About

The CRO specialist
who implements.

10+ years of hands-on conversion optimisation, web analytics, and experiment implementation — built inside real ecommerce work, not branded as "CRO" until now. That's actually the point.

"I help DTC health and wellness brands convert more skeptical buyers — using data-driven experimentation, without compromising scientific credibility or compliance."

— Adi Rao

01 — The Story

Most CRO freelancers are either strategists who can't implement, marketers who don't understand tracking, or developers who don't understand conversion psychology. Adi sits at the rare intersection of all three.

The background is unusual: a postgraduate degree in Medical & Molecular Biosciences from Newcastle University, an engineering degree in Biotechnology, and a decade of building websites and experiments for ecommerce brands before any of it was called "CRO."

That combination — scientific literacy, technical execution, and understanding of how skeptical health buyers think — is the actual differentiator. Not methodology. Not a framework. Not a process document.

Based in Bangalore, India. Working with DTC health and wellness brands globally — primarily US, UK, Australia, and Canada.

Adi at his desk reviewing analytics data.

10+ Years hands-on CRO & analytics

8–12 Experiments per audit roadmap

100% Self-implemented — no developer handoff

3 Degrees spanning science, data & engineering

02 — Three Genuine Differentiators

Scientific Credibility

An MRes in Medical & Molecular Biosciences (Newcastle University, UK) and a BE in Biotechnology (VTU, India) means Adi actually understands what health and supplement brands are selling. Not from a marketing angle — from the science itself.

This matters for one specific reason: health buyers are skeptical by design. They evaluate ingredient lists, scrutinise claims, and distrust pages that feel like they're hiding something. Adi can read a product page and identify where it's overclaiming (destroying trust) or underclaiming (leaving sales on the table) — and rebalance it without triggering regulatory risk.

No other CRO freelancer at the DTC price point has this background. Most are working from a generic persuasion playbook. Science-literate buyers require science-literate optimisation.

Technical Ownership

The most common CRO failure mode isn't bad strategy. It's good strategy that never ships. A deck of recommendations lands in a client's inbox, the developer is busy, the next sprint is full, and three months later nothing has changed. This is the norm.

Adi owns the entire experiment cycle — hypothesis, design, implementation, and post-test analysis. He builds variants using VWO and custom JavaScript, sets up and validates tracking in GA4 and GTM, and delivers working experiments — not deliverable documents.

For DTC brands without a dedicated CRO developer (which is most of them), this is the difference between a CRO programme that moves and one that stalls.

Analytics Accuracy

Bad data is worse than no data. Decisions made on misfiring analytics — misconfigured events, broken GTM triggers, invalid experiment tracking — compound over time. Every conversion rate calculation, every test result, every media spend decision is downstream of tracking integrity.

Every engagement starts with a full GA4 and GTM audit before any optimisation work begins. Not as a paid add-on. As the foundation. If the data is wrong, everything that follows is wrong.

This is especially important for health brands running significant paid traffic. The margin for error in attribution and funnel analysis is low. Adi fixes the tracking first.

03 — Experience

2018 — Present Independent

Web Consultant — CRO & Experimentation

Full-cycle CRO experimentation across ecommerce and lead-driven websites — from data analysis and hypothesis creation through implementation and post-test evaluation. A/B testing via VWO and custom JavaScript. GA4 + GTM instrumentation with custom events, funnel tracking, and experiment validation. Qualitative analysis using Hotjar and Microsoft Clarity. Embedded work with founders and marketers; in-house-like collaboration.

Improved checkout completion and form engagement through UX-led experiments
Reduced analytics blind spots by fixing event consistency and experiment tracking

2015 — 2020 wpinked

WordPress Developer — Optimisation & Analytics

Built and maintained custom WordPress and WooCommerce solutions with a focus on performance, stability, and extensibility. Integrated GA and GTM for conversion tracking. Supported CRO initiatives by implementing experiment variants and tracking updates without disrupting production.

2015 — 2017 SiteOrigin

WordPress Developer

Developed and maintained WordPress themes and plugins at scale. Optimised frontend performance and code quality to reduce friction and improve engagement. Contributed to internal QA processes supporting analytics compatibility and site reliability.

2013 — 2015 Independent

UI/UX Designer

Early-career design work that established the foundation for understanding user behaviour, interface patterns, and conversion-oriented design principles.

04 — Education

Newcastle University, UK

MRes, Medical & Molecular Biosciences

Postgraduate research degree in the life sciences. Foundation for understanding health claims, ingredient science, and how to evaluate evidence — skills that directly inform DTC health CRO work.

IIIT Bangalore

Executive PG Programme in Data Science

Statistical methodology, data analysis, and quantitative reasoning — applied directly to experiment design, significance testing, and analytics interpretation.

VTU, India

BE, Biotechnology

Undergraduate engineering in biotechnology. The scientific foundation underlying the ability to evaluate health product claims and communicate them credibly to sceptical buyers.

If the brief fits, the next step is a free look at your store.

Get Free Conversion Map →

The CRO specialistwho implements.