A Step by Step Guide to Conversion Rate Optimisation

I've created this training course so you can master the elements of conversion rate optimisation (also known as CRO), and so increase your website’s profits. By following the modules in the course you can give yourself a great chance of becoming an expert in this hugely desirable area, and even get yourself a job in CRO. 

Who this course is for

The course is ideal if you:

  • You want to get a job in CRO
  • You run a small or medium-sized business with good volumes of website traffic, and want to increase your sales
  • You work in marketing/digital marketing already but want to get more of an understanding of CRO

 
Who this course isn’t for

If you’re an absolute novice at digital marketing then you may find that some of the concepts are hard to grasp. You might find it better to enrol in a more general introductory digital marketing course before investing in this one. 

By the end of the course you’ll be able to:

  • Understand the conversion rate optimisation (CRO) process 
  • Set up and run a full A/B test
  • Gather data insights using a number of analytics tools
  • Measure the performance of your own optimisation programme
  • Set a baseline and goals for tracking success
  • Understand what to do before, during and after running an experiment
  • Understand what the different types of experiment are
  • Document your experiments
  • Optimise your email marketing campaigns
  • Use proven techniques to improve the conversion rate of websites that don't get a lot of visitors
  • Understand what personalisation is, how it can help your profitability, and how to set up and run a simple personalisation campaign


What you should know before you take this course

It's best if you have some knowledge of website analytics, and are reasonably au-fait with a web analytics tool like Google Analytics. 

A broad understanding of digital marketing concepts like search engine optimisation and email marketing would be helpful, but certainly not essential.

Course curriculum

Intro: Welcome to the course!

  • Course overview
  • Tip to finish the course in less time
  • Before we begin...

Section 1: Introduction to conversion rate optimisation

  • What conversion rate optimisation is
  • Why you need to do it
  • What conversion rate optimisation isn't
  • The benefits of conversion rate optimisation

Section 2: The optimisation process

  • Insight gathering
  • Testing and iteration
  • Targeting and personalisation

Section 3: Measuring success

  • The importance of a measurement framework
  • Knowing your top-level business objectives
  • Primary vs secondary metrics
  • Documenting your objectives and goals
  • Setting a baseline

 Section 4: Insight gathering

  • Quantitative and qualitative data
  • Analytics insights
  • UX best practice
  • Customer surveys
  • Online customer survey providers
  • Customer surveys - golden rules
  • Live chat
  • Session replay
  • Your sales team
  • Customer focus groups
  • Call centre staff
  • Online user testing
  • Social media insights

Section 5: Testing and iteration

  • A/B testing
  • Multivariate testing
  • Multi-page testing
  • Split URL or redirect test
  • Which types of test you should do

Section 6: Before testing

  • Your company and CRO
  • Building your team
  • Experiment planning
  • Prioritising experiments
  • Why you need a problem statement
  • Creating a hypothesis
  • Generating ideas to test
  • Choosing which segments to target
  • Quality assurance
  • Setting up the testing environment
  • Creating an A/B test
  • Setting objectives for your A/B test
  • Targeting your visitors
  • Pushing an experiment live

Section 7: During testing

  • Knowing when to stop an experiment
  • Understanding p-value
  • Significance and sample size calculators
  • One-tailed versus two-tailed tests
    • The pros and cons of one-tailed and two-tailed tests
    • Which approach should you use?
  • Understanding validity
  • The importance of knowing your break-even point
  • The dangers of amending experiments while they are in progress
  • The correct way to ramp up traffic volumes

Section 8: After testing

  • Analysing and interpreting experiment results
  • What to do if a variant wins
  • What to do if a variant loses
  • How to communicate progress
  • Running experiments as series, not in isolation
  • Maintaining an experiment backlog

Section 9: An introduction to personalisation

  • What is personalisation exactly?
  • What is the point of it?
  • The personalisation process
  • The 3 elements of personalisation
  • Risks of personalisation
  • Start small
  • Things to try
  • A simple personalisation campaign

Section 10: CRO for low traffic websites

  • Tried and tested UX tactics
  • Use social proof
  • Include a limited time offer
  • Include an opt-in form
  • Offer a money-back guarantee
  • Use benefits-driven copy
  • Don't forget the call to action
  • Make it as easy as possible to buy from you
  • Use trust signals on your payment pages

Section 11: Documenting your CRO efforts

  • The test plan
  • The test prioritisation planner
  • The test report
  • The test results template
  • The test scheduler

Section 12: Optimising your email marketing 

  • Measuring the effectiveness of your emails
  • Dividing your audience into segments
  • Using marketing automation
  • Enticing visitors to sign up
  • Growing your subscriber list
  • Offering your subscribers a preference centre
  • Split testing your subject line in your emails
  • Other considerations


Testimonials

“This is a very clear and methodical course, very easy to follow and absolutely packed with information. I had little experience prior to this course but now I have a thorough understanding and am looking forward to applying it to my business!”

Kate Pemberton - Owner, The Writing Room.

“Although I work in digital marketing, Conversion Rate Optimisation is an area that I didn't have much prior knowledge of. As a result I found the course really valuable, and it has enabled me to pick up some useful tips and techniques that I can try out.”

Mike Brittain - Senior Digital Marketing Manager, M&G plc

“Clear, well-paced delivery, and about the right level of detail. The course also has a good mix of theory and practice, which I found helpful.”

Peter Mansell - Fine Wine Specialist, Tate Ward.

“I really liked how much detail this course goes into, especially the walk-through demos of setting up the experiment environment and the end-to-end A/B test. ”

Oli Hayward - Global Head of Tech Products, Hall & Partners

About the Instructor

Andy McKenna

CRO Instructor

Andy has over 20 years' digital marketing experience. Over this time he has helped numerous businesses in the UK, US and Australia - including M&G, Prudential, Direct Line, Churchill, Coca-Cola and WeightWatchers - grow their profits online. He also consults to small and medium-sized companies, and having started up a number of his own small businesses he is better placed than most to know what makes websites of all sizes and industries convert. Since starting in digital marketing when it was in its infancy, he has learnt which tactics and strategies work, and - more importantly - which ones don't. Too many times Andy has worked with companies and thought "this is the reason your website isn't working for you". Now he wants to show you the tried and tested approach that has worked for so many of his clients, so you can go about converting your website's visitors to paying customers.

I have expertise in:

- Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)

- A/B testing

- Landing Page Optimisation

- SEO

- User Experience

- Digital Analytics.

I am certified in Google Analytics and Optimizely Platform, and with hands-on knowledge of setting up experiments and interpreting results in various optimisation tools including Optimizely X, Google Optimize and Adobe Target, I know better than most what it takes to make websites convert.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Do you offer certification when I complete the course?

    Yes, you'll earn a certificate of completion that will be sent to you.

  • What happens if I'm not satisfied with what I've bought?

    I offer a full, no questions asked, money back guarantee if you're not fully satisfied with the course. Just let me know within 30 days of enrolling in the course, and I will refund all of your money.

  • How long is the course?

    The course duration is just under 5 hours.

  • Can I pay in installments?

    Not at this point. However, if I find there is a good demand for this I will look to offer a payment plan in the future.

  • Are there resources, assignments and downloads as part of the course curriculum?

    Yes, please see the Bonuses section below for a list of all the complimentary materials I offer as part of the course.

  • Do I need any special software or technology to be able to participate?

    No, just a device that has access to the internet. You can access the course on a desktop or laptop computer, a tablet or a mobile phone.

Bonus materials

Included within the price of the course are the following bonus materials:

  • My 5 tracking templates that you can download and tailor to plan, prioritise and track your own optimisation programme (worth £100)

  • 8 checklists to help you with insight gathering, planning, prioritisation, quality assurance, measuring validity, and more (worth £30)

  • Worksheets to help you build water-tight hypotheses and problem statements (worth £49)

  • My 'Golden rules of online surveys' cheat sheet (worth £5)

  • Email KPI cheat sheet (worth £10)

  • Goal tree templates, Google Analytics set-up guide, Global Site Tag set-up guide

  • ‘Test your learning’ quizzes at the end of each section (12 in total)

  • Other worksheets and checklists including questions to ask your sales team, and which metrics you should track

  • Direct email access to me in case you have any questions, or anything in the course content is unclear (worth £149)

  • Complimentary, no-obligation trial of SessionCam, with free insights and recommendations report

My Guarantee

I'm confident that you'll be satisfied with what I've got to offer in this course. If, however, you're not happy for any reason, I'm offering a 30 day 100% money-back guarantee. No questions asked. 

So what are you waiting for? Enrol now and build up your skillset while enjoying a limited time price.

P.S. There has never been a more important time to learn new skills. The global economy is in a precarious state, unemployment rates look set to spiral, and people are moving over in droves to buy online instead of going to the shops. 

By enrolling in my conversion rate optimisation training course, you'll equip yourself with the skills you need to make your website - and as a result your company - more profitable. 

And you might even be able to land yourself a better-paid job once you've completed it.

Enrol now - and if you're not fully satisfied in the first 30 days, I'll give you all your money back.