Setting Sail for Growth: The Power of Merging SEO and CRO

No digital marketing strategy is an “island.” The days of stand-alone strategies are over as smart businesses realize that meeting their goals requires a more holistic approach. Enter the dynamic duo of search engine optimization (SEO) paired with conversion rate optimization (CRO), two seemingly distinct disciplines that, when united, become a force multiplier for growth.

Wait, you mean SEO isn’t just about topping search engine results pages (SERPs)? CRO isn’t just about pushing users to click “Buy Now”? Nope, there’s a bit more to it. Think of it like this: SEO raises the sails to catch the wind. CRO steers the ship into port and allows those cash-flush tourists to disembark. In other words, while SEO drives the right people to your site, CRO makes sure those people take meaningful action—whether that’s a form fill, purchase, or just a stickier visit.

Yet, in many instances, these efforts remain separate. In this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll look at using SEO and CRO together to achieve your digital marketing goals. By merging SEO’s audience-building prowess with CRO’s conversion expertise, you don’t just grow traffic. You build a funnel and drive results that go beyond what either could achieve alone.

• SEO and CRO: No Longer Separate Islands
• Smooth Sailing With a “User-First” Approach
• Using Data as Your North Star
• Speed and Agility: How Using SEO and CRO Together Leads to Faster Wins
• Navigating the Journey with Others
• Get Expert Help with Your SEO and CRO Strategy

SEO and CRO: No Longer Separate Islands

For years, SEO and CRO have operated like separate islands—each with its own distinct goals, metrics, and strategies. SEO’s mission was to drive more visitors through the digital door. CRO was tasked with turning those visitors into leads, sales, or other actions that matter to the bottom line. But here’s the issue: when these two disciplines are kept apart, the gap between attracting and converting customers can be as wide as the Atlantic Ocean. (Yes, I’m sticking with the maritime analogies since I’m kind of committed at this point. Clearly, I’ve been watching too much “Below Deck.”)

Now, this divide no longer works. The competition isn’t just fighting for more traffic; it’s fighting for meaningful engagement. Businesses that blend SEO and CRO effectively position themselves to attract users and guide them seamlessly from awareness to action.

Business growth depends on bridging the gap

Consider a business that invests heavily in SEO. They manage to achieve impressive rankings and drive significant traffic to their website. The visitors pour in, but when they arrive—yikes. They’re met with clunky navigation, unclear messaging, and slow loading times. Conversion rates suffer, leaving potential revenue on the table. Despite having strong visibility, this disconnect between SEO’s traffic-driving efforts and CRO’s on-site optimization means the business misses out on converting visitors who are ready to buy. It’s like inviting guests to a grand opening only to slam the door in their faces.

Breaking down the divide between SEO and CRO isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore—it’s essential for growth. When these strategies merge, the entire digital experience becomes more intuitive and results-driven.

Smooth Sailing With a “User-First” Approach

At the heart of SEO and CRO lies a shared, singular focus: the user. Taking an audience-first approach is about more than just rankings or clicks. It’s about understanding and improving the entire user experience based on your target audience and their needs. Whether someone lands on your site from a search engine or a social media link, their journey should feel seamless, engaging, and intentional. This is where the true synergy between SEO and CRO emerges.

Landing page optimization

SEO isn’t just about bringing in visitors; it’s about attracting the right visitors. SEO teams use insights like:

• bounce rates
• average time on page
• user behavior

These metrics identify which landing pages drive the most engagement.

CRO experts, in turn, use this data to refine these pages by aligning different page elements with what users actually want and need. This team looks at:

• design
• copy
• calls to action

The result? A site that’s not just optimized for clicks but for deeper engagement and higher conversions.

Keyword research

A good SEO team will start by understanding your target audience and they will couple that with user search intent-based keyword research. Search intent typically falls into one of five categories:

• Informational: “best time to book a bahamas cruise”
• Commercial: “best bahamas cruise for families”
• Commercial investigational: “disney cruise deals”
• Transactional: “book disney cruise”
• Navigational: “disney cruise login”

As you can see, this follows the classic marketing funnel from awareness to conversion. The more specific the keyword, the better chance your content will rank.

Long-tail vs. short-tail keywords

If you’re in a highly competitive industry (like travel, financial services, or healthcare), this is where long-tail keywords shine. These multi-word phrases have lower search volume than their shorter counterparts but have extremely clear search intent.

For example, “bahamas cruise” gets 22,200 searches a month. Wow! But what’s the search intent? Are these people wanting to book a cruise? Compare different cruise lines? Learn more about where cruises to the Bahamas go? It’s hard to say.

Now, let’s look at “3-day cruise to bahamas from fort lauderdale.” Sure, this keyword only gets 170 monthly searches, but see the difference? These searchers know exactly what they want, and they’re probably ready to buy. If you were a cruise company and you offered this service, imagine if every single one of those 170 searchers was served up your landing page that was optimized for this keyword. Then, thanks to a great user experience and conversion rate optimization, they converted for themselves and a traveling companion. Assuming these cruises are around $400 per person, your revenue potential is $136,000 a month!

Understanding user search intent helps ensure that high-converting pages are built around the right terms. It’s about aligning content creation with conversion data.

Using Data as Your North Star for Both SEO and CRO

Data is the North Star that guides SEO and CRO. It serves as the common language that unites these approaches. For you, this isn’t just a matter of metrics—it’s about translating insights into tangible outcomes. The ability to use data to understand what’s working, what’s not, and how to pivot sets successful businesses apart from those merely treading water.

Behavioral data

Traditionally, SEO has relied on data like keyword rankings, click-through rates, and organic traffic volume. CRO, meanwhile, has focused on metrics like conversion rates, form completions, and button clicks. But the real magic happens when you go beyond these individual metrics and dive into behavioral data—those granular insights that reveal how users actually interact with your site. With these tools and analytics, you can use real-time data to adjust CRO and SEO tactics on the fly.

Types of behavioral data

• Scroll Depth: Measures how far users scroll down a page, indicating content engagement and whether key information is visible.
• Click Patterns: Tracks where users click on a webpage, helping identify popular links, buttons, or features that drive engagement.
• Time on Page: The average amount of time that users spend on a specific page, revealing how engaging or informative the content is.
• Heatmaps: Visual representations showing where users click, hover, or interact most frequently, revealing areas of high interest or potential confusion.
• Session Recordings: Video replays of user sessions, showing exact interactions, including mouse movements, clicks, and pauses.
• Exit Rates: The percentage of users who leave a site from a specific page, indicating potential issues in the user journey.
• Form Abandonment: Data showing where users drop off when filling out forms, helping identify friction points or confusing fields.
• Rage Clicks: Instances where users repeatedly click on an unresponsive element, suggesting frustration or a broken user experience.
• Scroll Abandonment: When users stop scrolling at a specific point on a page, indicating less engaging or irrelevant content beyond that point.
• Engagement with Interactive Elements: Tracks how users interact with dropdowns, filters, sliders, or other interactive features, revealing what they find useful or not.
• Return Visits: The frequency with which users return to the site within a certain time frame, indicating ongoing interest or the need for more information.
• Bounce Rate Segmentation: Analyzing bounce rates segmented by source, page type, or user behavior to understand where engagement is weakest.
• Scroll Speed: Measures how fast users scroll through a page, which can indicate their level of interest in the content.

When SEO and CRO teams analyze this data together, they can fine-tune content and user flow, boosting both engagement and conversions.

A/B testing

A/B testing is often seen as a CRO tactic, but its impact can be significant from an SEO perspective, too. If a new page design results in more clicks, longer dwell time, and fewer bounces, it signals to search engines that users find this content valuable. This can lead to better rankings, creating a cycle where CRO optimizations positively influence search behavior. As user behavior shifts, so should your strategies, making data the ever-evolving guide that keeps both optimization efforts aligned toward growth.

In short, use data as a dynamic feedback loop, not a static report. That way, you create a digital ecosystem where every insight drives more effective decision-making and, ultimately, stronger results.

Speed and Agility: How Using SEO and CRO Together Lead to Faster Wins

Merging SEO and CRO isn’t just about better results—it’s about getting there faster. When done right, this combined approach can help drive immediate and meaningful growth. Combining these efforts allows real-time adjustments that keep up with user behavior and market shifts. This more flexible, iterative process makes the most of every insight as soon as it appears.

When SEO insights meet CRO strategies

Consider the impact of integrating keyword-driven insights into CRO strategies. When you use the right keywords to inform your landing page content, you’re not just attracting the right traffic; you’re also converting it more effectively. For instance, let’s say a SaaS company once saw a significant uptick in free trial sign-ups within weeks of aligning their keyword research with CRO efforts. They didn’t wait for traffic to “eventually convert.” Instead, they analyzed which keywords drove users with high purchase intent and optimized landing pages to cater to those users right away.

This speed and agility are what set modern digital marketing efforts apart. By adapting SEO insights directly into CRO workflows, businesses can achieve faster wins. Imagine launching a new keyword-targeted landing page and seeing conversions improve in days, not months. Nope, this isn’t wishful thinking. It’s a responsive strategy that doesn’t wait for results to trickle in.

Navigating the CRO and SEO Journey With Others

Before hiring someone to do your SEO or CRO, ask them how they approach merging these efforts. Ensure they have the resources and knowledge to provide you with a strong strategy using both. For example, metrics may reveal that a particular call to action resonates well with users. A good SEO team will use this data to inform their meta descriptions, title tags, or even blog topics.

Likewise, if the SEO team notices keywords driving traffic but not converting, they should work with a web designer to tweak the page design or content to match what the user behavioral data is telling you about user intent. If your team can’t look at the problem from both perspectives, it might be time to say bon voyage or send out an SOS.

Get Expert Help with Your SEO and CRO Strategy

As you can see, SEO and CRO are essential partners. If you think you’re wasting conversions and revenue by treating SEO and CRO as separate efforts, let’s set sail together and discover the true potential of your digital marketing. Call us at 502-499-4209 or drop us a note today!