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Improving Trial-to-Paid Conversion & MRR at SE Ranking

My role

Problem

Trial-to-paid conversion and total monthly MRR are too low because very few trial users purchase subscription and add-ons during their trial period.

Growth Lead (embedded in cross-functional squad: PM, 5 Engineers, 1 Designer, 1 Data Analyst)

I led research, design, and A/B test coordination

North-star

Business goal

Raise Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) from new users without hurting retention.

Increase trial-to-paid conversion and MRR

Key metric targets

+15% MRR

+10 ppt conversion lift

Billing page (before)

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User Journey Map Analysis

Upgrade flow (1).jpg
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Hypothesis #1

We believe that trial users don’t realize they can tailor plans with keyword upgrades or add-on packs, so if we surface add-on options during checkout, they’ll attach more add-ons and that will lift overall MMR.

Prediction

If we introduce add-on upsells in the trial checkout flow, it can increase add-on attach-rate and total MMR.
Result: A/B test showed a small bump in add-on purchases, but overall trial conversion fell by 5% and total MMR dropped by 3%—hypothesis invalidated.

Big idea: Offer maximum flexibility to our customers.

A/B test 

  1. We built a pricing wizard that guides users through options

  2. Pick additional keywords and user seats on one step

  3. Pick your add-ons on the other step

  4. Different plans show relevant pricing for keywords and add-ons

Metrics

  1. conversion rates

  2. varage MRR

  3. ARPA

  4. healthy revenue metrics

Prototype

1 step.png
2 step.png
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Increased Pro plan buying  by 8%

A/B test showed a small bump in add-on purchases, but overall trial conversion fell by 5% and total MMR dropped by 3%. hypothesis invalidated.

Learnings

Choice overload hurts primary goals.
Presenting multiple up-sell plans in one flow confused many trial users.

Result

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Hypothesis #2

We believe trial users defer add-on purchases until after they’ve committed, and that prompting add-ons during trial actually distracts from core value.

Big idea: Let trial users dive straight into our core product—remove all add-on and seat-upgrade prompts so they stay focused on value first, then tailor later.

A/B test 

Prediction

If we remove all add-on and seat-upgrade prompts from the trial experience, we’ll reduce friction and drive a higher trial-to-paid conversion (and ultimately net more MMR).
Result: After rolling out the “no-upsell” trial flow, trial-to-paid conversion improved by 20% and total MMR increased by 15%.

Metrics

  1. Trial-to-paid conversion rate (%)

  2. Total new MRR ($)

  3. Average revenue per account (ARPA)

  4. Time to first payment (days)

  5. Post-conversion add-on attach rate (%)

  6. Customer satisfaction (CSAT/NPS) during trial finish

Prototype

Billing Agency 1.png
check out2.png

Result

After rolling out the “no-upsell” trial flow, trial-to-paid conversion improved by 20% and total MMR increased by 10%.

Learnings

Removing the upsell at signup proved that users will convert once they’ve experienced core value

next, re-introduce add-ons contextually

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Personalize at scale.
In future tests I’ll segment users by company size / usage patterns and tailor both pricing and copy for maximum relevance.

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