CRO Website Audit: Measurement and Experiment Planning

A CRO audit reviews conversion measurement and customer journeys to produce a prioritised experiment plan. Define the desired action and denominator before comparing rates. A visit, a completed form and a qualified enquiry are different outcomes.

What does a CRO audit establish?

The audit establishes the measured funnel, confirmed defects and hypotheses worth testing. It does not guarantee a revenue increase or reveal the cause of every abandoned session.

Illustrative arithmetic: 200 purchases from 10,000 eligible sessions is a 2% purchase rate. At the same session count, 250 purchases would be 2.5%: a rise of 0.5 percentage points or 25% relative. That is not an AuditWeb result or forecast; revenue also depends on order value, refunds and other factors.

How does CRO differ from a UX audit?

CRO focuses on a defined conversion outcome and experiment decisions. A UX audit considers the broader experience, including comprehension, task completion and accessibility. Use both when improving a metric could otherwise make the experience worse.

For a detailed inspection of landing pages, forms and checkout, follow the conversion journey audit.

Which analytics checks come first?

Confirm that the event represents a real action before analysing the funnel. A button click is not proof of a successful enquiry, and a publicly accessible confirmation page can overcount completion.

1. Define the event, eligible population, date range and reporting timezone.
2. Reproduce the action with an agreed test account and compare the browser event with its destination.
3. Inspect duplicate events, consent effects, internal traffic and failed submissions.
4. Compare device, landing page and traffic source using consistent definitions.
5. Record sample size and uncertainty before proposing an explanation.

GA4 uses key events to report important actions. Use the analytics audit when collection or reporting is unreliable. A device gap can reflect audience or task mix rather than a broken mobile interface.

What should landing-page analysis record?

Record the visitor's entry promise, the information needed to decide and the next action offered. Compare the actual page with its ad, email or search-result context.

• Does the headline accurately identify the offer and audience?
• Are price, eligibility, delivery and commitment clear where relevant?
• Can the visitor find supporting evidence before deciding?
• Do the CTA text and destination describe the same action?
• Can the page be used with a keyboard, on a narrow screen and at zoom?

Heatmaps and scroll data show recorded interactions, not eye movements or intent. Use them to choose a question for task testing rather than automatically deleting unread sections.

How should the conversion funnel be reviewed?

Trace the journey from entry to confirmed completion and recovery from error. Record each required field, step, dependency and interruption.

Inspect unexpected costs, unavailable delivery options, unclear validation, lost input and account requirements. Remove a field only when the business does not need it at that stage. There is no fixed conversion penalty per field.

Test payment and booking journeys in an authorised test environment. Do not create real orders to obtain a favourable audit screenshot.

Which trust signals are appropriate?

Use verifiable evidence and accurate terms. Check permission for testimonials, the scope of certifications and the validity of displayed ratings. Do not add invented badges, client logos or urgency.

Make pricing, contact details and refund conditions understandable. A truthful explanation of a limit is more useful than a promise the service cannot meet.

How should experiments be designed?

Define the hypothesis, primary metric, guardrails, assignment method and stopping rule before launch. Sample requirements depend on baseline rate, the effect worth detecting and the chosen analysis method; no fixed duration or conversion count works for every site.

Repair reproducible defects directly when the expected behaviour is clear. Test uncertain variants as coherent changes. If multiple elements change together, attribute the result to the variant as a whole.

Before-and-after comparisons can be useful for monitoring but are exposed to seasonality and traffic-mix changes. For searchable test variants, follow Google's website-testing guidance.

What belongs in the CRO handoff?

• Defined event, denominator, dates and baseline.
• Evidence for each confirmed defect and a separate hypothesis list.
• Proposed change, affected journey, owner and implementation risk.
• Experiment method, primary metric and guardrails such as lead quality or refunds.
• Retest results and a conclusion of improved, unchanged or inconclusive.

Use the implementation tracker to preserve the decision and verification evidence.