The CRO & SEO guide for fashion & beauty brands

Fashion and beauty brands have unique challenges when it comes to digital presence. Landing pages are often overlooked as a critical tool for both capturing and converting customer interest. In this episode, I chatted with Christine Corbin, an expert in conversion rate optimization (CRO) and search engine optimization (SEO), who has dedicated her career to helping brands build high-converting pages that perform exceptionally well. Christine shares her insights, tips, and case studies, even walking us through a live audit of a Shopify site.

Here’s a full recap of our conversation, with actionable takeaways.

Click To Buy, Episode 30: CRO & SEO advice from Christine Corbin

Listen to the full episode on Spotify or watch it on YouTube.

Christine Corbin’s journey from corporate to consulting

Christine opened up about her path to CRO and SEO consulting, which started in corporate roles for smaller brands and eventually led her into independent consulting.

"I started my career at a series of much smaller brands. I really loved the experience of working with smaller companies because you just get to wear so many hats... My last corporate job was at a large jewelry company in New York. Pre-pandemic, I was laid off along with 70% of the company. But I had already started taking on freelance marketing projects, and I was really interested in a more mobile lifestyle."

Her journey to self-employment is relatable for many in the e-commerce space who have taken similar leaps to pursue flexibility and autonomy.

"I found it really satisfying to learn about these companies and feel like I was really making a difference, especially for smaller brands. It all transitioned naturally, and now it's been four years, almost five years at this point."

Key elements of high-converting landing pages

Christine shared some essential elements for a high-converting landing page, especially in the e-commerce space, emphasizing simplicity and clear calls to action (CTAs).

"Every landing page needs to serve one primary purpose. So, since we’re talking e-commerce, the majority of the time that purpose is going to be to make a sale. But it could also be to get customers to take a quiz for an email capture or to sign up for your newsletter with a gift incentive."

Her approach to landing page design is straightforward yet impactful.

"You want the design and copy to be so clear as to what the end action is. I always tell people: pull back, think about what you want to accomplish, and simplify the customer’s journey. Let’s give them one point of action and direct all info and copy toward that end."

Designing for the beauty and fashion industries

Christine explained how beauty and fashion brands require specific approaches due to the nature of the products.

"For beauty specifically, social proof and UGC (user-generated content) become even more critical because these are products that are so personal—you’re literally putting them on your body. Emphasize how these products work in real-world settings. Glossier does a great job of showing products on real people or influencers across multiple skin tones in their product GIFs. For beauty, you have to have this."

For fashion, Christine suggested using visuals that capture the product’s movement to replicate the in-person shopping experience.

"With fashion, make sure you’re showing movement of the garment... A GIF or video that shows how the garment actually moves is crucial, especially since everything is saturated with fast fashion now. Show people, ‘What are they getting? How will it feel?’ It’s very hard to do that online without showing movement."

Live audit of a Shopify fashion site

Christine walked us through a live audit of Marcella, a mid-tier women’s wear brand based in New York, highlighting areas for improvement in their mobile experience.

"The first thing I see: there’s a clear CTA on this hero image. It says 'shop section sale,' which gives the customer a call to action. But I would recommend shrinking the hero image size to show shoppable products above the fold. Having a massive image doesn’t activate the curiosity to keep scrolling, especially on mobile. Give users a little peek of the product."

Christine also critiqued the brand’s menu structure and shared insights on optimizing menus for mobile users.

"I like that the menu doesn’t take up the full screen, but I think there’s a few too many categories. I see a 'new' category, a 'best sellers' category, clothing, shoes, bags, an 'edits' category, and a 'sale' category. Too much can overwhelm new users... The journey should be simplified so that a customer almost doesn’t have to think about it."

She added that reducing the number of categories in the menu could enhance the browsing experience:

"I think Marcella could A/B test the menu to see what works best for their audience, but my advice is always to simplify."

Success stories and client examples

Christine shared a success story that highlights the impact of focusing on site speed and user-friendly menu design.

"Recently, I worked with another women’s wear brand ahead of Black Friday. We started by doing a site speed audit, cleaning up unnecessary Shopify apps, and adjusting page loading structure. From there, we looked into the mobile menu, really making it as streamlined as possible to get customers to shoppable products with fewer clicks. They saw a conversion increase of around 0.4%, which was fantastic progress."

According to Christine, even small improvements in site speed can make a big difference:

"Site speed affects everything... We saw conversions increase simply by optimizing loading times and the customer journey on mobile."

Balancing SEO and CRO for better performance

Christine explained how SEO and CRO often overlap, especially when it comes to site speed and URL optimization.

"Something that clients don’t always think about is optimizing their URLs to be the most intuitive for customers and Google alike. For instance, if it’s a collection page, make sure the URL has 'collections' and the collection name. It helps both customers and Google understand your site’s structure."

For SEO, she also highlighted the importance of descriptive copy on the page, particularly for niche products.

"I worked with a high-end handbag brand whose clutches all had women’s names, like 'The Elena,' but none of the URLs or site copy used the word 'clutch.' Google needs that extra help to know what you’re selling, so adding descriptive keywords like 'clutch' or 'handbag' in the URL and copy is crucial."

Final tip for merchants

Christine’s top advice for landing pages and customer navigation? Breadcrumbs.

"Make sure your product and collection pages have breadcrumb navigation. Breadcrumbs show users how they’ve navigated through the site—like a path that shows 'women’s tops > blouses.' It’s critical for users, especially on mobile, because it lets them easily go back without manually backing out. Google also loves breadcrumbs because it helps them understand the site structure and how pages relate to each other. So, add breadcrumbs, and you’ll help both your customers and Google."

Final thoughts

This episode covered a wide range of insights for fashion and beauty brands, all with one goal: making the online customer journey as smooth and intuitive as possible. From simplifying navigation and using social proof to optimizing site speed and URL structure, Christine provided actionable tips for improving both CRO and SEO on landing pages. Whether you’re a brand owner, designer, or e-commerce manager, these strategies can make a meaningful difference to your conversion rates.