After her presentation at Affiliate World Asia, CRO Queen Ayat Shukairy, the co-founder of Invesp, chatted with Benjamin Yong in a one-on-one interview on conversion rate optimisation and more.

This post “Ayat Shukairy Breaks Down Conversion Rate Optimisation Points” first appeared on the AWC Facebook Page.

 

AWasia Interview with Ayat Shukairy, Co-founder of Invesp

Introduction

Ayat Shukairy:
Hi, my name is Ayat Shukairy. My company’s name is Invesp, we are a conversion rate optimisation company. I’m a co-founder of the company. We optimise different websites to provide our customers with better conversion rates.

The Goal of CRO

Benjamin Yong:
?️ So Ayat, would you mind to share a little bit with us what does conversion rate optimisation mean?
Ayat Shukairy:
So conversion rate optimisation really is complex in a sense that there’s a lot of research that has to be done in order for you to understand more about your website. So the key is to conduct qualitative, quantitative research in order to really be able to understand how do I, based on this information that I’ve collected, improve overall conversion rates. So the goal of conversion rate optimisation is to get that really holistic view of the customer journey in order to really provide them with an experience and thus, increase conversion rates.
Benjamin Yong:
?️ Wow, that’s good to know.

Give Your Users An Experience

Benjamin Yong:
?️ So like, specifically when you talk about conversion rate optimisation, what would be some of the examples that you know, what are the things that one can do to — maybe just name us a few.
Ayat Shukairy:
So for example, when I’m conducting any type of conversion rate optimisation project, the first thing that I’ll do like I said, is do a lot of research because I need to understand the website. I need to understand the visitors. I need to understand how the visitors are performing on the website. I need to understand all of that.
Benjamin Yong:
?️ So basically it’s not just on the website alone but as customer products and the business as a whole?
Ayat Shukairy:
Exactly. And I need to understand also where they’re coming from exactly, so I can provide them with a better experience. So like if they’re coming from paid search ads, what are some of the keywords that they’re using and based on that, I’ll understand a little bit more about for example, their intent and then based on their intent I can provide them with a better experience.

So you kind of have to have that holistic view and then based on that, you know, I create a different design or a different experience on the website and usually what we’ll do in our agency is we’ll A/B test. So that we can see what is the difference when I provide them with this design or this experience versus the original or the control.

Best Practices Often Fail

Benjamin Yong:
?️ Right, okay. So I actually caught a quote during your presentation, which you often say, “best practices often fail” and we are constantly looking for sustainable growth. So this is a very strong message to not get satisfied over stuff. Like let’s just say, oh I think I am the best with the conversion rate already, we are content with what we have, okay.

Uhm, what to do things that used to work but it may not work right now — so like, what, what, what, makes you — can you give an example of like how this has made you like a homerun?

Ayat Shukairy:
Yeah, so you know. So when we talk about “best practices often fail”, people want some sort of like a checklist. Like, oh if I do ABC, I’m going to be able to see increases in conversion rate but the reality is that, no, those don’t necessarily work for your visitors. Because even for example, a lot of people will be like, “oh I’ll just copy what Amazon.com has and I’m going to be able to see amazing results” but that might not be the case.

The reality is that actually, you need to be able to understand your visitors more, understand what their needs are, and based on that, provide them with designs and experiences that they’re really going to enjoy. So best practices fail because it just doesn’t apply to every single website, you know, what works for one website doesn’t work for another website.

The Challenge To Approaching CRO

Benjamin Yong:
?️ I see, okay that’s good to know. So where do you see the most friction with individuals and with agencies when they approach CRO? For themselves or for their clients.
Ayat Shukairy:
So I think the most friction is usually when people want to see 100% increases in conversions and they want to see amazing results and the thing is it takes time and you have to be really patient with the process.
Benjamin Yong:
?️ Is it really possible that we can like achieve 100% increase on a conversion rate?
Ayat Shukairy:
Exactly. It’s very challenging to be able to get to 100% but it’s not impossible. If you are able to, and that’s what we’ve been able to do with our company for our clients, is we’re able to see that repeatable, sustainable growth by providing them really, with this amazing process that they could implement and we implement for them in order for them to see that growth in their conversion rates.

The key is any marketing activity, especially conversion rate optimisation, it’s not like a light switch that you can turn on and off, it’s something that you have to continue with for a very long-term. It’s almost like a long-term process that you really have to embed within your organisation in order to see the results.

Benjamin Yong:
?️ Okay, so in other words, it’s like we’ve got to be always be testing different stuff.
Ayat Shukairy:
Right, but don’t just test random stuff, like everything should be data-driven. Anything that you’re going to be testing, there should be a reason. Why am I testing this, what is the reason or research that I collect in order to justify testing this particular thing.

Minimum Increase In Conversion Rate

Benjamin Yong:
?️ Right, okay. So let’s just say it this way. If I were to ask you, what would be the uhm, like the normal or, a very common conversion rate increase after — before and after you have done it for your clients. Yeah, because I believe a lot of individuals, they are very new when it comes to conversion rate optimisation, they don’t even know how to get it done and I think that worst comes to worst, they don’t even think that they need CRO at all.

So in that case, would you be able to let us know, at least the number, what would be the minimum increase in the conversion rate, based on your experience for so many years in this field?

Ayat Shukairy:
I mean, so what we’ve been able to achieve for our clients is like a 65 on average, a 65% increase.
Benjamin Yong:
?️ 65% increase in conversion rate? Oh wow. That is impressive.
Ayat Shukairy:
Exactly, but again it takes research, it takes a process, and it takes like a lot of coming up with really creative solutions that are very tailored to that specific target market.

Ayat’s Advice When Working On CRO

Benjamin Yong:
?️ Okay, so if there’s one thing that you will say to individuals or agencies or businesses that have yet to start looking into their conversion rate optimisation, what would be the one thing you would say to them?
Ayat Shukairy:
So I would say to any company that you should definitely pursue it, but if you’re not going to be committed to what conversion rate optimisation actually takes, then you’re going to be wasting a lot of resources and a lot of money. So I think put in that right process in order for you to really see those amazing results.
Benjamin Yong:
?️ Thank you so much Ayat, I’ve learned so much about conversion optimisation today.