The best of both worlds – Combining the best of SEO and CRO into one strategy

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Apr 23, 2021 / by
The best of both worlds – Combining the best of SEO and CRO into one strategy

They always say that opposites attract and to most people, SEO and CRO are two completely opposed concepts. The former exists to generate traffic and the latter to convert users into customers.

They are opposites, yes, but they also complement each other wonderfully and if you can use them together, you won’t only end up with more traffic but more relevant traffic that actually gets results.

Organic traffic

SEO is, at heart, all about making your site appeal to search engines. It does this by evaluating its worth based on site and brand authority, search intent, backlinks, content quality, and increasingly mobile-friendliness. It’s an organic way of driving users to your site and is often a long-term process.

CRO, meanwhile, is all about driving engagement levels on your site to make users want to take specific actions. Whether you want them to click “buy it now” or sign up to a mailing list, the intent is not important; it’s how you drive them to make that decision that matters most.

Good CRO is about making it as easy as possible for users to take the action you want them to take.

SEO and CRO – A match made in digital marketing heaven

Think of combining SEO and CRO as optimising your sales funnel. If you make it easier for users to find you and then make it easier for them to complete the action you want them to complete, the entire journey is streamlined. All it really means is that you need to consider one when working on the other.

For example, when you’re optimising a page for SEO, consider the goal of that page and what action it exists to facilitate.

Do you want to tell your brand story? Or does that page exist to funnel users to another page where they can make a purchase?

When optimising the page, take not only the content and SEO-friendliness into account but whether or not tabs are clearly visible and if quick links are accessible via mobile.

Perhaps the most obvious example of an area where CRO and SEO work together in perfect harmony is in a page’s Call to Action. A descriptive CTA will not only benefit your ranking but offers a clear path to action.

CRO and SEO basics

    • Keep pop-ups to a minimum if possible as they are really going to turn off users.
    • Always work from a foundation of good basic SEO principles.
    • Keep an eye on user behaviour. Use data analytics to see how users are navigating your site and pick out any bottlenecks. What keywords users are using to find your site is a great way of figuring out their intent.
    • Test regularly and tweak your content to match consumer expectations. Keep testing, tweaking, and checking bounce rates and conversions and adjust until you get that balance just right.
    • Learn by doing and evaluating your work. Optimisation for SEO and CRO is by no means a “one and done” operation, it’s a continuous and ever-evolving beast that requires constant surveillance.
    • Content is key.