Best Practices for Conversion Rate Audits

I boosted an 8-figure coaching brand’s conversion rate by 50% in one month. Here's how I did it in 6 steps: 1 – Listen to your client. This sounds obvious, but you’d be amazed at how much you can learn if you actively listen and read between the lines. In this scenario, the client briefly mentioned a landing page revamp the year prior. As a result, other channels saw an uptick in conversion rate, but paid search was flat. Why? 2 - Be proactive. The client was curious and asked a question, but never asked me to take any specific action.  Instead of letting it go, I did this instead: - Pulled a landing page report – identified the page with the most click traffic - Pulled a device report – learned that 65% of click traffic was from mobile - Analyzed the landing page based on mobile CRO best practices 3 – Develop a hypothesis. I found the landing page was not optimized for mobile users. I made the following recommendations to the client: - Create a new version of the landing page - Use one clear image - Use one compelling call-to-action - Move the CTA button above the fold - Shorten the lead form to only 2 fields (name and email) 4 – Test your hypothesis. My hypothesis was the new landing page would beat the old landing page based on conversion rate (CVR). I implemented the following test: - Used Google Ads Experiments - Ran A/B landing page test - 50/50 traffic split (test page against control page) - Measured success or failure based on CVR - Let the test run until statistical significance was reached (approx. 30 days) - Didn’t make any big changes to the campaign while the test was underway 5 – Share the results. After 30 days, I analyzed the results and shared them with my client.  The results: - My hypothesis was correct - The new landing page had a 50% higher CVR compared to the old landing page - The 50% higher CVR led to an additional 500 leads per month for my client - 500 additional leads per month without spending an extra dime  - HUGE WIN! 6 – Learn and iterate. I rolled out the new landing page across the entire Google Ads account. Delivering this kind of major value not only strengthens client trust, but also makes the testing process rewarding.

We audit a lot of landing pages that look 'good' but don't actually work. Because they ignore the fundamentals in favor of design esthetics. First rule of digital marketing is what works > what's 'cool'. Fancy designs are just decoration if all your traffic bounces. Here's our Landing Page Conversion Framework that guides every audit: 1. Clarity Above All - 5-second value prop test (if you can't explain it quickly, you'll lose them quickly) - Benefits visible without scrolling (stop hiding what matters below fancy headers) - Action-focused CTAs (more specific than "Submit" or "Learn More") - Direct headlines that state the offer (no clever wordplay, just clarity) - Supporting subtitles that reinforce benefits 2. Frictionless Experience   - Essential form fields only (stop asking for people's life story) - Real-time error validation (nothing kills conversion like a form that breaks silently) - Smart defaults & autocomplete (make it easy to say yes) - Fast load times (every second of load = more bounces) - Mobile-first design (80% of traffic is mobile - act like it) 3. Trust Building - Strategic social proof placement (real testimonials > empty claims) - Visible but subtle branding (you're selling solutions, not logos) - Standard navigation patterns (don't reinvent the wheel) - Clear next steps that match user intent Bottom line: Your landing page needs to tell people what you're offering and why they should care, and make it dead simple to take action. If they're confused, unconvinced, or can’t navigate around the page easily, they're gone. Get these fundamentals right first, then worry about making it pretty. We’ve seen brands that do this backwards - testing button colors before fixing 5-second page loads. A/B testing headlines while their mobile experience is broken. Master the fundamentals first. Then, see where and how you can get extra creative.

In the last 20 audits we uncovered 5 old-school "best practices" that kill pipeline: 1. LONG INQUIRY / SIGN UP FORMS. "Best practice" – qualify leads. Outcome: nobody wants to fill in 8 fields that can be easily uncovered (think about geo, title, etc). Solutions: - Leave only 2-3 questions that can't be uncovered with account enrichment and help to prepare for the discovery or profile account - Leave self-attribution field - Install Clay or Clearbit to enrich account with firmographics (title, geo, size, etc) 2. INQUIRY FORM DOESN'T LINK TO SALES REP CALENDAR. "Best practice" – internal routing to the relevant Account Executive based on input. Outcome: If buyers can't immediately book a call with you, they will go to your competitor. "Thanks for your inquiry! Somebody from our team will contact you in the next 48 hours". Missed opportunity. Solutions: - Use Chili Piper for automated routing or disqualification - Create a universal calendar and then do routing internally 3. SEVERAL QUALIFICATION CALLS BEFORE DEMO. "Best practice" - use BANT or MEDIC qualification ran by junior sales rep before the buyer will be able to talk to an experienced AE. Outcomes: Ghosting prospects & no show-ups on the next calls. Buyers want to talk to an experienced consultant to get their questions covered. Solutions: - Explicitly explain who your product is for on the landing page, what it does (features), how is it different from competition - Add FAQ - Add price estimate or ballpark - Add product overview video, sandbox account or interactive demo to get a sense of the product You'll be talking to qualified buyers and don't need a bunch of qualification calls. 4. FAKE URGENCY. "Best practice" - push buyers with time-limited discounts or price increase. Outcomes: Fake urgency smells miles away. You'll either get pushed to give a bigger discount or lose the deal. Solutions: - Help buyers to create internal business cases and budget justification to close deals In most cases, budget should be created and approved by CFO/CEO. Your Champions don't need to show the discount to get approval. They need to show time and budget investment+ efficiency category (increase productivity , grow pipeline, etc). 5. TRANSFERRING GATED CONTACT DOWNLOADS AND WEBINAR SIGN UPS TO SALES. "Best practice": use gated content and webinar sign-ups to generate "leads". Outcomes: sales reach out to buyers that are not sales-ready. Missed opportunity, huge unsubscribe rate. People don't download e-books or sign up for webinars because they want to get a bunch of automated emails and unsolicited calls from SDRs. They are interested in the topic and want to get professional content. - Most B2B companies we spoke to in 2024 mentioned pipeline generation as the key challenge and #1 priority. There are 2 low-hanging fruits: 1/ Reduce friction points created by obsolete playbooks 2/ Refine obsolete playbooks with the new programs aligned with how your customers buy

10-Point Google Ads Diagnostics Framework That Actually Works !! Here's my systematic approach to diagnose conversion drops in Google Ads - 1. Check Your Traffic Volume First Don't jump to complex solutions when the basics aren't right. Every account needs X impressions for clicks, and Y clicks for conversions. If these numbers are off at the top, everything downstream suffers. 2. Review Budget Constraints Check "Search lost impression share (budget)" metric Look at ad group level performance graphs If you're budget-limited, either decrease bids (manual CPC) or expand targeting (Smart Bidding) 3. Audit Recent Campaign Changes Track all changes: budgets, bids, targets, keywords, locations Competition shifts can impact performance Rule of thumb: 10% fluctuation is normal. Don't panic. 4. Investigate Brand-Side Changes New offers? Changed sales flows? Price updates? Press release ? Match conversion drop dates with business changes. Sometimes it's not the ads, It's the business changes that need time to settle. 5. Balance Search Intent & Match Types Too many upper-funnel keywords drain budget without conversions. Phrase match can capture relevant searches efficiently. Use broad match strategically - limit it to high-intent terms. Monitor search term quality regularly. 6. Optimize Negative Keywords Too few = wasted spend on irrelevant traffic Too many = blocking potential converters Review search terms reports weekly Block intelligently, not impulsively 7. Verify Conversion Tracking Sudden drops to zero? Check tracking first. Test conversion actions with Tag Assistant. Common culprit: website updates breaking tracking. Validate across Google Ads and Analytics 8. Evaluate Landing Pages Great ads can't fix poor landing pages. Check: messaging clarity, CTAs, trust signals. Mobile-first design is non-negotiable. Page load speed impacts conversion rate 9. Assess Demand Coverage High CPCs with low traffic? Expand reach. Add relevant keywords strategically Consider location targeting expansion 10. Factor Market Conditions Seasonality affects all accounts. Economic conditions impact conversion behavior. Check year-over-year trends. Sometimes the best action is strategic patience. Start from the top, work your way down. Document everything. Make data-backed decisions. Allow time for changes to show impact. Your conversion rates will thank you. #ppcmarketing #googleads #digitalmarketing #marketingstrategy #conversionoptimization

"Backend DISASTER" killing your ad profits? Fix your ad revenue problems now. Backend optimization is key. Strong traffic means nothing without the right setup. Here are the backend mistakes to avoid: 1. Unoptimized landing pages kill conversions. → Sending traffic to generic pages is a big mistake. → Use campaign-specific landing pages. These should have: - Clear calls-to-action - Targeted messaging that matches your ads - Simple paths to conversion (aim for 3 clicks or less) A tractor parts company learned this the hard way. Their Google Ads linked to a homepage. They saw zero conversions until they linked to product pages. 2. Mobile experience matters. → Over half of web traffic is from mobile devices. → Many businesses still use desktop designs. This leads to poor mobile performance. Slow load times can raise bounce rates by 32%. Make sure forms work well on phones. 3. Tracking conversions is crucial. → Broken tracking is common in weak campaigns. → Check for missing or misconfigured conversion pixels. Avoid relying solely on last-click attribution. Integrate ad platforms with your CRM and analytics tools. 4. Match user intent. → Ads for "informational" searches often fail. → Linking to sales pages instead of educational content leads to problems. Expect higher bounce rates and lower time on-page. Intent-aligned experiences drive more leads. 5. Reduce funnel friction. → Complex buyer journeys hurt conversions. → Multi-step forms have a 53% abandonment rate. Avoid mandatory account creation before purchases. Trust signals like security badges and testimonials help. Audit your conversion path. Use tools like Microsoft Clarity to spot issues. Look for rage clicks and excessive scrolling. Simplify the steps from ad click to conversion. A/B test key elements like: - Headline clarity - Button colors and placement - Form field counts Fix these backend issues first. You can see 2-4X conversion rate improvements without changing ad spend. Optimize your backend to boost your profits. Don’t ignore your backend. It’s where the real money is made. Do you agree?