What it is
Conversion-rate optimisation (CRO) is what you do when your site has traffic but not enough of it converts. Where a heuristic audit finds suspected friction points and usability testing validates them with real users, CRO turns those findings into specific tested changes — preferably A/B-tested where the traffic supports it — and reports back on lift.
It's the most data-led of our services: we need access to your analytics (Matomo or GA4) and ideally session-recording data (Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity, or similar) before we start.
What you get
- Baseline funnel analysis. Where exactly are users dropping off? Which pages, which devices, which traffic sources, which audience segments?
- Prioritised hypothesis backlog. Specific changes to test, ranked by likely impact × confidence × ease (the ICE framework). 15-30 hypotheses typical for a first pass.
- Test plan. What we're testing first, what success looks like, how long the test runs, what stops it early.
- A/B test setup via your existing tooling (Optimize, Convert, VWO, or framework-native experimentation). For sites without enough volume to A/B test cleanly, we run sequential tests and make the statistical caveats explicit.
- Monthly review. Test results, lift estimates, recommendations for next-cycle tests. CRO works best as an ongoing iteration cycle, not a one-shot engagement.
When CRO is the right intervention
- You have meaningful traffic — usually at least 10,000 monthly visitors on the funnel page being optimised — to test against.
- Your conversion rate is below industry-typical and you can articulate which conversion event matters (signup, purchase, lead-form submit).
- You have analytics in place and have done basic UX hygiene — at the very minimum a heuristic audit already shipped.
- You're prepared to commit to a 3-6 month engagement. CRO done in a single sprint usually wastes the budget.
When CRO isn't the right intervention
- Low traffic. A site with 500 monthly visitors can't run statistically meaningful A/B tests in any reasonable time. Better to do heuristic audit + usability testing and ship the findings.
- Underlying UX is broken. CRO can't fix a fundamentally bad funnel. Audit and fix the structural issues first.
- The problem is upstream. If the traffic isn't qualified, no amount of conversion-page optimisation will help. Look at acquisition first.
Engagement shape
Two-phase. Phase 1 (4-6 weeks): baseline analysis, hypothesis backlog, first test live by week 4. Phase 2: monthly retainer running tests sequentially, reviewing results, iterating. Most clients run the retainer for 6-12 months then either internalise the function or step it down to a quarterly check-in.
How CRO interacts with the other services
CRO works best as the ongoing cycle that follows an initial UX engagement. The typical sequence: heuristic audit identifies issues → fix shipped via internal team or digitaldesign.ie → CRO retainer iterates on conversion lift → at six months, decide whether to invest in usability testing for any persistent puzzles.
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Ready to scope it?
Free 30-minute brief call. No pitch deck. We tell you whether the project's a fit, which service shape suits, and a price band — within one working day.