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SEO vs CRO: WTF is the Difference?

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Two male cartoons boxing, one labelled as SEO (red) and the other as CRO (blue)

Starting a business is daunting enough, and then SEO comes into the conversation, often making it 10 times worse. I hate to break this to you, but there’s another one.

What is SEO and CRO?

CRO stands for Conversion Rate Optimisation. It is the process by which a customer or site visitor crosses the threshold from browsing to taking action. This may be making a purchase, booking an appointment or sending an email. Regardless of your business type, it’s important.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. Did you know there are 1.1 BILLION websites worldwide? Safe to say there’s a bit of competition. But don’t fear! SEO helps you rank organically (without paid advertisements) in search results such as Google, reaching a wider audience and boosting your website traffic. Simply put, you win the race to the top of the search page.

Whilst SEO is more technical, including scary words like ‘metadata’, ‘indexing’ and ‘backlinks’, CRO is more practical. It is based on human behaviour and psychology, and uses design, clarity, function and lots more to increase the likelihood of someone making that final move. 

How does SEO Work?

The SEO process works as follows:

1. Search engines use automated bots to scan websites for new and updated content. This is called Crawling.

2. Content that is found is then analysed and stored in a vast database. This is called Indexing.

3. When someone searches, this database matches queries to indexed data, based on quality and relevance. This is Ranking.

Sounds easy, right? It can be! But you have to ensure your website meets the requirements of the 3 Core Types: 

  • Technical SEO: the technical aspects of your website
  • On-site SEO: optimising the content of your website
  • Off-Site SEO: slogans, taglines, brand colours

Technical SEO

As mentioned previously, your website must be crawlable. This means all content on all pages should be accessible and discoverable through elements such as navigation and internal linking (buttons). 

It’s not just you and me that hate slow websites; search engines do too. Ensuring responsiveness across platforms and that all pages and elements load quickly is vital to improving your SEO.

On-site SEO

If you’ve heard about SEO, you’ve heard about keywords. If you’re a florist, keywords could include ‘flower delivery’ or ‘Mother’s Day presents’, for example. It’s crucial that the wording across your website is relevant and specialised to your business and audience. 

Multimedia (photos and videos) is important, too. This also comes in handy for CRO. 

Keeping your website updated is paramount for SEO. Google loves websites that are dynamic and can keep up with changes in their market and the broader technological landscape.

Off-site SEO

Backlinks are a huge part of Off-Site SEO. Having relevant, trusted websites link to your own website greatly helps with SEO. Links to your website from social media are also important.

Outside of this, mentions and features (which don’t necessarily have to include direct links) are also helpful elements here. Online reviews, brand and influencer mentions, PR… anything that builds trust and recognition can help with your SEO.

The biggest SEO takeaway is that it is constantly changing and growing, and you need to as well, because your competitors definitely are.

How does CRO Work?

As mentioned previously, CRO is based on human behaviour. A Conversion-Rate-Optimised website includes:

  • User research: understanding what your audience wants and needs
  • UX/UI: User Experience and User Interface, ensuring visitors enjoy being on your website
  • User Journey: optimising the journey from a visitor landing on your home page to pressing the confirm button. You must ensure they can easily navigate your website and find what they need fast. This window of time is shortening, thanks to the rise of short-form content on TikTok and Instagram Reels.
  • Copywriting: ensure the words on your website are engaging, persuasive and relevant
  • Trust Building: A first impression is made in 7 seconds. You must ensure visitors get the right impression of your business almost instantly. This can be done through branding and identity elements, such as colour and typography.
  • Responsiveness: 60% of web traffic nowadays is mobile. You must ensure your website is optimised for mobile use and loads fast across platforms.

CRO may seem more complex, but in reality, it is about on par with SEO. Some may argue that SEO is far more difficult, but I suppose it depends on your strengths, passions and knowledge.

SEO vs CRO: Which is more important?

Short answer: neither, both, none, all. 

You could have the best SEO in the world, but if you haven’t consulted CRO, it reduces the effectiveness of your website and strategy, no matter how perfect your keywords are and how plentiful your backlinks are.

Similarly, a gorgeous website is all well and good, but it can’t fulfil its potential without high-quality SEO.

It’s a lot to think about, I know. But don’t let this put you off; once you get the ball rolling, you’ll have completed the SEO and CRO checklist in no time (see below!).

SEO Checklist

Below are a few factors that you should ensure to succeed in SEO.

Keywords

  1. Identify your competitors. See which keywords they’re using
  2. Research keywords in your niche
  3. Find and select long-tailed keyword variations 

Technical SEO

  1. Check site speed
  2. Ensure responsiveness across platforms (e.g. mobile)
  3. Ensure site is being indexed (through Google Search Console)

On-site SEO

  1. Ensure correct use of H1 tags
  2. Improve meta descriptions, alt text and page content
  3. Improve internal linking and ensure all buttons work
  4. Keep content updated, current and relevant

Off-site SEO

  1. Research competitor backlinks
  2. Link building (such as via business listing sites)
  3. Social media presence and public relations

CRO Checklist

Below are a few factors to ensure you succeed in CRO.

  1. Use engaging multimedia elements (photos and videos)
  2. Ensure colours and typography are engaging and easy to read
  3. Ensure your website is easy to navigate 
  4. Is your Home Page engaging? Make sure visitors want to learn more
  5. Use CTAs (Calls to Action) to encourage conversions
  6. Ensure your wording is concise and easy to understand
  7. Use high-quality images 
  8. Add an FAQ page if relevant
 

A lot to think about, right? Lucky for you, I can do it for you. For complete, comprehensive SEO and CRO audits, get in touch here.

Tagged

Client

Northshore Dental

Overview

Northshore Dental is a modern private dental clinic offering general and cosmetic dental services. Here, I created a Home Page design focusing on calls to action and building trust.

Scope of Work

  • Logo creation
  • UX/UI redesign
  • Typography & colour system
  • Full copywriting
  • Graphic design

Solutions

The brief emphasised reassuring nervous clients and creating the impression of a comforting, relaxing dental studio. The main goal was to build trust and funnel that into increased bookings. To do this, I used neutral colours and minimalist visual elements and typography to avoid feeling overly clinical or daunting.

Final Outcome

The homepage provides reassurance to patients and focuses on the appointment booking CTA. The calming design helps address Northshore’s challenge of earning client trust.

instagram and facebook growth statistics

Results

60,000+ Views | 9,000 Reach | 50% Increased Clicks

Overview

The Personalised Flower Box is a local florist. Pauline discussed wanting to grow her audience as she moved towards a new niche. Her focus was on showcasing her personality, which we achieved through static and video content I produced.

Scope of Work

  • Branding & identity
  • Social strategy
  • Consistent posting
  • Photo editing & graphic design
  • Audience engagement

Process

Pauline provided me with static content, which I edited and adapted to align with her relevant strategy. These were posted twice a week across Facebook and Instagram.

Simultaneously, I produced and edited long-form video content for Pauline, which was posted on YouTube and gained traction with the second video, with clients noting it was useful and entertaining.

Results

Pauline saw significant growth across her social media platforms. Increased engagement and reach on Instagram and Facebook led to more traffic to her website, and Pauline noted a noticeable increase in sales and enquiries.

Tutorials posted on YouTube helped attendees of her workshops understand wreath making, making classes smoother, more efficient, and more engaging.

View YouTube Channel

Results

152,000 Followers | 1,000,000+ Engagement

Overview

During lockdown, I created a themed Instagram account. It was a growing, competitive niche, so I had to learn how to adapt to the community and its expectations. What began as a hobby turned into a thriving community and business that lasted just under half a decade.

Scope of Work

  • Branding & identity creation
  • E-commerce store
  • Social strategy & posting
  • Audience engagement
  • Branded advertisements 

Results

In just 12 months, I grew this account to over 100,000 followers, reaching 150,000 only a few months later. At its peak, my daily posts were receiving up to 75,000, and the page was attracting more than 1 million monthly visitors.

I am incredibly proud of the community I created. I hosted giveaways, developed a merch line, partnered with brands for paid advertisements and received hundreds of messages from people sharing what the page meant to them. 

In January 2024, I took the step to stop posting. Rather than selling the account, despite receiving several strong offers, I decided to leave the page as a digital time capsule that people, including myself, can return to forever. 

This project is one of my favourite examples of what good strategy, consistency, and creativity can achieve. It’s also the basis of the work I do for clients: helping them to build brands, content and communities that genuinely resonate and grow. 

Client

ClearLedge

Overview

ClearLedger is a speculative modern accounting platform for non-finance founders who don’t understand traditional accounting tools. Here, I was tasked with Home Page design, focusing on visual hierarchy, calls to action and building trust.

Scope of Work

  • Logo creation
  • UX/UI redesign
  • Typography & colour system
  • Full copywriting
  • Graphic design

Solutions

I prioritised ensuring the site didn’t feel daunting or too corporate by using minimalistic colouring and typography. White and light blue create a fresh, sleek feel.

I focused on CTAs to align with the main goal of increasing free-trial signups among first-time visitors. Furthermore, this goal made trustworthiness and credibility paramount, which I ensured through social proof and human support cues. 

Final Outcome

The homepage communicates trust and reliability, making the daunting topic of finances more accessible for non-finance founders.

Client

The Personalised Flower Box

Overview

Pauline Brunsdon, at The Personalised Flower Box, expressed a desire to rebrand her business ahead of opening an E-Commerce store and YouTube channel. The existing visuals of her website were inconsistent and unclear, making for a difficult user journey and experience and failing to communicate value quickly. 

Scope of Work

  • Logo creation
  • UX/UI redesign
  • Typography & colour system
  • E-commerce setup & launch
  • Rewrites of key messaging

Solutions

To solve these issues, I began by designing a sleek yet on-theme logo, as well as a smaller version for the favicon and social media profile pictures. I composed set typography and colour schemes to use across platforms, creating a more cohesive and recognisable brand identity.

Refining the User Experience and Interface (UX/UI) improved professionalism and built trust from a visitors first impression. Furthermore, a cleaner structure made browsing faster, easier and more enjoyable.

Final Outcome

Pauline was delighted with her new website and branding. Post-launch, she saw an increase in engagement across her website and social media platforms. This has led to an ongoing collaboration for social media and website management.