As former head of Moz.com, Rand Fishkin is a guy who knows his stuff when it comes to SEO and search marketing in general. I had the pleasure of meeting and hearing him speak at Business of Software USA in Boston.
And I took notes.
I captured a live instagraph infographic for you since you couldn’t make it. You can download Rand’s slides.
Key Takeaways
“Google doesn’t want to count links that you can build.”
“Build relationships, not links.”
“Aim for resource pages and blog rolls.”
“Buy exposure that leads to links-Tabula, Outbrain, etc.”
“Do PR”
Share Socially
Tweets do affect rankings, but cause and effect are not clear.
Google+ your content. It will rank higher for your G+ network.
Content Marketing
If you’re in the bottom 15% of publishers, focus on quality over quantity.
In this webinar Brian Massey sits with Tim Page, Conversion Educator At LeadPages who discusses the success of LeadPages and how the company processes over 3 million email optins each month.
It’s no surprise that after 12 years testing and implementing sales marketing psychology, Tim’s team created one of the most effective, lead generation tools available that grew their company from zero to 15 thousand paying customers in a year.
After watching this webinar you’ll learn:
A three step sales process that will make you money even when you don’t have a launch, webinar, or the time to send an email.
How using LeadBoxes can increase your conversions up to 32% by forcing your visitors to make a decision.
Why their simplest landing page outperforms even the most comprehensive video pages.
How the amount of time you spend creating your lead magnet will not reflect your conversion rate.
What list building strategy you can implement to grow leads the fastest.
How do you grow your email list quickly and effectively? Do you advertise on social media, use special list building software, or do you pray to the lead generation gods for better, quality leads?
How many tools do you really need to list build? Maybe a dozen?
60 online marketing experts were asked a simple question: “If you could only choose 3 tools to grow your email list, which 3 would you choose?”
At Conversion Sciences, we like to break down our list building strategy into three parts: content, destination, and calls to action.
We use the Content Cascade for transcribing webinars for a month’s worth of quality content. Hootsuite helps us share that content over time on social media. WordPress plugins help funnel the type of traffic we get from social media. We also recommend building a separate site for phone visitors. Finally, we’ve built a conversion mini course on our website and use CommerceScience.com to significantly grow our subscribers.
Here are just a few of the top tools recommended by 60 Marketing Experts in a poll by RobbieRichards.com
Read the Robbie Richards Blog for more of the best tools for list building.
Team, tech, process and scale: these are the primary components shared by Tania Shershin of Homeaway at the Which Test Won Live Event in Austin, Texas.
We captured the high-points of her presentation live in this instagraph infographic.
If you want to create a culture of testing in your organization, here is a roadmap to success.
High shopping cart abandonment rates are frustrating. So, we rounded up 10 eCommerce checkout usability techniques to charm your visitors into shopping on your site again and again!
There are many good reasons for shopping online rather than in person. But, even for those who regularly navigate the pitfalls of the Internet rather than the crowds at the malls, there are some frustrations that send customers screaming into another room, vowing to never again push the “Proceed to Checkout” button.
Well, maybe not really, but there are frustrations for online buyers that are better avoided if your intent is to maintain a healthy conversion rate. Statistics show that online shopping carts are often abandoned. Frequently cited complaints from regular shoppers include the following:
Unexpected add-on charges during checkout
High shipping charges
Complicated checkout procedures
Inefficient or time-consuming processing
Excessive security checks or, conversely, concerns about security
Unacceptable delivery options
If you suspect that your conversion rate should be higher, but you are unsure how to boost your sales figures, there are some relatively simple strategies you can try.
A usability study of the top 100 e-commerce sites produced the following statistics: There were an average of 5.08 steps required for checking out, and 24% of the sites required previous account registration.
Logical and not surprising, right? Other findings, however, were a bit surprising. Two-fifths of the sites asked for validation of addresses, half requested the same information twice or more, and even the top 100 sites violate eCommerce checkout usability techniques and guidelines about one-third of the time.
So, what’s a customer to do? Mutter a few angry words and flee the site seem to be common reactions.
“Keep It Simple” tops all eCommerce Checkout Usability Techniques
The KISS principle was a catchword for all sorts of business advice back in pre-Internet days, but it applies very well to online checkout. Your customers are busy people, and they want to run into your virtual store and be on to other pursuits in a minimum amount of time. It’s your merchant responsibility to help them do that. Your return? Their money and their eternal gratitude. And, likely, return visits!
Consider the following improvements to your site and your checkout procedures if your conversion rate is slipping. Monitor the results, and see what works for you. Think like your busy customers, and seek to make checkout as simple, as user-friendly, and as efficient as it should be.
The Effect of Language
A key skill most face-to-face salespeople have to master is “asking for the sale.” The way you direct your customers through your checkout process can make a difference.
Make it clear: Rather than a “Submit” or a “Next” button, consider a “Payment Options” icon or a “Pay Now” button. Having clear calls to action gives the user no reason to think and also gives them clear instruction on what to do next and also what to expect.
Consider a Single-Page Checkout for your eCommerce Site
A single page checkout may seem more complicated than breaking it down into several steps and pages. However, this simple move into a single page checkout may improve purchases greatly. UX Magazine reported that a French e-commerce site changed from a multi-page checkout to a single page checkout and conversions increased by 67%!
An example of a one page checkout.
Editor’s Note: We find that your audience may have a different preference when it comes to single-step checkout. Try both on your visitors before committing to one or the other.
Provide Several Payment Options
The kinds of payment available will depend on the price of your product line and your buyer profile. But offering choices is good and is likely to increase your customer base. So consider them carefully. Having options for credit cards and services similar to PayPal, for example offer the user more diverse payment options.
The key here is to let your visitors pay in the way they trust most= by offering payment choices. eCommerce checkout usability techniques.
Make it Easy for First-time Buyers and for One-time Buyers
While requiring an account in order to purchase makes sense from your side of the fence, it can be an unnecessary bother for the customer who simply wants to order an item and move on. If you require a lengthy account set-up, you may lose a quick sale, whereas from a quick sale there is a good possibility that you might gain a repeat customer.
After issuing the sales confirmation, ask if the customer would like to open an account, you will be surprised how often the answer is yes at that point. After all, they are already invested into your company if they feel that the level of service that they have received is good and timely, this increases dramatically.
Keep buyers on your site, and be consistent with your branding
If you direct customers away from your site in order to register check out or complete the payment procedure, you may lose them. Just don’t do it!
Third-party shopping carts can make a visitor feel like they’re getting scammed. They often suffer from limited customizability as well.
Only Request Essential Information
Don’t raise suspicions by asking for anything that is unrelated to this specific sale. You can collect background information at another time, in another place — or not. But, the business at hand is completing a transaction, and anything that distracts from that goal has no place on the checkout page.
Instill Trust
Gain your customer’s confidence by having an SSL Certificate; reassure your buyers that you do not share any personal information, and comply with the standards of the PCI Security Standards Council. Display your security badges proudly on your site.
Improve Site speed
Make sure your site is up to date, that the loading speed is fast and that operation is efficient. A savvy online buyer with money to spend will not tolerate wait time.
Even boutique sellers should have state-of-the-art Internet connectivity and be lightning-fast (as much as possible) around the world. It is a shrinking globe after all, and e-commerce is global.
The checkout page should be as attractive and as well-designed as the rest of your website.
Ask for Needed Information only Once
If your site requires a second set of address details for ‘Billing Address’ on your checkout form for example, auto-fill the form to save the customer time and effort.
You will gain a loyal fan base by making the procedure so unexpectedly efficient.
Try Free Shipping
Try free shipping to lower shopping cart abandonment.
This seems to be the best catalyst for increasing sales. It is, from all reports, more of an incentive to a buyer than special offers, price reductions or “bundling” offers. If you can’t offer free shipping to everyone all the time, try it on a limited basis. And always be upfront about your shipping charges: Don’t spring those charges only on the checkout page.
Finally, take a lesson from the old-timers: Ask for the sale. Issue a clear call to action on your website in the product descriptions or on an appropriate page. Take a lesson from sites like Amazon. Be unambiguous with buttons such as “Add to Basket,” “Continue Shopping,” or “Checkout Now.” For the success of your business, learn how to simplify your checkouts.
Author Bio: Owen Sondergaard is an avid blogger and data enthusiast. Owen writes for CAMO Software who provides multivariate analysis software solutions.
Why would conferences require their speakers to “behave?” What are show management and show sponsors concerned about? Why do many shows want to review slide decks prior to the show?
You can find out what happens when these protections are removed at the UnGagged Unconvention. Use the discount code SCIENTIST for a reduced rate.
Imagine the irreverent Scott Stratten, ungagged. What will I come up with to break past the “bouncers in your brain?”
For the first time, the world’s top innovative, hard hitting, marketing experts will finally reveal true insights which they’ve been held back from discussing at countless other traditional Digital Marketing & SEO conventions.
UnGagged is raw, real, and there are no limits to what you can learn. And guess what? Unlike other conferences this material will not be recorded or shared elsewhere. You can’t get this conference anywhere else.
Get access to exclusive, unique, uncensored content. Visit UnGagged for a list of event speakers and more info.
Don’t miss out!
On July 29, 2014, Brian sat down with Jason Hartman, host of the Speaking of Wealth show, to discuss his overall approach to tackling the most important pieces of the online marketing puzzle. He keys in on some crucial points that all online marketers should pay attention to as you are designing for conversion.
Subscribe to Podcast
Here are the key takeaways from the interview, but you should listen to the full 21-minute podcast as well in order to glean all of that “scientific wisdom” that Brian has dropped:
#1 mission of any marketer: Understand what makes your visitors tick. It all flows from here.
Popovers work. People say they hate them, but the numbers don’t lie. Use them, choosing the right style that feels right for your brand (lightbox, scroll-triggered, exit, etc.).
Use Calls to Action wherever you can. Put them front-and-center on your key landing pages. Make your “action button” a different color than everything else on your page to ensure it stands out and draws eyeballs in. Stop agonizing over the color!
Never produce a piece of content that doesn’t have the intent of getting more people on your list.
Stop distracting your visitors with links to your social media properties. Once you have done the work to get them to your site, the last thing you should want is for them to quickly bounce anywhere else. If it doesn’t lend itself directly to getting the most wanted response (e.g. joining the list), leave it out.
Dependence upon organic traffic is “mostly dead”, much like Wesley in The Princess Bride. It’s a new frontier, and it’s time to adapt to this new reality.
Makes your marketing mouth salivate, right? Well, get on over there and sink your teeth into the goodness, and be sure and stop by to say thank you to Jason Hartman and the team over at Speaking of Wealth.
21 Quick and Easy CRO Copywriting Hacks
Keep these proven copywriting hacks in mind to make your copy convert.
Questions can be powerful things, if the questions are good and are leading us in the right direction (normally this means toward better results). When the questions are about the statistical significance of your marketing results, you’ve got a winning combination that will really take you places.
Subscribe to Podcast
So, what are a couple of good questions that you can use to help you become statistically significant as a digital marketer? Brian introduces a couple of doozies in How to be a Statistically Significant Marketer (Part 2) on Marketing Land:
Question 1: Are the results I’m seeing from my online marketing telling me what really happened?
Question 2: Are these results “good” enough to predict what will happen in the future?
Brian tackles these challenging questions by introducing us to three characters involved in life-like scenarios that will seem all too familiar to some of us.
Finally, he ends with the question that every marketer has to continually ask at every step along the way: What do I do next based on the results I am seeing?
Here’s another solid question you can ask yourself: “Self, is it worth 15 minutes of my time to find out how to begin asking the right questions in my marketing efforts?” We’re going to help you out here and encourage you to go with a resounding “YES” on that one.
21 Quick and Easy CRO Copywriting Hacks
Keep these proven copywriting hacks in mind to make your copy convert.
We were very surprised by the marquee results of a TrustRadius survey on Conversion Rate Optimization.
While 72% of the companies surveyed have implemented some CRO processes, only 18% of them consider CRO as “Part of their DNA”.
We would speculate that many of these 18% of companies are in very competitive commodity industries, such as travel, office supplies, and pet apparel. In other words, they had to optimize or die.
These aren’t the only industries in dire need of optimization, however. While CRO isn’t a zero-sum game, you do not want to find yourself playing catch-up with your competitors. As this survey shows, CRO is a key competitive advantage online, just as SEO has been.
TrustRadius is in a unique position to conducted a survey of businesses. They offer some of the most helpful reviews of business software on the Web, and were able to get 4100 companies to complete the survey. This is statistically significant stuff.
Here are some of the highlights from their survey.
58% of companies spend more than $10,000 per year on digital analytics, while 44% spend that much per year on A/B testing tools.
59% of companies have plans to spend more this year than in the previous year on digital analytics tools, but only 48% plan to increase spending on A/B testing tools. Download the TrustRadius Buyers Guide to see what they are spending that money on.
The vast majority of companies (91%) use between two and ten digital analytics tools regularly.
As Conversion Scientists, we obviously eat this stuff for breakfast. We’ll show you how much money you could be making with our 120-day Conversion Catalyst™ program. It’s free, and it’s invaluable. Jump on a call with us at (888) 961-6604. You’ll be glad you did.
My partner Joel Harvey is fond of saying, “My favorite part of a design is the money.” He’s been part of many a web design project. His perspective comes in response to the number of times he’s heard things like:
“I want the design to pop!”
“I want my site’s design to be groundbreaking like nothing else out there!”
“Let’s turn it up a notch on the design.”
“I want the site’s design to reflect the high value of our product.”
In and of themselves, none of the above statements are unworthy pursuits. But if your goal is to increase online sales conversion and fill your coffers to the brim, you will fall woefully short if you believe that web design alone can do the heavy lifting of convincing your visitors to take action. If increasing sales is your goal, the most important person on your split testing team is the accountant.
Designers Don’t Design for the Accountant
A while back, a client sent us a couple of different mocks of some new designs they were entertaining. They ask which one I liked. The first thing I said is I like the one that makes you the most money. Up until that time their team was arguing over color palettes, white space,and rounded edges.
When I reminded them about the bigger goal, their conversation evolved. In a clock tick, we were all discussing the quality of content on the pages rather than the design elements. When their offer and call to action were right, everyone seemed to forget about the trivia of the actual design.
Designing For Your Ego
Another client brought to us a new landing page campaign they had just launched and were baffled and disappointed by the early results. They went on to explain that they thought this was the best designed landing page they had ever done. They had just hired a new graphic designer that ‘got it’, and even the CEO was impressed with his work. One problem, their paying customers didn’t seem to agree. No doubt, the design was gorgeous. Rich colors, curvy rectangles, sexy images, even the header and body fonts were crisp and clean.
So why wasn’t this campaign working? We had them show us their most recent successful campaign. The design was a tad dated, and compared to the new landing page it looked like a high school hobbyist in the company basement eating Cheetos and suckling energy drinks.
Still, by comparing we immediately saw the problem with the new landing page. The copy on the old page was much better. The headers screamed the product’s value proposition and benefits. The body copy answered relevant questions, and helped the reader imagine themselves buying the product. The call to action button was big, bold, and in your face. The new page looked stunningly attractive but said very little.
To add insult, the hot shot designer was a minimalist and had an aversion to big gawky buttons, so his primary call to action was tiny button that blended in with the hero image, and , by design, was easy to ignore. We instructed them to use the old page copy on the new design (they had to make a few adjustments to make it all fit), and we asked the designer to create a bigger and bolder call to action button. They obliged us and that new design finally beat the old landing page.
How Much Time Are You Spending With Your Designer vs. Your Banker?
So my lesson is this. Beautiful, eye-popping design and effective, profitable web design are two different things. And it always seems easier to mistake those eye-popping designs for profitable ones. Split testing will always lead you in the right direction.
Some companies spend more on design than they do on organic SEO, and almost all companies spend more on design than on Conversion Rate Optimization. Search engine spiders don’t evaluate site design, only content and links. And I have yet to see a company design their way into a better conversion rate and better RO.
Some companies spend way more time going back and forth about a design element than they do actually testing it. Makes you wonder how far ahead of your competitors you could get if you spent more time and resources on conversion optimization and testing.
So when considering a redesign of your entire site, of a successful landing page, or even a banner ad, do the following:
List the things about the page experience (not just he design) work. Keep those in the new design.
What about the experience doesn’t work?
Why do we want to change this (especially if it is working)?
Before you launch a radically new design, test what you believe is NOT working about the current design.
Above all, use web designers that deeply understand the web and principles of conversion. Otherwise they are just an artist, and the value of an artists works usually increases only after their demise. Can you wait that long?
Rand Fishkin Cracks the SEO Code in 2015
Conversion OptimizationAs former head of Moz.com, Rand Fishkin is a guy who knows his stuff when it comes to SEO and search marketing in general. I had the pleasure of meeting and hearing him speak at Business of Software USA in Boston.
And I took notes.
I captured a live instagraph infographic for you since you couldn’t make it. You can download Rand’s slides.
Key Takeaways
“Google doesn’t want to count links that you can build.”
“Build relationships, not links.”
“Aim for resource pages and blog rolls.”
“Buy exposure that leads to links-Tabula, Outbrain, etc.”
“Do PR”
Share Socially
Tweets do affect rankings, but cause and effect are not clear.
Google+ your content. It will rank higher for your G+ network.
Content Marketing
If you’re in the bottom 15% of publishers, focus on quality over quantity.
CLICK TO ENLARGE
The Formula That Makes LeadPages A Lead Generation Force
Lead GenerationIn this webinar Brian Massey sits with Tim Page, Conversion Educator At LeadPages who discusses the success of LeadPages and how the company processes over 3 million email optins each month.
It’s no surprise that after 12 years testing and implementing sales marketing psychology, Tim’s team created one of the most effective, lead generation tools available that grew their company from zero to 15 thousand paying customers in a year.
After watching this webinar you’ll learn:
Click here to watch this Free Webinar with Brian Massey and Tim Paige.
Grow Your Email List With These Recommended Tools
Lead GenerationHow do you grow your email list quickly and effectively? Do you advertise on social media, use special list building software, or do you pray to the lead generation gods for better, quality leads?
How many tools do you really need to list build? Maybe a dozen?
60 online marketing experts were asked a simple question: “If you could only choose 3 tools to grow your email list, which 3 would you choose?”
At Conversion Sciences, we like to break down our list building strategy into three parts: content, destination, and calls to action.
We use the Content Cascade for transcribing webinars for a month’s worth of quality content. Hootsuite helps us share that content over time on social media. WordPress plugins help funnel the type of traffic we get from social media. We also recommend building a separate site for phone visitors. Finally, we’ve built a conversion mini course on our website and use CommerceScience.com to significantly grow our subscribers.
Here are just a few of the top tools recommended by 60 Marketing Experts in a poll by RobbieRichards.com
Read the Robbie Richards Blog for more of the best tools for list building.
How Homeaway Shifted to a Testing Culture [INFOGRAPHIC]
CRO Tests | Multivariate | AB TestingTeam, tech, process and scale: these are the primary components shared by Tania Shershin of Homeaway at the Which Test Won Live Event in Austin, Texas.
We captured the high-points of her presentation live in this instagraph infographic.
If you want to create a culture of testing in your organization, here is a roadmap to success.
Click to Enlarge
21 Quick and Easy CRO Copywriting Hacks
Keep these proven copywriting hacks in mind to make your copy convert.
"*" indicates required fields
10 Customer-Delighting eCommerce Checkout Usability Techniques
Ecommerce CROThere are many good reasons for shopping online rather than in person. But, even for those who regularly navigate the pitfalls of the Internet rather than the crowds at the malls, there are some frustrations that send customers screaming into another room, vowing to never again push the “Proceed to Checkout” button.
Well, maybe not really, but there are frustrations for online buyers that are better avoided if your intent is to maintain a healthy conversion rate. Statistics show that online shopping carts are often abandoned. Frequently cited complaints from regular shoppers include the following:
If you suspect that your conversion rate should be higher, but you are unsure how to boost your sales figures, there are some relatively simple strategies you can try.
Logical and not surprising, right? Other findings, however, were a bit surprising. Two-fifths of the sites asked for validation of addresses, half requested the same information twice or more, and even the top 100 sites violate eCommerce checkout usability techniques and guidelines about one-third of the time.
So, what’s a customer to do? Mutter a few angry words and flee the site seem to be common reactions.
“Keep It Simple” tops all eCommerce Checkout Usability Techniques
The KISS principle was a catchword for all sorts of business advice back in pre-Internet days, but it applies very well to online checkout. Your customers are busy people, and they want to run into your virtual store and be on to other pursuits in a minimum amount of time. It’s your merchant responsibility to help them do that. Your return? Their money and their eternal gratitude. And, likely, return visits!
Consider the following improvements to your site and your checkout procedures if your conversion rate is slipping. Monitor the results, and see what works for you. Think like your busy customers, and seek to make checkout as simple, as user-friendly, and as efficient as it should be.
The Effect of Language
A key skill most face-to-face salespeople have to master is “asking for the sale.” The way you direct your customers through your checkout process can make a difference.
Consider a Single-Page Checkout for your eCommerce Site
A single page checkout may seem more complicated than breaking it down into several steps and pages. However, this simple move into a single page checkout may improve purchases greatly. UX Magazine reported that a French e-commerce site changed from a multi-page checkout to a single page checkout and conversions increased by 67%!
An example of a one page checkout.
Provide Several Payment Options
The kinds of payment available will depend on the price of your product line and your buyer profile. But offering choices is good and is likely to increase your customer base. So consider them carefully. Having options for credit cards and services similar to PayPal, for example offer the user more diverse payment options.
The key here is to let your visitors pay in the way they trust most= by offering payment choices. eCommerce checkout usability techniques.
Make it Easy for First-time Buyers and for One-time Buyers
While requiring an account in order to purchase makes sense from your side of the fence, it can be an unnecessary bother for the customer who simply wants to order an item and move on. If you require a lengthy account set-up, you may lose a quick sale, whereas from a quick sale there is a good possibility that you might gain a repeat customer.
After issuing the sales confirmation, ask if the customer would like to open an account, you will be surprised how often the answer is yes at that point. After all, they are already invested into your company if they feel that the level of service that they have received is good and timely, this increases dramatically.
Keep buyers on your site, and be consistent with your branding
If you direct customers away from your site in order to register check out or complete the payment procedure, you may lose them. Just don’t do it!
Third-party shopping carts can make a visitor feel like they’re getting scammed. They often suffer from limited customizability as well.
Only Request Essential Information
Don’t raise suspicions by asking for anything that is unrelated to this specific sale. You can collect background information at another time, in another place — or not. But, the business at hand is completing a transaction, and anything that distracts from that goal has no place on the checkout page.
Instill Trust
Gain your customer’s confidence by having an SSL Certificate; reassure your buyers that you do not share any personal information, and comply with the standards of the PCI Security Standards Council. Display your security badges proudly on your site.
Improve Site speed
Make sure your site is up to date, that the loading speed is fast and that operation is efficient. A savvy online buyer with money to spend will not tolerate wait time.
Even boutique sellers should have state-of-the-art Internet connectivity and be lightning-fast (as much as possible) around the world. It is a shrinking globe after all, and e-commerce is global.
The checkout page should be as attractive and as well-designed as the rest of your website.
Ask for Needed Information only Once
If your site requires a second set of address details for ‘Billing Address’ on your checkout form for example, auto-fill the form to save the customer time and effort.
You will gain a loyal fan base by making the procedure so unexpectedly efficient.
Try Free Shipping
Try free shipping to lower shopping cart abandonment.
This seems to be the best catalyst for increasing sales. It is, from all reports, more of an incentive to a buyer than special offers, price reductions or “bundling” offers. If you can’t offer free shipping to everyone all the time, try it on a limited basis. And always be upfront about your shipping charges: Don’t spring those charges only on the checkout page.
Finally, take a lesson from the old-timers: Ask for the sale. Issue a clear call to action on your website in the product descriptions or on an appropriate page. Take a lesson from sites like Amazon. Be unambiguous with buttons such as “Add to Basket,” “Continue Shopping,” or “Checkout Now.” For the success of your business, learn how to simplify your checkouts.
Author Bio: Owen Sondergaard is an avid blogger and data enthusiast. Owen writes for CAMO Software who provides multivariate analysis software solutions.
29 Marketing Experts Speak Their Mind At One Conference
News & EventsWhy would conferences require their speakers to “behave?” What are show management and show sponsors concerned about? Why do many shows want to review slide decks prior to the show?
You can find out what happens when these protections are removed at the UnGagged Unconvention. Use the discount code SCIENTIST for a reduced rate.
Imagine the irreverent Scott Stratten, ungagged. What will I come up with to break past the “bouncers in your brain?”
For the first time, the world’s top innovative, hard hitting, marketing experts will finally reveal true insights which they’ve been held back from discussing at countless other traditional Digital Marketing & SEO conventions.
UnGagged is raw, real, and there are no limits to what you can learn. And guess what? Unlike other conferences this material will not be recorded or shared elsewhere. You can’t get this conference anywhere else.
Get access to exclusive, unique, uncensored content. Visit UnGagged for a list of event speakers and more info.
Don’t miss out!
Speaking of Wealth Interview: 6 Big Takeaways on Designing for Conversion
Conversion-Centered DesignOn July 29, 2014, Brian sat down with Jason Hartman, host of the Speaking of Wealth show, to discuss his overall approach to tackling the most important pieces of the online marketing puzzle. He keys in on some crucial points that all online marketers should pay attention to as you are designing for conversion.
Subscribe to Podcast
Here are the key takeaways from the interview, but you should listen to the full 21-minute podcast as well in order to glean all of that “scientific wisdom” that Brian has dropped:
Makes your marketing mouth salivate, right? Well, get on over there and sink your teeth into the goodness, and be sure and stop by to say thank you to Jason Hartman and the team over at Speaking of Wealth.
21 Quick and Easy CRO Copywriting Hacks
Keep these proven copywriting hacks in mind to make your copy convert.
"*" indicates required fields
2 Questions for the Statistically Significant Marketer Part 2 [Audio]
CRO Tests | Multivariate | AB TestingQuestions can be powerful things, if the questions are good and are leading us in the right direction (normally this means toward better results). When the questions are about the statistical significance of your marketing results, you’ve got a winning combination that will really take you places.
Subscribe to Podcast
So, what are a couple of good questions that you can use to help you become statistically significant as a digital marketer? Brian introduces a couple of doozies in How to be a Statistically Significant Marketer (Part 2) on Marketing Land:
Question 1: Are the results I’m seeing from my online marketing telling me what really happened?
Question 2: Are these results “good” enough to predict what will happen in the future?
You will find part one here: Become a Statistically Significant Marketer.
Brian tackles these challenging questions by introducing us to three characters involved in life-like scenarios that will seem all too familiar to some of us.
Finally, he ends with the question that every marketer has to continually ask at every step along the way: What do I do next based on the results I am seeing?
Here’s another solid question you can ask yourself: “Self, is it worth 15 minutes of my time to find out how to begin asking the right questions in my marketing efforts?” We’re going to help you out here and encourage you to go with a resounding “YES” on that one.
21 Quick and Easy CRO Copywriting Hacks
Keep these proven copywriting hacks in mind to make your copy convert.
"*" indicates required fields
How 18% of Companies Are Owning Their Corner of the Web with CRO
Conversion OptimizationWe were very surprised by the marquee results of a TrustRadius survey on Conversion Rate Optimization.
We would speculate that many of these 18% of companies are in very competitive commodity industries, such as travel, office supplies, and pet apparel. In other words, they had to optimize or die.
These aren’t the only industries in dire need of optimization, however. While CRO isn’t a zero-sum game, you do not want to find yourself playing catch-up with your competitors. As this survey shows, CRO is a key competitive advantage online, just as SEO has been.
TrustRadius is in a unique position to conducted a survey of businesses. They offer some of the most helpful reviews of business software on the Web, and were able to get 4100 companies to complete the survey. This is statistically significant stuff.
Here are some of the highlights from their survey.
Check out the full report now and then give Conversion Sciences a call to see what you can do to inject CRO into your DNA.
As Conversion Scientists, we obviously eat this stuff for breakfast. We’ll show you how much money you could be making with our 120-day Conversion Catalyst™ program. It’s free, and it’s invaluable.
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The Most Important Person on Your Split Testing Team
CRO Tests | Multivariate | AB TestingMy partner Joel Harvey is fond of saying, “My favorite part of a design is the money.” He’s been part of many a web design project. His perspective comes in response to the number of times he’s heard things like:
In and of themselves, none of the above statements are unworthy pursuits. But if your goal is to increase online sales conversion and fill your coffers to the brim, you will fall woefully short if you believe that web design alone can do the heavy lifting of convincing your visitors to take action. If increasing sales is your goal, the most important person on your split testing team is the accountant.
Designers Don’t Design for the Accountant
A while back, a client sent us a couple of different mocks of some new designs they were entertaining. They ask which one I liked. The first thing I said is I like the one that makes you the most money. Up until that time their team was arguing over color palettes, white space,and rounded edges.
When I reminded them about the bigger goal, their conversation evolved. In a clock tick, we were all discussing the quality of content on the pages rather than the design elements. When their offer and call to action were right, everyone seemed to forget about the trivia of the actual design.
Designing For Your Ego
Another client brought to us a new landing page campaign they had just launched and were baffled and disappointed by the early results. They went on to explain that they thought this was the best designed landing page they had ever done. They had just hired a new graphic designer that ‘got it’, and even the CEO was impressed with his work. One problem, their paying customers didn’t seem to agree. No doubt, the design was gorgeous. Rich colors, curvy rectangles, sexy images, even the header and body fonts were crisp and clean.
So why wasn’t this campaign working? We had them show us their most recent successful campaign. The design was a tad dated, and compared to the new landing page it looked like a high school hobbyist in the company basement eating Cheetos and suckling energy drinks.
Still, by comparing we immediately saw the problem with the new landing page. The copy on the old page was much better. The headers screamed the product’s value proposition and benefits. The body copy answered relevant questions, and helped the reader imagine themselves buying the product. The call to action button was big, bold, and in your face. The new page looked stunningly attractive but said very little.
To add insult, the hot shot designer was a minimalist and had an aversion to big gawky buttons, so his primary call to action was tiny button that blended in with the hero image, and , by design, was easy to ignore. We instructed them to use the old page copy on the new design (they had to make a few adjustments to make it all fit), and we asked the designer to create a bigger and bolder call to action button. They obliged us and that new design finally beat the old landing page.
How Much Time Are You Spending With Your Designer vs. Your Banker?
So my lesson is this. Beautiful, eye-popping design and effective, profitable web design are two different things. And it always seems easier to mistake those eye-popping designs for profitable ones. Split testing will always lead you in the right direction.
Some companies spend more on design than they do on organic SEO, and almost all companies spend more on design than on Conversion Rate Optimization. Search engine spiders don’t evaluate site design, only content and links. And I have yet to see a company design their way into a better conversion rate and better RO.
Some companies spend way more time going back and forth about a design element than they do actually testing it. Makes you wonder how far ahead of your competitors you could get if you spent more time and resources on conversion optimization and testing.
So when considering a redesign of your entire site, of a successful landing page, or even a banner ad, do the following:
Above all, use web designers that deeply understand the web and principles of conversion. Otherwise they are just an artist, and the value of an artists works usually increases only after their demise. Can you wait that long?