CRO and Its Importance to Search

What is CRO?

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) is the process of improving a website or landing page to increase the percentage of users who take a desired action. That action might be:

• Making a purchase
• Signing up to a newsletter
• Downloading a whitepaper
• Booking a consultation
• Requesting a quote

CRO uses data, user behaviour, design principles, and psychological insights to identify friction points in a user journey and remove them. It’s rooted in testing and learning, often through A/B testing, heatmaps, user recordings, and analytics.

The goal is simple: to get more value from your existing traffic.

Why CRO Matters to Search

Search and CRO are often treated as separate disciplines: SEO is about getting users to the site, CRO is about what happens next. In reality, the two are deeply connected.

SEO gets you traffic, CRO unlocks its value

SEO is often measured by how many visitors a site receives, how long they stay, and how often it appears in search engine results. Traffic alone, though, doesn’t pay the bills.

Imagine you’ve doubled your organic traffic through a successful SEO campaign. That’s great, but your conversion rate stays the same; you're not making more money; you’re just entertaining more visitors, and introducing more people to a potentially disappointing experience.

Now, imagine you improved your site’s conversion rate from 2% to 4% without gaining a single new visitor. That’s a 100% increase in leads or sales from the same traffic.

The magic happens when SEO and CRO work together. Higher traffic and a better conversion rate create a compounding effect on business performance.

User signals influence rankings

Google’s algorithm increasingly rewards pages that provide great user experiences. Metrics like dwell time (how long someone stays on your page), bounce rate (how quickly they leave), and task completion all play a role in how a page is perceived by search engines.

If a page ranks well but users quickly bounce because it’s confusing, slow, or unhelpful, it may lose ranking over time. This is especially relevant for high-intent search terms, where users expect to find answers or take action quickly.

CRO helps ensure that once someone clicks through from search, they find what they’re looking for, and are encouraged to take action. That can lead to better engagement metrics, which in turn can help reinforce your SEO success.

Landing pages need to do more than rank

Many SEO strategies focus on creating content-rich landing pages to capture search traffic. However, ranking well doesn’t guarantee conversions.

A typical SEO landing page might be well-optimised for keywords, have a decent structure, and include lots of internal links, but does it clearly explain what the business offers? Does it guide the user toward the next step? Does it establish trust?

CRO ensures that your landing pages aren’t just visible - they’re persuasive. Strong CTAs, trust signals (like reviews or case studies), clear messaging, and mobile-friendly design all play a part in helping users take action.

Of course, at Reflect Digital, we utilise a secret blend of herbs and spices… I mean… a blend of behavioural nudges, along with a deep understanding of cognitive biases and behaviour change mechanisms to complement the common CRO approaches.

For example, we increased the conversion rate for the charity Christian Aid by 35% by first understanding what factors drive users to donate, then building a test and learn strategy on top of this, which included copy, imagery, user journey and call-to-action variants.

CRO provides the context that SEO sometimes lacks

SEO is excellent at bringing in intent-based traffic. Someone who searches “best legal CRM software” or “luxury holidays in Greece” is clearly looking for something specific.

However, even the most perfectly optimised page won’t convert if it doesn’t understand the user’s mindset.
CRO adds this layer of context. It asks questions like:

• What does this user need to feel confident?
• What’s getting in the way of them completing the next step?
• What content would persuade them to trust us?

Reflect Digital’s unique focus on behavioural science and toolkit to really ‘get under the hood’ of user’s behaviour allows us to pair CRO insights with SEO strategy, and create pages that are not only discoverable but also deeply relevant and effective.

Common CRO Issues That Hurt SEO Performance

If CRO is neglected, it can actually undermine search performance. Some examples:

• Slow page speed - One of the biggest CRO killers, and a known SEO ranking factor. Poor load times increase bounce rates and reduce conversions.
• Unclear messaging: SEO gets users to the door, but if they don’t quickly understand what you do or why it matters, they’ll leave.
• Too many distractions: Pop-ups, autoplay videos, or a cluttered design can hurt both user experience and trust.
• Weak mobile usability: A page that ranks well on mobile but is hard to navigate or complete a form on will waste valuable traffic.
• Lack of next steps: No clear CTA means users don’t know what to do next-even if the content is good.
• Lack of emotive drivers: without tapping into the visitor’s emotional centres, messaging can sound dry and uninspiring. Using psychological nudges can help to overcome this. 

What a joined-up strategy looks like

So, what does a well-integrated CRO and search strategy look like in practice?

#1 Shared goals

SEO and CRO teams should be working toward the same outcome: not just traffic, but meaningful conversions. That could mean revenue, leads, sign-ups, or engagement depending on the business model.

#2 Analytics that go beyond vanity metrics

Tracking rankings and sessions is important, but so is tracking what happens after someone lands. CRO encourages a focus on user behaviour: scroll depth, button clicks, form completions, and abandonment points.
Tools like GA4, Hotjar, or Microsoft Clarity can be invaluable in building this picture. Our Data team are constantly looking for new ways to add context and value to metrics in reporting.

#3 Content that informs and converts

SEO content should be written not just to rank, but to convert. This means clear language, value-focused messaging, helpful structure, behaviourally-informed, and strategic CTAs. CRO best practices help shape that.

For example, a product category page optimised for “eco-friendly yoga mats” should also showcase top sellers, include customer reviews (social proof), and guide users toward filters or checkouts, not just list text and links for Google.

#4 Testing and learning

CRO is fundamentally a test-and-learn discipline. By applying this mindset to search-focused landing pages, you can iterate and improve over time.

For instance, test whether your “Get a Quote” CTA works better as “Start Your Free Estimate.” Or whether testimonials near the top of a landing page reduce bounce rates.

These small experiments, run methodically, lead to bigger performance gains over time. Yes, there will be mis-steps and dead-ends, but these are all necessary experiences in order to get to really important, long-term positive outcomes.

Key takeaways

• CRO may not get as much attention as SEO or paid media, but it plays a crucial role in turning traffic into value. A solid CRO strategy doesn't just help you “make the most” of your search traffic; it helps you protect and enhance your SEO efforts.
• In a competitive search landscape, the brands that win aren’t just the ones who rank first; they're the ones who deliver the best experience after the click.
• If your business is investing in SEO, CRO isn’t a “nice to have”, it’s an essential part of the equation.
• With us, you don’t just get SEO + CRO. You get an integrated team with behavioural science expertise to supercharge and amplify improvements for your business.

Want to find out how CRO can unlock more value from your search traffic? Get in touch with our team today, we’d love to chat.