CP #61: PRO

Welcome to Conversion Party. This week, we’ve got…

• 🕳️ CRO Deep Dive: Why Your Website is Losing Money (And How to Fix It)

• 🗺️ Goings On: Not nothin’

• 🔦 Partner Spotlight: Surefoot

• 👾 CRO Hack: The human brain wasn’t designed to read ads

Let’s ride.

🕳️ CRO DEEP DIVE
Your Home Page is Probably Losing Money (+ How to Fix It)

Discover the strategies and tactics you need to optimize for more revenue in ecommerce. In this in-depth essay we explore data-driven approaches, real-world examples, and proven best practices to help you drive more sales and revenue.

Every minute of every day, ecommerce founders and marketers make the same mistake: obsessing over their conversion rate.

They refresh their attribution tools (hello friends at Triple Whale), stare at Shopify, and stress over conversion rate.

But here's the thing. Your website’s goal isn’t just to convert—it’s to make you more money. And that means optimizing for revenue per session (RPS), not just conversion rate.

In our latest How We Buy webinar, a panel of CRO and UX experts, including Dylan Ander (Heatmap), Nate Lagos (Original Grain), and the team from Oddit, reviewed websites LIVE, and destroyed some of the most common mistakes ecommerce brands make.

The first site up for review was Aged & Ore, a company that sells premium travel cases for carrying bottles of alcohol.

Here are five things we learned from their home page that could help you make more money, too 👇️ 

#1: The One Thing Your Homepage Needs (But Probably Doesn’t Have)

Here’s the biggest problem: their homepage made it look like they sold alcohol.

🔴 The mistake: The product name itself—Bottle Flight—was confusing. Visitors might assume they’re buying a selection of bottles, not a carrying case.

✅ The fix:

• The headline should instantly communicate the product’s benefit, not just what it does.

• Instead of a feature-focused tagline like “The Best Way to Travel With Bottles,” test something like:

  • “Hassle-Free Whiskey Travel, Every Time”

  • “The Only Travel Case That Protects Your Favorite Bottles”

Why this matters: Your homepage should tell visitors exactly what problem you solve in less than 3 seconds. If there’s confusion, they bounce.

#2: Your CTA Button is Probably Costing You Sales

Visitors need zero friction between understanding your product and taking action.

But here’s what Aged & Ore (and a lot of brands) get wrong:

🔴 The mistake: The CTA button in the hero section said “Buy Bottle Flight”—which pushes too hard, too soon.

✅ The fix: Swap the CTA to something that matches the visitor’s mindset.

• “Shop Bottle Flight” → Encourages exploration

• “Learn More” → Feels lower commitment

• “Find Your Perfect Case” → Creates curiosity

🔎 Pro Tip: The best CTA isn’t just about wording—it’s also about timing. If a visitor is just discovering your brand, they aren’t ready to buy yet. Give them an option to explore first.

#3: Sliders (Carousels) Are Destroying Your Conversions

If you have a rotating image slider on your homepage, congratulations—you’re actively sabotaging your revenue.

📉 Data shows that sliders reduce engagement and conversions.

Why? Because they distract users and hide key messaging behind extra clicks.

🔴 The mistake: Aged & Ore used a rotating carousel in their hero section, which diluted their key message.

The carousel transitioned from this:

to this:

✅ The fix:

• Pick ONE clear, high-impact hero image and message.

• Run split tests to find the most effective version instead of relying on a rotating carousel.

💡 Pro Tip: The goal of your homepage is to get people to click and take action. If they’re waiting for slides to rotate, you’re losing them.

#4: Where’s the Trust? Your Social Proof is in the Wrong Place

Your visitors don’t trust you yet. You need to prove that other people do.

🔴 The mistake: Aged & Ore had a “Featured In” section with logos of media outlets… but actual quotes or testimonials were buried.

✅ The fix:

• Move social proof higher up on the page (don’t bury it).

• Make real quotes or reviews—not just logos—more prominent

  

• Showcase specific numbers (“10,000+ bottles protected” sounds way more legit than “Trusted by Whiskey Lovers”).

👀 Real-World Example: Brands that include a star rating and a testimonial near the CTA see double-digit lifts in conversion rates.

#5: Stop Optimizing for Conversion Rate (Do This Instead)

This was the biggest takeaway from the webinar.

Most brands are so focused on conversion rate (CRO) that they forget the real goal: making more money per visitor.

🔴 The mistake: Most brands only look at conversion rate without considering average order value (AOV) and revenue per session (RPS).

✅ The fix:

• Instead of chasing a higher conversion rate, focus on increasing your revenue per visitor.

• Run split tests that increase AOV, even if conversion rate drops slightly.

• Example: If you add a “Frequently Bought Together” section and increase your AOV from $50 to $70, your RPS goes up—meaning you make more money per visitor, even if fewer visitors buy.

💡 Pro Tip: A 0.5% drop in conversion rate doesn’t matter if your AOV increases enough to drive higher profits.

Your Action Plan: Fix These 5 Mistakes Today

Want to optimize your ecommerce site for profit, not just conversions? Here’s your quick checklist:

✅ Rewrite your homepage hero section to focus on benefits, not features.
✅ Change your CTA to match the visitor’s mindset (“Shop” instead of “Buy”).
✅ Kill the carousel. Pick one high-performing hero message and test it.
✅ Move social proof higher up. Add real customer testimonials and numbers.
✅ Track revenue per session (RPS) instead of just conversion rate.

Want Your Website Roasted Live?

If you found these insights helpful, imagine what we could do with your site.

📢 Reply to this email to be featured in our next episode of How We Buy 

📅 Next episode: 3/5/2025

Don’t miss out—your website might be next. 🚀

🗺️ GOINGS ON
Not Nothin’

Stay in the loop with our latest partner activations—from webinars and in-person meetups to fresh content collaborations. We’ll highlight upcoming events, share key takeaways from recent gatherings, and give you an inside look at what’s brewing in our network.

🛑 Stop Losing Sales: Proven Tactics to Fix Cart Abandonment

Join us for a live virtual workshop to discover proven strategies that will help you fix cart abandonment and recover lost sales. 💸

​What you’ll learn

🔧 Actionable tactics to uncover and address the hidden causes of cart abandonment
🎯 Tools and techniques to reduce friction and increase checkout conversions
🔥 Real-world examples from top eCommerce brands who’ve successfully boosted cart recovery and sales

🔓️ Unlocking Smarter Marketing: Overcoming Wasted Spend and Attribution Gaps

Wasted spend is so 2024. In 2025, we're unlocking smarter marketing, and overcoming wasted spend AND attribution gaps. If you want to take your marketing to the next level, you can't afford to miss this webinar!

On March 6th at 1 PM EST, we'll be joining Triple Whale, PostPilot, Justuno, and more for an un-missable webinar all about making the most of data-driven insights.

🤖 AI-Powered eCommerce: The 2025 Guide to Smarter Marketing & Sales

Discover 11 proven strategies that today’s leading eCommerce brands are using to enable AI, drive traffic, optimize conversions, and boost revenue in 2025. Sections include:

• Driving High-Intent Traffic with AI

• AI-Powered Website Optimization for Higher Conversions

• AI-Driven Checkout and Post-purchase Strategies

🤝 Intentwise Connect Live: Seattle

Want to rub shoulders with industry peers, swap cutting-edge insights, and enjoy appetizers and drinks while doing it?

Intentwise, in collaboration with leading solution providers i2o Retail and Workflow Labs, is hosting an exclusive mixer for e-commerce experts in Seattle on February 19.

Over happy hour drinks, learn how to accelerate AMC adoption, manage unauthorized resellers, and so much more. You don’t want to miss it.

🔦 PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Surefoot

Each week, we shine a light on an outstanding partner—be it an innovative tech platform or an agency doing game-changing work. Learn about their expertise, what sets them apart, and how they can help take your ecommerce strategy to the next level.

Surefoot is a conversion rate optimization (CRO) agency that helps eCommerce brands unlock hidden revenue by improving website usability, testing smarter, and making data-backed decisions. Their expertise spans A/B testing, personalization, usability research, and analytics—helping brands turn more shoppers into customers without guesswork.

🪞 What Makes Them Stand Out

• Proven ROI: Clients see a 9-25x return on their investment in their CRO programs.

• Strategic, Not Just Tactical: They don’t just run random tests. Surefoot uncovers why users aren’t converting and builds a roadmap to fix it.

• Industry Focus: Trusted by DTC and eCommerce brands doing $10M-$200M+ in annual revenue.

Notable clients include: Brooklinen, Buck Mason, Fracture, Girlfriend Collective, Jenson USA, Made In, Mizzen and Main, Peak Design, Tecovas, Universal Yums, and more.

🎁 Special Offer: FREE CRO Audit
Get a free CRO audit to identify quick wins and long-term growth opportunities for your eCommerce site.

🤔 Interested? Connect with them here

👾 CRO HACK
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝘀. 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗲

Our featured tweet of the week, where we share bite-sized insights or a quick tip that’s making waves in the world of e-commerce. Consider it your fast track to staying updated on what’s trending.