Although conversion rate optimization (CRO) is often confused with SEO (search engine optimization), the two services are quite different. SEO experts drive more traffic to your website in order to generate more sales. CRO experts, on the other hand, boost online sales from existing traffic sources by optimizing key website components, such as:

1. Copywriting on Key Landing and Sales Pages

2. Website Design

3. Layout of UI Features and Special Sales Tools

4. Website Programming

5. Marketing Funnel(s)

6. Shopping Cart/CMS/Core Site Platforms

But I get it: Who cares? After all, what Internet Marketing service out there doesn’t promise to boost online sales? The real question is: What kind of return on investment can you expect from conversion rate optimization?

Because at the end of the day and if everyone is being brutally honest: Most Internet Marketing services produce absolutely appalling ROI. You are literally lucky to generate 3 dollars in revenue from every 1 dollar invested in SEO, PPC, or even social media marketing. So by the time you also take overhead, fulfillment costs, and labor into account: Most Internet Marketing services honestly don’t move the needle in terms of the ROI they deliver for your online business.

Conversion rate optimization, however, is a completely different beast.

Companies like Google, Apple, and even heat mapping sites like Crazy Egg are hiring CRO companies and boosting overall online conversions by up to 150% or more. And sure, those might be exceptional examples and not even close to what an average website owner could expect from hiring CRO experts.

But with conversion rate optimization, you don’t need to generate massive gains in the overall conversion rate to see a massive ROI or a dramatic boost in online profits. In fact, here are 3 bona-fide benefits of conversion rate optimization that no serious website owner can afford to ignore:

CRO Benefit #1: Permanently Increases Conversion Rate

You know why the ROI is so low for SEO, social media, or even content marketing? Because the minute you stop investing in new content, your traffic levels will quickly drop along with your sales.

But one of the biggest conversion rate optimization benefits is the ability to continue driving new sales and increasing ROI for months, in some cases years, after the CRO experts have wrapped up the project. That means even modest gains in overall conversion rate will not only drive increased sales this month, but next month, and the month after that, and so on. By making permanent changes to your copywriting, web design, and other core website components, CRO experts optimize your website to generate more online sales and a growing ROI that far exceeds anything you can expect from traditional Internet Marketing services.

CRO Benefit #2: Increased Online Sales without Increasing Your Marketing Spend

You know the biggest problem with driving another $50,000 in online revenue from SEO, social media, or especially PPC advertising? The answer is the bane of every website owner reading these words because they know it’s quite simple: Because generating an additional $50k in online revenues might require an investment of $20k or more in PPC, SEO, or social media. And when you include overhead, what, if anything, is left over for all that hard work and investment?

Well, one of the best conversion rate optimization benefits is that it creates additional online sales without any additional investment in content, clicks, likes, or whatever. Instead, you pay a one-time fee to have the CRO experts find and fix the conversion problems to permanently boost the conversion rate. And every single sale that higher conversion rate generates (after recovering your initial investment of course) comes with zero marketing cost. Instead, all of the money that would have been invested in new content or clicks goes straight to the bottom line in the form of online profits.

CRO Benefit #3: All Other Internet Marketing Investments Become More Profitable

One of the hidden conversion rate optimization benefits is how the service makes all future Internet Marketing investments more profitable. Just imagine if your last marketing campaign generated 25, 50, or even 75% more conversions for the exact same marketing spend.

Well, after your site is fully optimized, the increase in conversion rate will carry forward with your future investments in SEO, social media, etc.

Conclusion

If you are solely looking at getting the best return for your investment both short and long term, there is no question about it: Conversion rate optimization delivers the highest ROI by a mile. However, while the conversion rate optimization benefits are undeniable as an investment, it is still no substitute for long-term growth strategies like SEO and content marketing. After all, CRO experts don’t drive new or more traffic to your website. So while CRO services will make your business more profitable in the short-term, the website traffic still shrivel and die without investment in social media, SEO, PPC, and other traffic sources. But as a singular investment that will help grow your profits, online sales, and generate favorable ROI, the conversion rate optimization benefits can literally take your business to the next level and be a true game-changer.