more conversions. This leads to a reduction in the cost of acquiring new customers.

Let me give you an example of how CRO affects the effectiveness of Google Ads campaigns.

An example of CRO's impact on the effectiveness of Google Ads campaigns

1. The conversion rate doubled from 1% to 2%*.
2. The cost of customer acquisition (CAC) decreased by 50%, making the budget more efficient. 
3. Revenue doubled. Although the advertising budget and average order value remained the same, the increase in conversions led to an increase in revenue from $20,000 to $40,000.
4. The amount of traffic has not changed. CRO improves the efficiency of existing traffic without increasing it.
5. Cost per click remained stable. It did not change, and because of the increase in conversion, it did not have a negative impact on financial performance.

*The increase in conversion rate from 1% to 2% is for illustrative purposes only. However, this example clearly illustrates how improving conversion rates increases the profitability of an advertising campaign.

Stages of CRO implementation

Netpeak Ukraine specialists have developed their proprietary algorithm for CRO implementation. It is based on many years of experience and practical development. This process ensures high-quality results by adapting each CRO to the client's individual needs.

Step 1. Audit and data collection

At this stage, our team studies the project in detail and performs the following tasks:

• Verify that the analysis settings are correct.
• Add the necessary data collection tools to ensure accurate analysis.
• Conduct interviews to understand the business's specifics and the target audience's needs.
• Analyze conversion by identifying key user actions in the initial stages of interaction with the site.

Step 2. Research and hypothesis development

Next, we measure the current conversion rate and define the hypotheses to improve the user experience. At this stage, we also identify the main bottlenecks of the site where users lose interest.

Step 3. Implement the strategy

We implement the prioritized hypotheses and then analyze how the conversion rate changes after their implementation. 

The results allow us to estimate the increase in revenue for a given amount of traffic.

We also perform a few other tasks:

• Analyze records of user interactions.
• Study sales funnels.
• Set up A/B testing.
• Record the results and gradually move from page to page.

Step 4. Analyze the results

Based on the collected data, we prepare an analytical report to:

• Evaluate the current indicators.
• Track their dynamics after the implementation of the hypotheses.
• Identify new growth points.

An example of an analytical report in Looker Studio

CRO with ESR

The Netpeak Ukraine team uses Evolutionary Site Redesign (ESR), a flexible approach to design updates. It involves gradually implementing changes with regular testing of the interface.

Why ESR is better than a complete redesign

This approach has several advantages.

1. Speed. With ESR, you can quickly change the interface and test the effectiveness of the hypotheses. As a result, KPI improvement can be achieved faster than with a global redesign of the entire website.
2. Cost-efficiency. Alternate testing and implementation of ideas help reduce the cost of designers and developers.
3. Profitability. By making incremental changes to the site, you can cover new expenses with the profits generated by previous improvements.

What is it about? 

Essentially, our team of UX/UI designers identifies bottlenecks. These are awkward places on the website where users:

• Stop interacting
• Miss important information
• Leave the site

Identifying bottlenecks does not provide a "silver bullet" to instantly increase conversion rates. Instead, this analysis allows you to generate an effective set of hypotheses for incremental implementation and testing.

Why this approach works

By avoiding one-size-fits-all templates, you can instead create custom solutions based on the actual needs of your business.

Our experts analyze the behavior of the users you attract to your site, and based on the findings, they focus on solving specific problems.

ESR allows you to:

• Increase conversion rates, making each new user more likely to become a customer.
• Increase revenue by increasing the number of transactions or the average check, e.g., by purchasing more expensive or additional goods/services.

What else is needed for an effective CRO?

For maximum results in improving website conversion, a few more components are necessary. Our team has developed them as best practices and turned them into a regular routine.

Clear accountability for tasks

It is important to ensure that all responsibilities are clearly assigned to specific people. At Netpeak Ukraine, each task is assigned to a team of specialists with clearly defined roles:

• Web analysts review and set up data analysis systems to get as much useful information as possible to search for hypotheses.
• UX specialists form hypotheses and determine the best solutions.
• UI designers implement these solutions so that they look attractive and harmonious.
• The head of the UX/UI department checks the quality of the work and ensures compliance with standards.

From user behavior research to design, each aspect is handled by a highly specialized professional, ensuring efficiency and quality.

Customized approach and evidence base

We avoid standard solutions and focus on the specifics of the business and its target audience. Not only that, we support each hypothesis with arguments to explain how it was formed and why it will be useful. In other words, each hypothesis is based on evidence of its effectiveness for the specific site we are working with.

Discussion and flexibility

We don't just decide on hypotheses on our own; we discuss them with our partners. If there are doubts or technical limitations, we adapt the recommendations to make them work.

The main goal is to find the most optimal solution for your business processes and technical capabilities.

Easy to implement

Our team focuses on simple changes that are easy to implement and do not require significant resources. Hypotheses are therefore aimed at quick fixes that don't require a global redesign or long hours of developer time.

We focus on making our hypotheses as cost-effective as possible — with minimal effort and maximum impact on conversion.

If your site has 30,000-50,000 monthly visits, but you're struggling to grow, we can help you find effective solutions. Our specialists will conduct an in-depth analysis of your site, study user behavior, and find key growth points.

Conclusions

1. CRO is an optimization strategy that focuses on increasing profits without additional investment in traffic acquisition, ensuring stable revenue growth.
2. In our work, we use the ESR (Evolutionary Site Redesign) method. A flexible approach to website redesign, it allows you to save time and money and increase profitability by implementing changes incrementally.
3. Optimization allows you to:

• Leverage existing traffic to increase conversions.
• Improve the user experience.
• Reduce the cost of new customer acquisition.

4. The Netpeak Ukraine team uses an approach based on a clear division of responsibilities among highly specialized experts. This guarantees the quality of project implementation.
5. Our team develops customized solutions based on in-depth analysis of user behavior and business specifics.
6. The flexibility and debatability of the CRO approach allow us to create highly personalized hypotheses that will suit different technical resources and business processes.