As a behavioral conversion optimization (CRO) expert, I often find myself in conversations where clients ask, “Do you have a list of best practices for increasing conversion?” or “Can you give me some clear psychological tactics that will increase my conversion?” Understandable questions, but my answer always comes down to, “No.” In this blog, I explain my answer and why the search for a magic list of tactics to increase conversions is an illusion.

The appeal of a “magic” list 

We all know it's very natural to look for shortcuts or easy solutions when it comes to improving user experiences and conversion rates. Stakeholders want quick results, the competition needs to be kept up, or companies don't have the right internal expertise. A list of psychological tactics then seems like a quick fix - a set of proven strategies that guarantee success. However, this desire for a magic list often ignores the complexity of human behavior, the nuances of individual companies and the dynamic nature of the digital landscape.

Why I don't share a list of psychological tactics

It undermines data-driven research: A tactics list can cause the importance of data-driven research and decision-making to be undermined. Effective CRO involves analyzing user data, conducting user research and many other insights to tailor strategies for specific situations. For example, we use our 6V model To analyze visitor behavior and identify pain points in the user journey. 

Example: An online news platform with subscriptions would like to increase their subscriptions and decides to implement a popular best practice they read about in a blog post called “Double Your Conversion!!! 10 best practices everyone should implement on their paywall”: using a social proof phrase that says “Most popular subscription.” Initially, this tactic seems effective; the subscription rate for that particular subscription increases.

However, when they look at their customer data (Voice), they notice that all their customers call themselves “Member,” rather than “Subscriber.” Based on this insight, they implement a new title above their subscriptions. Instead of “Choose Your Subscription,” it now reads “Become a Member.” With this implementation, all subscriptions are getting a boost from 20%.

By purely following best practice without looking at their own data, the platform could have missed out on this improvement that not only drives sales, but also better reflects their customers' motivation: being part of a community.

Context matters: Some companies tend to fixate on their competitors (Versus), especially if they are larger or more respected companies. However, each company and website are unique. What works for one may not work for another. Factors such as target audience, industry, product/service and brand awareness all play an important role in determining which tactic is most effective. A static list does not take these variables into account. 

Example: Scarcity (“Limited stock!”) increases urgency and sales for budget items and appeals to price-conscious customers. But for luxury brand customers with affluent clients, scarcity tactics can feel intrusive and backfire because they conflict with the boutique's image of exclusivity and personalized service.

Instead of offering a statistical list of obvious tactics, I advocate a holistic approach.

Take a holistic approach: At Online Dialogue, we use five overarching optimization strategies (BOOM!) that are based on fundamental psychological research. BOOM! encompasses a set of psychological principles and theories that allow you to gain deeper insight into user behavior by considering various cognitive, emotional and behavioral factors that influence decision-making. It goes beyond superficial tactics and focuses on the underlying psychological drivers of user actions. 

Figure 1. OD's five optimization strategies by which a problem can be solved, based on basic psychological research and the results of more than 4,000 experiments

Take a user-centered approach: This holistic approach encourages a user-centric approach because it emphasizes understanding the psychology, motivations and needs of users. It puts users at the center of your optimization efforts and ensures that the solutions you implement really resonate with your audience.

Continuous improvement: In doing so, an overarching framework promotes a culture of continuous improvement by encouraging continuous experimentation and learning. It helps store and organize testing, making it easier to track the effectiveness of strategies over time. In our Airtable database, we can see for each website exactly which BOOM! strategies are used the most and produce the best results. Overall, on a specific page, within a specific element or in any other context we track.

Figure 2. Our hypothesis-driven CRO program structures our testing and provides us with deeper insights that are interconnected

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Stay creative! A list of tactics can unintentionally limit creativity and experimentation. CRO is not just about applying a predefined set of strategies, but also about constantly testing, learning and adapting based on real user data and behavior.

Stay relevant: In a constantly evolving digital landscape, user preferences, technology and design trends change over time. What was effective yesterday may no longer be relevant today. A fixed list of tactics can quickly become obsolete.

 Example: As people began to recognize and ignore ads on Web sites, companies began to implement native advertising (where the ad looks like the content on the Web site). However, people are now starting to learn to recognize and ignore native ads, making them less effective than they were a few years ago.

Ethical considerations: Psychological tactics can be powerful tools, but their ethical use is paramount. Sharing tactics without context or guidance can lead to abuse and manipulative purposes, which can damage users' trust and reputation.

For example: Labeling a product as a “Best-Selling Product,” can boost sales of that product, but it should only be used if it is actually the best-selling product.

Conclusion: Effective CRO is data-driven and prioritizes understanding users' needs, motivations and pain points to create real value. With that said, it is important to say that best practices are still very valuable. They can serve as fundamental guides and provide understanding of proven techniques and methods. They act as a starting point for brainstorming sessions and ideas, an inspiration for creative thinking or a reference for initial experiments. Just be sure to adapt the best practices to your specific context and not just rely on a magic list or other people's websites.

Want to learn more about our way of working, such as the BOOM! framework, and how you can apply it in your own context? We offer a Conversion Specialist training, advisory sessions and a BOOM! course in which we take time to delve deeper into our five optimization strategies and the underlying fundamental psychology.