What is conversion rate optimization and why is it important?

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the systematic process of improving the percentage of visitors who take desired actions on your website, such as making a purchase, signing up, or filling out a form. CRO is important because it increases revenue without increasing traffic costs—you get more value from existing visitors. It's typically more cost-effective than acquiring new traffic. CRO involves understanding user behavior, testing hypotheses, and implementing data-driven improvements. Even small improvements (1-2%) can significantly impact revenue over time. Example: A 1% conversion rate improvement on a site with 100,000 monthly visitors and $100 average order value adds $100,000 monthly revenue.