Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) is one of the most powerful levers for growth in any Australian business. However, most business owners fail not because they lack ideas, but because they test the wrong things first. Without a structured way to rank your ideas, you risk wasting time and budget on minor tweaks while ignoring the big wins that could transform your bottom line.
The ICE Framework—which stands for Impact, Confidence, and Ease—is a simple yet powerful scoring system used by high-growth companies to decide exactly which marketing experiments to run first. This guide will show you how to apply it to your website so you can stop guessing and start growing.
What You’ll Need
- A list of at least 5-10 CRO ideas (e.g., changing a CTA button colour, adding a testimonial, or simplifying your checkout).
- A spreadsheet (Google Sheets or Excel).
- Access to your website analytics (Google Analytics 4).
- About 45 minutes of focused time.
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Step 1: Create Your ICE Scoring Spreadsheet
Open a new Google Sheet and create five columns: Idea Description, Impact, Confidence, Ease, and Total Score.- Screenshot Description: You should see a clean spreadsheet with these five headers in row 1. I recommend freezing the top row so it stays visible as your list grows.
Step 2: List Your CRO Hypotheses
Before scoring, list every idea you have in the 'Idea Description' column. Don't just write "change button"; write a full hypothesis. Example: "If we add an 'Australian Owned' badge next to the Add to Cart button, we will increase trust and improve conversion rates by 5%."Step 3: Understand the Scoring Scale (1-10)
For the ICE framework to work, you must use a consistent scale. We use 1 to 10 for each category:- 10: Highest/Best (High Impact, High Certainty, Very Easy)
- 1: Lowest/Worst (Low Impact, No Certainty, Very Difficult)
Step 4: Rate the 'Impact'
Ask yourself: "If this test is successful, how much will it improve our key metric?"Think about where the change is located. A change on your high-traffic homepage or your final checkout page usually has a higher impact than a change on your 'About Us' page.
Pro Tip: Focus on 'bottom of the funnel' pages first. Improving the checkout page usually yields a higher ROI than improving a blog post.
Step 5: Rate the 'Confidence'
This is where most people get tripped up. Confidence is about how sure you are that the test will actually work.- Score a 10 if you’ve seen this work on a similar site or if your heatmaps show users are struggling at this exact point.
- Score a 3 if it’s just a 'gut feeling' or a trend you saw on a US-based blog that might not apply to the Brisbane market.
Step 6: Rate the 'Ease'
Ease is a measure of effort and resources.- Score a 10 if you can make the change yourself in 10 minutes (e.g., changing text in WordPress).
- Score a 2 if you need to hire a developer, create new video assets, or integrate a third-party API.
Step 7: Calculate the ICE Score
In your 'Total Score' column, use a formula to average the three metrics. Formula:=(Impact + Confidence + Ease) / 3
Alternatively, some marketers prefer to simply add them up (Impact + Confidence + Ease) for a total out of 30. Either way, the higher the number, the higher the priority.
Step 8: Sort and Review
Sort your spreadsheet by the 'Total Score' column in descending order (Z to A). The ideas at the top are your "Low Hanging Fruit"—the tests that are easy to do, likely to work, and will make a big difference.Step 9: Sanity Check the Results
Look at your top 3 ideas. Do they make sense? Sometimes the framework can be skewed if you are overly optimistic about 'Ease'. If a high-scoring task feels wrong, re-evaluate your 'Confidence' score. Did you base it on data or just excitement?Step 10: Plan Your First Test
Pick the #1 ranked idea and define your success metric. If you’re testing a new headline on your landing page, your metric might be the 'Form Submission Rate' in GA4.Step 11: Execute and Document
Run the test. Whether you are using an A/B testing tool or doing a 'before and after' comparison (serial testing), ensure you leave it running long enough to get a statistically significant result. For most small Australian businesses, this is usually 2–4 weeks.Step 12: Update Your Framework Post-Test
Once the test is finished, go back to your spreadsheet. If the test failed, look at your 'Confidence' score. This helps you become a better estimator over time. Your spreadsheet isn't just a list; it’s a record of your learning.---
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- The 'HiPPO' Effect: Don't let the Highest Paid Person’s Opinion override the scores. The ICE framework is designed to remove bias.
- Overestimating Ease: Small changes often have hidden technical debt. Check with your web developer if a change involves your checkout or payment gateway (like Stripe or Square), as these can be complex.
- Ignoring the Australian Context: What works for a global SaaS company might not work for a local Brisbane tradie. Ensure your 'Impact' score considers local buyer behaviour (like the importance of showing an ABN or local phone number).
Troubleshooting
- All my scores are the same: If everything is an '8', you aren't being critical enough. Force yourself to compare ideas against each other. If Idea A is slightly harder than Idea B, it must have a lower 'Ease' score.
- I don't have enough data for 'Confidence': Use tools like Microsoft Clarity (free) to watch session recordings of Brisbane users on your site. Seeing a user get stuck on a form will instantly boost your confidence score for a fix.
- The 'Ease' is low because I lack skills: If a high-impact idea is stalled because it's too hard to implement, it might be time to outsource that specific task so it doesn't block your growth.
Next Steps
Now that you have your prioritised list, it’s time to start testing. We recommend running one test at a time so you know exactly what caused the change in your results.If you find that your 'Ease' scores are consistently low because of technical hurdles, or you want a professional audit to populate your ICE list with high-impact ideas, we can help.
Contact the Local Marketing Group team today to discuss a CRO audit for your business.