All of us— even those considered to be CRO experts— had to start somewhere.
Nobody knows right away how to optimize websites as soon as they enter the digital marketing world.
Thankfully, mastering the art of conversion rate optimization is considerably easier now than it was several years ago, and for a very good reason—more learning resources are readily available.
Over the past few years in particular, we’ve seen an explosion in the number of CRO guides and tutorials with many of them being phenomenally helpful.
To assist you on your journey to becoming a CRO expert, we’ve collected a list of 15 excellent CRO resources. Study up on a few of these, and you’ll be up to speed with the rest of the industry in practically no time at all.
#1: The Beginner’s Guide to Conversion Rate Optimization (Qualaroo)
This 12-chapter monster is a great guide to kick off our list. Qualaroo, a premium CRO tool that’s been used by the likes of Yahoo!, Vimeo, and Intuit, provides a basic yet comprehensive overview of what CRO is all about.
In the early chapters, you’ll get definitions for CRO jargon (if you haven’t yet figured out what MVT, CTA, or A/B testing means, this is where you need to be). Chapter 4—my personal favorite—teaches you how to create an optimization plan.
At the end of each chapter, you’re also given links to two to five complementary blog posts on other websites that are sure to help as well.
This is an in-depth resource you definitely won’t want to miss.
#2: Conversion Rate Experts Blog
The resoundingly obvious domain name aside, Conversion Rate Experts is one of the top CRO service providers. Work with them, and you’ll be working with the guys who helped Apple, Google, Sony, and Facebook increase their website revenue.
Their blog, although infrequently updated, has numerous advanced conversion rate tips and case studies, in addition to more general digital marketing advice.
KISSmetrics and CRE teamed up to create this infographic on nine steps to better conversions. The graphic itself nearly merits a sole spot on this list. You definitely can’t go wrong by checking out the resources available from Conversion Rate Experts.
#3: ConversionXL Blog
Here are a few of ConversionXL’s most popular posts to get you started:
- 4 Ways Animation Can Actually Improve User Experience
- Google Analytics 102: How to Set Up Goals, Segments, and Events in Google Analytics
- A Quick Guide to Successful User Onboarding for SaaS Products
- How to Come Up with More Winning Tests Using Data
They also recently wrote an in-depth guide to conversion rate optimization guide that you definitely don’t want to miss out on.
#4: The Definitive Guide to Conversion Rate Optimization (QuickSprout)
If there’s one thing Neil Patel’s QuickSprout blog is known for, it’s the series of 30,000+ word guides he produces on a regular basis. Neil’s already covered SEO, content marketing, growth hacking, and consumer psychology—one of his more recent guides is on CRO.
We partnered with Neil Patel to create a thorough, eight-chapter guide to increasing conversions. It’s one of the most thorough guides available online.
Not only is the content helpful, but the format is aesthetically pleasing, with tons of visuals and custom graphics to assist you with digesting the information.
#5: Which Test Won
Which Test Won releases a summary of an A/B test every week. On the homepage, readers can test their conversion optimization instincts by voting on whether the control or the variable had a better performance.
For an additional $25 per 90 days, you can get access to their library of in-depth 453 conversion case studies.
#6: Guide to Conversion Rate Optimization (SEO Gadget)
SEO Gadget created a good-looking and useful infographic detailing both the good way and the bad way to get started with conversion rate optimization.
The infographic can currently only be viewed on Moz, as SEO Gadget is rebranding to Built Visible and hasn’t yet had an opportunity to put the infographic up on their website.
#7: The Small Business Guide to Conversion Rate Optimisation (Simply Business)
This resource presents a step-by-step guide to CRO in unique fashion.
Tailored for small businesses, the guide provides an in-depth introduction to the technical aspects of optimization testing, the basic tools required, and how to use them.
#8: 100 Conversion Optimization Case Studies (KISSmetrics)
They say that the best way to learn is by example. While that isn’t always true in conversion rate optimization (because you always need to test everything before blindly applying the tactics that worked for one website to your website since every website is different), there is a good deal of information to be gleaned from CRO case studies.
In this KISSmetrics blog post, 100 case studies (yes, that many) are listed with accompanying pictures and key takeaways for each.
#9: Visual Website Optimizer Case Studies
One of the most popular A/B and multivariate testing tools around, Visual Website Optimizer has a huge archive of case studies run by VWO customers.
What’s more, the case studies listed can be filtered by the business’s industry and the element that was tested, so you can get advice tailored to your particular type of business.
#10: The Unbounce Blog
Their blog is also a priceless resource with hundreds of CRO-specific posts that help you boost your digital marketing ROI.
Here are some of their top posts as a staring point:
- 22 Brutally Honest Landing Page Critiques
- 13 Warning Signs Your Web Copy Stinks
- The Most Dangerous Landing Page Mistakes and How You Can Fix them
- 26 Beautiful Landing Page Designs Critiqued with A/B Testing Tips
- 35 Beautiful Landing Page Design Examples to Drool Over [with Critiques]
#11: 666 Fresh Conversion Rate Optimizations Tips (Unbounce)
One of the best blog posts on Unbounce is Oli Gardner’s curation of 666 conversion rate optimization tips. It’s so good that we think it deserves its own spot on this list.
For the post, Oli went out of his way to read each and every tip listed to make sure it deserved to be included. And if he think it deserves to be included, then we think you’ll find it useful as well.
#12: The WiderFunnel Blog
WiderFunnel is a popular marketing optimization service provider that really knows what they’re doing.
Their blog—although very rarely updated (think less than once a month)—is a must read for anyone serious about CRO. The blogger, Chris Goward, brings a wealth of digital marketing expertise to the table.
Whenever they get around to publishing a new post, rest assured you’ll be hanging on to every word.
#13: Content Verve
The Content Verve blog is especially helpful for learning how to write better-optimized copy.
Once again, posts are few and far between, but each is so well written that definitely need to sign up in order to get updates.
#14: The Copyhackers Blog
Joanna Wiebe is fast becoming one of top names in the copywriting and CRO space, and you can find oodles of great advice from her on the Copyhackers website and blog.
She also has nine eBooks available for sale that are a must read for anyone looking to learn more about CRO.
#15: Optimizely Blog
Optimizely’s blog is one of the greats in the A/B testing and CRO niches. Between blog posts written by the guy who helped Obama gain $60 million in the 2007 elections (Dan Siroker) and controversial items that spark extended comment threads, you’ll fall in love with the “conversion rate optimism blog you’ll actually read”.
Dan also wrote a book about conversion rate optimization titled A/B Testing: The Most Powerful Way to Turn Clicks into Customers. It’s definitely worth buying and giving a read.
Wrapping It Up
With these 15 excellent CRO resources, there’s no excuse for you to not begin studying the conversion rate optimization craft starting today.
Here’s to learning a lot, improving conversion rates, and making more money in the process.
p.s. If you found this post helpful, be sure to share it so your friends, co-workers, and colleagues can benefit from it as well!
The Author
Jonathan John is a freelance writer and a digital marketing enthusiast. He helps business leverage the power of content marketing and blogging to increase traffic and boost brand authority
