What would the world look like from a bug’s perspective? That’s the question John Lasseter wanted to answer during the creation of the movie “A Bug’s Life.”

To understand the world through a bug’s eyes, his team created a miniature video camera on Lego wheels which they called the “Bugcam.” Fastened to the end of a stick, the Bugcam would roll through grass sending back a bug’s-eye view of the terrain.

When we test a web page,  it’s like we’re getting the visitor’s view of our page. The more we learn about their behavior, the more we can tailor a page to their needs which in turn increases your sales. Lately though, testing websites has become more of a numbers game. Instead of focusing on learning about our customers we’re obsessed over getting that big increase – that 125% gain we read about.

Clients hear so much about outsized wins, the +125% increase in sign-ups and the 149% increase in clicks, that they’re completely deflated by a “measly 6% gain.” If you find yourself feeling bad if you only got a 3.27% lift from your latest test…read on.

Start by reframing the process … Instead of calling it a test, call it an experiment.

When we call something a test, our tendency is to grade the test results based on some sort of numerical ideal: • +100% or more an A

• +30% or more a B
• +10% or more a C
• everything below 10% either a failure or downright bad

Don’t get me wrong. I love the 150% increase as much as the next marketer. 

Everyone gets excited when you post a 150% gain in conversions. Problem is that you have a hard time convincing the client that they need to keep testing.

“We’ve got a winner, let’s stop here” is the response you hear.  It’s hard for clients to believe that there is more to learn and potentially more gains to come.

And it’s not just the outsized gains that create problems; it’s probably even more difficult to get clients to continue testing after a test that fails.

Coming back after a -15% test result can be difficult. 

Once I started referring to testing as a series of experiments; clients were accepting of the inevitable negative result. No one expects every experiment to be successful. Sure you’re not excited, but there is no feeling of failure. Instead, it’s on to the next.

Call it a test and you have different dynamic. After years of schooling and thousands of test results we know the difference between an A+ and an F-. And we view a -15% or -5% or –50% result as equally awful… well maybe not -50%….but you know what I mean.

A negative result on an experiment is part of the process and not a point of failure. 

When I started referring to the testing as experiments, all the anxiety and feelings of euphoria or defeat went away. 

Instead I was able to focus on what the experiment was telling me instead of the results. Here’s a good example of what I mean.

In a recent client experiment, the goal was to increase sign-ups for their service. They had a rather long, 10 minute video at the very top of their current sign-up page. We decided to test moving the video down the page and introduce it to the audience after they’d had a chance to read about the company and the service. That move resulted in 50% fewer video plays.

Our goal for the experiment was to increase sign-ups and they were up by 31%. But the real learning was about the video. On the next experiment, we moved the video back up to the top of the page, and the sign-ups increased even more.

It was something we couldn’t have anticipated without experimenting. Our premise, that their visitors would want to read about the service first and then watch the video was dead wrong.

If we’d only focused on the numerical result and not the learning we might have missed out on one their visitors key preferences -  video over copy.

You can’t know for sure what your customers will like.

The beauty of experimenting is that you don’t have to love every experiment. Try it and see what happens. When colleagues have a weird idea, go with the flow. Create a page based on their input, run an experiment and see what happens.

The less you “own” your site and the more you allow your customers to “own” your site the more open you’ll be to giving things a try. What do you have to lose? Well…what if the experiment crashes and burns?

What if the experiment is posting a -57% result almost immediately? 

First look at how much traffic and how many conversions have been recorded by the experiment. Are we talking about 25 visitors and 1 conversion or 500 visitors and 1 conversion? If it’s just a few visitors and conversions, try to wait to be sure the results are not just an anomaly. This is probably one of the most difficult things to do, but on low traffic numbers 1 conversion either way can make a huge difference in the results.

However, if you’ve had too many visitors to view the results as just a coincidence, stop the experiment. Gather all the information you can about why the experiment went wrong, regroup and try again.

Experiments gone wrong not only seize your brain, but they can show you very clearly what not to do in the future. Review your premise for the experiment design, layout and copy. Use what you’ve learn to create a more effective and compatible page?

Here’s a quick checklist to reframe the process 

• Think experiment instead of test – test implies good or bad while experiment implies a learning
• Think ideas instead of long term decisions – Experiment with everyone’s ideas, even those you’re not that excited about. No one, not you, not your boss, and not your colleagues, knows exactly what your customer will respond to. Guesses, even educated guesses, are no substitute for data.
• Think learning instead of numbers – a 6% gain with big insights for your whole site might be much more valuable for your business than a quick 125% gain on a single landing page

Just like the world looks entirely different from a bug’s perspective, you’ll view testing in a whole different light if you view it from the perspective of an experiment.

The post Test vs. Experiment? The Difference A Word Can Make, written by Marty Diamond appeared first on Diamond Website Conversion.

Are your PPC clicks turning into sales?

You expect a lot from your PPC landing page. It has to convince the visitor (who may or may not have expressed much interest in your product) to move beyond the initial click and take the next stop of making a commitment to your product.

It has to turn him from a prospect into a bona fide customer. And in many cases, it has just a few seconds to make that happen.

In order to accomplish that goal, you need to engage in some serious PPC landing page optimization. Each element on your landing page needs to work hard to engage and persuade visitors. The key to making that happen? Testing.

Here are 9 ideas to get you started.

1      Button copy—Test strong action words versus the typical “Buy Now” or “Download Now.” Consider using the headline from your best-performing ad as your CTA message.  

2      Product arrangement—Do you organize your products by price or by top sellers? Test different ideas for different audience segments based on the ad that brought them there.

3      Pricing packages—Test offering one, two, or three different pricing packages on your landing page. Try giving visitors a chance to choose what they want, from the start, versus segmenting them further down the funnel.

4       Reviews—Show one or two reviews on the landing page with a link to more. Or show only a composite rating based on available reviews.

5      Form placement—Test including your lead gen form on the landing page itself versus including a button only, moving the form from the second page.

6      Image Functions—Try giving customers the option to zoom in on product images or add rotation capability that enables them to see the product from different angles.

7      Video—Video can be a great addition to your landing page, but it doesn’t work for every audience. Test video versus no video, different video lengths, and voice-overs versus visible actors for your PPC landing page optimization.

8      Navigation options—Test no navigation versus a scaled-down version of your navigation bar to give visitors options, without making them feel trapped.

9      Headline copy—Does your headline copy match the tone and offer of your ad copy? Test various offers and wording to draw readers in.

PPC landing page optimization gives you the opportunity to capitalize on the ads you’ve invested in. Don’t leave visitors confused and wondering what to do next.

Match your landing page message to your ad message and pull the reader in to help him engage with your content in preparation for taking the next step.

The post 9 Ideas for Testing Your PPC Landing Pages, written by Marty Diamond appeared first on Diamond Website Conversion.

How good is your site search?

Google has spoiled us. When we go online, we expect to be able to find the specific information we’re looking for immediately with a minimum of effort.

Even if we don’t know the exact name of the item in question, we can type in an approximation or a description and most of the time, Google knows what we mean. That’s great for a search engine.

When it comes to your ecommerce website, however, this high expectation can leave visitors frustrated if your search function can’t accommodate them as quickly as Google. It can even cost you some sales.

The good news is that your ecommerce conversion optimization strategy can ease the tension by creating a better search experience for site visitors. Let’s take a look at five steps to better search:

1      Plan for misspellings and grammar issues.

Your search function should be able to return appropriate results for common misspellings and grammar mistakes. Watch your search logs to see which terms are commonly misspelled and add them to the dictionary. You can also offer auto-complete, spell check, and drop down menus to help the searcher find what he’s looking for.

2      Make your entire site searchable, not just the product pages.

Don’t assume visitors are just searching for merchandise. They may use the search function to find your privacy policy, store hours, or shipping information as well.

3      Rank results by relevancy.

Don’t leave visitors to wade through scores of search results which may or may not actually be relevant to what they’re looking for. You’ll enjoy greater success with your ecommerce conversion optimization efforts if you can narrow search results down and rank according to customer needs.

4      Include thumbnail images when possible.

Thumbnail images make all that text a little more manageable. They also provide a quick way for the searcher to determine whether the result in question actually provides the information he needs.

5      Have a backup plan for “no results.”

Don’t just leave the visitor staring at a blank page. Offer additional search suggestions, best selling items, current special offers, or product categories. Take advantage of the opportunity to grab the visitor’s attention with another sales opportunity rather than letting him go empty-handed.

If your ecommerce conversion optimization strategy doesn’t include a plan for optimizing your search function, it’s time to take a closer look at whether more flexible search can help boost your sales.

Both the percentage of customers who buy and the average order size increase with better search. Take the time to test a variety of updates in order to give your conversion rates a healthy boost.

The post 5 Tips to Improve your Ecommerce Site Search, written by Marty Diamond appeared first on Diamond Website Conversion.

Conversion optimization starts by analyzing your analytics data

Conversion optimization relies on knowing what’s happening when people land on your website.

• What actions do they take?
• When do they take them?
• Where and when do they exit?
• How long do they stick around?

These are just a few of the essential questions you should be asking. In this post, let’s take a look at some of the best free web analytics tools to help you keep track of the answers.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics may be the best known free analytics program, and deservedly so. The sheer volume of data can be intimidating, but it’s easy to get started with basic reports. For more advanced users, custom reporting, pivot tables, and goal tracking can be accomplished quickly and efficiently. Keep tabs on bounce rate, traffic sources, page views, search terms and much more.

Piwick

Piwick is a good alternative to Google Analytics if you’re not comfortable with Google. It’s an open source PHP MySQL software program that offers many of the same abilities. The installation process is a little more complicated, but once you have it on your server you’ll have access to detailed reports on visitors, page views, marketing, and  more.

Clicky

Clicky offers real time tracking statistics including heat maps, visitor activity, bounce rate, feed subscriptions and more. Both free and paid versions are available; the free version limits you to tracking one website with 3,000 page views maximum. Clicky also offers a mobile app that keeps your analytics info at your fingertips.

SmarterStats

The free version of SmarterStats gives you access to all the same functions as the paid versions (activity reports, demographic reports, keyword suggestions, SEO campaign, etc.) but limits you to one website and one SEO campaign. If you need analytics for multiple sites per server, you must purchase the professional or enterprise edition.

Yahoo! Web Analytics

Yahoo! Web Analytics includes near real-time data collection, full-featured analytics, visitor demographics and behavior reports, PPC campaign management and more. It’s customizable and stores data in raw form for flexible analysis options.

Keep in mind that each analytics tool will measure your data slightly differently. If you have two tools installed on your site – yes some of us are waaaay into the data – don’t freak out if they’re reporting slightly different results. If you see big differences, dig deeper, you’ve got a problem somewhere, but small differences are normal.

Web analytics tools make it easier to keep your eyes on the data, but it’s up to you to implement that knowledge into your online strategy in order to increase conversion rates.

The post Five Free Analytics Tools to Boost Conversion Rates, written by Marty Diamond appeared first on Diamond Website Conversion.

Caution…Confusing Language Ahead

Argonjay is such an easy trap to fall into.  Ordsway or asesphray that are commonly used in your industry or business can be a complete mystery to people outside your industry.

 What???

In Pig Latin, the children’s language game, “jargon” becomes argonjay, “words” becomes ordsway and “phrases”  asesphray.  When you stumbled over the words and wasted time trying to figure out what I was saying you experienced the negative impact of using jargon in your communications.

Jargon is everywhere.  It’s the words that are part of the everyday vocabulary of a particular group or profession that are only partially understood, if at all, by the rest of us. Problem is that jargon is no longer isolated to technology geeks and the medical profession.

You probably use some jargon every day.  Words that are specific to what you do. Words that you’re sure everyone understands, only to be shocked that they don’t.

Using jargon on your website is one of the biggest reasons for potential customers to hit the back button and find a site that is simpler to understand. No one sets out to use jargon-speak, but it remains prevalent on websites, because it’s so difficult to recognize.

Jargon is one of the most difficult things to recognize in your own writing.

We’re in the website conversion optimization business, so naturally we want to use those words everywhere we can on our site.  Here’s the problem.  Our audience is small business owners.

And the majority of small business owners we talk to only have the vaguest notion of what we actually do. To them website conversion optimization is jargon.

If I want to communicate with a small business owner about conversion, I need to discuss things like making more sales from their website or getting more people to sign up for their newsletter.

Part of the problem is that conversion has so many meanings for people – everything from converting your van into a love-mobile, to having a mystical experience that changes your life while vacationing in Bali.

Combine the word “conversion” with the word “optimization” and suddenly people think you’re in the business of making their website better for the search engines.  You can see why people get confused.

You may think that your website is a jargon-free zone.

You’re just using the words you use every day to describe what you do. And, I can just about guarantee that you understand every word on your site.

Problem is that your potential customers don’t understand your business like you do.  If you’re an ecommerce site, look closely at your product descriptions.  If you provide a service, carefully read your description of services and your “how to” articles.

Last week I was looking for some new t-shirts and I felt like I’d missed the memo.  Does everyone know what a “modal – cotton blend” actually means?  If you asked 50 customers, would all of them know that you can just throw it in the washer and it won’t magically shrink to half its former size?

Service providers are not off the hook here either.  Let’s take a straightforward business like bookkeeping services.  When the average small business owner thinks about hiring a bookkeeper, they’re looking for someone to come in and “do their books”.

They want to stay out of trouble with the government, pay their bills on time, collect money that’s owed them and see where they stand at the end of the month.   They may need Asset Tracking, Balance Sheet Statements, and Accelerated Depreciation, but using those words to describe your services will send them running to a different, simpler website.

Ok so we all want to take the pledge to create jargon-free websites…

But how do you eliminate what you can’t see yourself?  

Initially it’s really helpful to have someone outside of your business to do a “search and find” mission on your most important web pages.  Their job will be to identify every word that isn’t 100% clear to them.

Once you get the idea of the types of words that could be tripping up your potential customers, you’ll be able to view your site through a different lens. Suddenly, you’ll find yourself making the necessary word substitutions almost without thinking.

Another great way to eliminate jargon is to look for it on other people’s websites.  The more hyper jargon-aware of you become, the more it will drive you crazy, and the easier it will be to see in your own communications.

Avoid the argonjay trap and all your communications will be clearer and easier for your audience to understand.

The post Is Your Website a Jargon-Free Zone?, written by Marty Diamond appeared first on Diamond Website Conversion.