How to Grow Profits Through CRO

Hi everyone, this is Neo.

I’ve been chatting with a lot of friends running independent sites lately, and there’s one worry that keeps coming up: traffic is getting more expensive, and growth is getting harder.

We’ve gotten used to pouring most of our energy into “traffic acquisition”: researching keywords, creating content, running ads, grinding on social media… doing everything we can to pull traffic in from every channel. But the reality is that a lot of sites have hit a plateau — some are even declining — while ad costs keep climbing and profit margins keep getting squeezed.

Today I’m breaking down a talk by Tom Qiao: How to grow profits through CRO? A/B testing to boost sales and leads by 50–100%.

Are we stuck in a vicious cycle of “traffic wars”? At the recent Shenzhen SEO conference, one speaker’s talk really opened my eyes. His name is Tom Qiao, a CRO (conversion rate optimization) expert with a pretty unusual background.

About the author: Tom Qiao

  • Founder of ConvertBetter.co, CRO consultant & instructor
  • Tom Qiao is the founder of Convert Better (convertbetter.co), a CRO agency that helps clients turn clicks into customers.
  • He previously led SEO projects for a Canadian marketing agency, driving traffic and sales growth for global brands and local businesses.
  • Tom is also an instructor at Internet Marketing Gold (img.courses).

He used to be a financial analyst for one of Canada’s largest pension plans before diving headfirst into digital marketing and founding Convert Better, a CRO-focused agency. That “finance + marketing” combo led him to a razor-sharp question: we obsess over the “quantity” of traffic — but are we ignoring the “quality”? Are the visitors we worked so hard to attract actually converting?

In this long read, I’ll do a deep recap of Tom Qiao’s talk and add my own take. Trust me — by the end, you’ll see “growth” in a whole new light.

1. Why CRO Is Your New “Money Printer”

Before we talk CRO, we need to make a mental shift.

The Mindset Leap From SEO to CRO

In traditional digital marketing, the growth formula is dead simple:

Revenue = Traffic × Conversion Rate × Average Order Value

The most direct way to boost revenue is to grow the “traffic” factor. That’s why SEO and paid ads became the core of our work. It worked early on, but now this model is hitting a ceiling.

Tom pointed out in his talk that SEO and ads are about “opening the tap” — bringing in more visitors. CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization), on the other hand, is about “tightening the tap and adding efficiency” — getting maximum value out of every visitor who’s already on your site.

  • SEO/ads: Getting more people to your website.
  • CRO: Getting more of the people on your website to take the action you want (ordering, submitting a form, signing up, etc.).

Imagine your website is a physical store. SEO and ads are like handing out flyers and running promos in the mall to get people through the door. CRO is optimizing your store layout, lighting, sales scripts, and checkout experience so every customer who walks in is more likely to buy.

With “cost per visit” climbing every day, optimizing the “in-store experience” is clearly the smarter, higher-ROI move.

The 80/20 Rule, Taken to the Extreme

So how do you actually optimize? Tom’s core point: CRO is about finding and optimizing the 20% of factors that drive 80% of your sales.

That sounds a bit mystical, but think about it — don’t these key levers exist on your site too?

  • A compelling Headline
  • A high-quality product Image
  • A strong Call to Action
  • A clear Price & Shipping policy
  • Trust Signals that kill doubts — refund guarantees, secure payment icons
  • Real Social Proof — customer reviews, media mentions

We often spend 80% of our time writing blogs, doing technical SEO, and maintaining the site, while ignoring the fine-tuning of these conversion “lifelines.” CRO is about using data to find those key factors and then optimizing the heck out of them.

Let’s Do the Math: How CRO Directly Lifts Your Profit

Here’s a simple calculation. Say your website has:

  • 10,000 monthly visitors
  • 1% conversion rate
  • $100 average order value

Your monthly revenue: 10,000 × 1% × $100 = $10,000

Now, without adding a single visitor, CRO lifts your conversion rate to 2%.

Revenue becomes: 10,000 × 2% × $100 = $20,000

Your revenue just doubled!

And that 1% conversion lift might come from nothing more than changing a button’s copy, or adding a “30-day no-questions-asked returns” badge. Compared to the hefty cost of doubling your traffic, CRO’s return on investment is staggering.

That’s why Tom calls CRO your “new money printer.” It frees you from the endless chase for traffic and brings you back to the essence of business — improving conversion efficiency and growing profit from within.

2. What Exactly Is CRO? (A 5-Minute Crash Course)

So if CRO is this important, what actually is it? Is it just tweaking page designs?

Of course not. Tom stressed that CRO is a systematic process of continuously optimizing conversion performance, driven by data analysis and scientific experimentation. It doesn’t run on “I think so” — it runs on data.

The Core CRO Process: a Scientific Four-Step Method

Tom distills CRO into a simple four-step loop — an infinite growth flywheel:

  1. User Behavior Analysis

    • Goal: Find the problem. “Why is my conversion rate so low?”
    • Method: Use heatmaps to see where users click and focus, use session recordings to replay real users’ paths like a movie, and analyze engagement data in GA4. With these tools, you’ll see where users hesitate and where they drop off.

  2. Hypothesis & A/B Testing

    • Goal: For each problem found, propose a possible solution and validate it scientifically.
    • Method: Say you notice many users hesitating on the product page. You hypothesize: “If I add a ‘free shipping’ badge next to the ‘Buy’ button, users will be more willing to purchase.” Then you create version A (original page) and version B (page with the badge), send some users to A and others to B — that’s A/B testing.

  3. Conclusion / Learning

    • Goal: Analyze the A/B test results and determine which version is better.
    • Method: Once the test has collected enough data, the statistics tool tells you whether B produced a significant conversion lift over A (e.g., 95% confidence). If B wins, roll the change out to your live site.

  4. Repeat

    • CRO is a never-ending process. When one test ends, you’ll spot new problems and start another “analyze → hypothesize → test → learn” cycle.

A/B Testing: CRO’s Killer App

In this process, A/B testing is the absolute core. Why?

Because it’s a scientific decision-making framework. In the past, we optimized websites mostly by gut feeling. “I think the red button is better than the green one.” “I think this headline is more appealing.” But your “feeling” is often wrong.

A/B testing hands the decision to your users. By splitting traffic, you let data tell you which version users actually prefer. It avoids the risk of conversion drops from bad changes, and ensures every new feature that ships has been validated as the better choice.

In Tom’s words: “A/B testing lets you make decisions based on real-world data, not wild guesses.”

3. B2C vs B2B: How CRO Strategy Differs

Theory’s done — let’s look at practice. In his talk, Tom gave concrete CRO challenges and best practices for three business models: B2C (e-commerce), B2B (foreign trade), and SaaS. I’ll focus on the B2C and B2B parts that matter most to our independent sites.

B2C (E-commerce) CRO Pain Points & Fixes

  • Core challenges:

    1. Low add-to-cart rate: Visitors look but don’t add to cart.
    2. High cart abandonment: They add to cart but bail at the final step.
    3. Low average order value (AOV): Everyone buys the cheap stuff; order size won’t go up.

  • Tom’s prescriptions (B2C best-practice checklist):

    1. Strengthen the “reason to buy”: Near the “Buy” button, clearly show your satisfaction guarantee, warranty, and return policy. These are the final push that seals the deal.
    2. Remove checkout friction: Keep checkout minimal — ideally done in 1-2 minutes. Don’t surprise users with shipping and tax charges at the last step — it infuriates them. Offer multiple payment methods (credit card, PayPal, installments, etc.).
    3. Max out trust/social signals: Put customer reviews, star ratings, buyer photos, and third-party certifications (like Trustpilot) in the most visible spots.
    4. Reduce cart abandonment: Set up exit-intent popups (a retention window that appears when the mouse heads for the browser edge), cart-abandonment email reminders, and small incentives (limited-time discounts, freebies).

  • Deep dive: how U7BUY lifted add-to-cart rate by 35%

    • Business: U7BUY, a virtual gaming items trading platform.
    • Challenge: Low checkout rate.
    • Insight: Analysis revealed two key findings: ① competitor sites had more trust signals (like satisfaction guarantees); ② users decide extremely fast — typically within 20-30 seconds.
    • Hypothesis: Adding trust signals below the CTA button will lift conversions.
    • A/B tests:
      • Test #1: Added trust icons under the “game coins” buy button. Result: add-to-cart CTR up 35%! (95% statistical significance)
      • Test #2: Replicated the same change on the “game accounts” purchase page. Result: CTR up 8%! (97% statistical significance)

    This case perfectly shows the power of CRO: one tiny change, rooted in deep user insight, delivered huge returns.

B2B (Foreign Trade) CRO Pain Points & Fixes

For B2B foreign-trade sites, the goal isn’t direct ordering — it’s capturing high-quality leads (inquiries).

  • Core challenges:

    1. Low traffic/inquiries: Industry keywords have low search volume, and SEO/ads are expensive.
    2. Low lead quality: Many inquiries are dead ends or people just price-shopping.
    3. Long sales cycles: The journey from inquiry to deal is long and hard to track.

  • Tom’s prescriptions (B2B best-practice checklist):

    1. State your unique selling proposition (USP) in one sentence: Use 10-15 words, in a prominent spot on every page, to tell customers “who you are and what unique problem you solve for me.”
    2. Know your target customers: B2B decision chains are long — you need to know whether your visitor is a buyer, an engineer, or the boss. Tools like RB2B can identify the visitor’s company and job title.
    3. Offer multiple contact channels: Don’t just leave an email! Provide a phone number (with working hours), an online chat (chatbot), and even WhatsApp or FB Messenger depending on your target market. Let customers reach you in the way that’s easiest for them.
    4. Showcase your credentials: B2B customers care deeply about experience and capability. Display your case studies, industry certifications, awards, and big-client logos. Let KPIs do the talking — “served 500+ companies,” “cumulative order value over $10M.”

  • Deep dive: how High Voltage SEO increased inquiries by 119%

    • Business: High Voltage SEO, a well-known SEO agency.
    • Challenge: Very few qualified inquiries per month.
    • Insight: Session recordings revealed that many high-intent users (those spending 5+ minutes on the site) were bouncing on the final “book a consultation” page.
    • A/B tests:
      • Test #1 (booking page optimization): Three changes on the booking page: ① the headline went from a plain “Book Now” to a value-driven “Let’s Map Out Your Growth Path Together”; ② added short sales copy; ③ made the CTA button more prominent. Result: booking page CTR up 119%! (99% statistical significance)
      • Test #2 (service page CTA): Changed the service page CTA from “Book a Call” to “Get Started.” Result: CTR up 150%! (91% statistical significance)

    This case shows that — especially for B2B sites — subtle copy differences and how key pages present information have an outsized impact on prospect decisions.

4. Five Small Things You Can Start Doing Right Now

After all that theory and those case studies, you’re probably itching to try it. At the end of his talk, Tom kindly handed out a 5-step “getting started” action guide. I’ve turned it into concrete steps you can start today.

  1. Review last month’s conversion data Open your GA4 — don’t just look at total traffic; dig one level deeper. Check the “Source/Medium,” “Country,” “Landing Page,” and “Device” dimensions. Which channel’s users convert best? Which country’s users are most valuable? Which page is high-traffic but low-converting — a leaky funnel? Get a baseline understanding of where you stand first. . Install a heatmap tool Microsoft Clarity is completely free and powerful — highly recommended. Once installed, you’ll see click heatmaps and scroll-depth maps for your pages. More importantly, go watch session recordings: spend an afternoon watching a few dozen real user sessions like a movie. You’ll discover all kinds of unexpected user behavior and site issues.

  2. Run a simple user survey Don’t guess what your users are thinking — ask them directly. Use a simple popup or email questionnaire with one or two key questions, like: “What were you hoping to find when you came to our site today?” or “What’s stopping you from completing a purchase?”

  3. Run your first A/B test Don’t wait for perfection — start with a simple test. Use VWO (Visual Website Optimizer), Google Optimize (sunsetting soon, but the principles carry over), or similar tools. Pick something you suspect is a problem — a button color, a headline’s copy — and set up an A/B test. The goal is to get comfortable with the tools and process, and to feel the magic of data-driven decisions.

  4. Run a full CRO audit Once you’re comfortable with the basics, do a more comprehensive CRO audit of your site. You can reference the free CRO checklist Tom provides, or bring in a professional CRO consultant to systematically find your conversion bottlenecks and optimization opportunities.

Closing: From “Traffic Rules” to “Conversion Wins”

At that Shenzhen SEO conference, Tom Qiao’s talk felt like a breath of fresh air. It pulled us away from our obsession with traffic growth and made us re-examine our site’s “internal strength.”

The era of “traffic is king” may not be over, but the era of “conversion wins” has arrived.

As the cost of acquiring new customers keeps climbing, we should think harder about how to serve and convert every visitor who’s already on our site. That’s not just a shortcut to bigger profits — it’s the foundation of a brand moat and sustainable growth.

I hope this article becomes your “CRO moment.” Starting today, examine your data like a financial analyst, polish your website like a product manager — and you’ll discover a whole new ocean of growth.

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