(You can find part one in this series, Conversion Optimization Myths, here.)
Websites are a lot like your car. There’s the beautiful exterior, all the parts under the hood that keeps it running, and the comfy interior that sucks you in and keeps you there.
You can have an economy car that definitely isn’t special, but it gets you to your next destination. There are no cup holders, the seat makes your back hurt, and you’re pretty sure you people snicker when you climb out of it wearing your Armani Suit and flawlessly polished black shoes. (But whatever. That’s their problem, right? It’s paid for darnit!)
On the other end, there’s that luxury car that we all drool over. Looks like a million bucks, has an interior more plush than your living room, and it goes like the dickens. But, there’s one thing they both have in common: once something breaks, neither of them are going to work properly.
Websites are the same.
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Turning “Good” Into Gold
It doesn’t matter whether you have ‘old reliable’ or a fast ‘luxury version’, if something breaks, it’s not going to get you too far. Sure, you can get away with minor dents and dings, but if anything vital goes, you’re up crap creek without a paddle…or car.
You add on the occasional accessory to make it suit your personal style, but more importantly, you give it regular maintenance so that it won’t let you down when you need it most. You also tweak it to make it more efficient, and get as much as you can out of every dollar. (In this fantasy, we’re well off, but not rich…c’mon! Work with me here.)
That’s where conversion optimization comes in. It makes everything just work better and you get more money in your pocket. Simple, right?
Well, it looks simple until it’s time to get started. There’s certainly a right and a wrong way to do this as well as some tools to give you a helping hand (sort of like using a tire iron to remove the lug nuts instead of twisting it off by hand…they both might work, but the tire iron is just going to be so much easier).
Getting Started With Conversion Optimization
Google Website Optimizer 101 –- Another great introduction to conversion rate optimization, the real value here is the long list of tips (and I mean a LONG list) that will really get you thinking about how your own site works.
544 Conversion Rate Optimization Tips — The Unbounce Blog has compiled a massive list of tips that are just like a thorough how to for optimizing your site. If you miss something after going through 544 different things, you must have missed the issue! Just kidding, but it is a good resource to go through.
Introduction to A/B and MVT: Optimization Testing 101 — If all the different tests out there are starting to sound the same to you, here’s a basic (and graphic) explanation of the differences between them from Get Elastic.
55 Google Website Optimizer Tips and Tricks — Conversion Rate.net created a super easy to follow conversion optimization how-to for websites of all kinds. This is a good one to follow if you’re new to this type of optimization or are just looking to try out a few things.
Google Conversion University — Google has a massive list of resources that covers everything from reading and using your analytics to analysis and reports. This is a must-read list for anyone wanting to get started for conversion optimization. It’s by no means ‘law’, but it will give you a great foundation to build on.
How To Boost Conversion Rates Instantly Without Making a Single Change to Your Site — Once you get into conversion optimization, you’ll find the information you collect and use contains a lot of noise. While this might not seem like too big of a deal at first, it can make a huge difference when deciding what to fix and how to fix it. GetElastic did a good job of showing you how to clean up your data to get reports that are more accurate.
Thearling.com — I promised myself I wouldn’t get too into the underbelly of this topic for several reasons, but I really think if you want to know what conversion optimization is truly capable of, investigate Data Mining. This is a good collection of stuff on the subject should you want to get that far.
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Conversion Optimization Tools
Audits, Models & Tips — Wider Funnel
Wider Funnel is giving away a collection of priceless worksheets and resources for those willing to sign up. I have no affiliation with the company, but I find they’re brilliant for those looking to get a taste of what’s involved and which site elements they could improve. As an added bonus, they also offer a free evaluation and have these smart ROI Calculators to determine if conversion optimization is worth it, I find they’re great for keeping things in perspective. You can use their simple Excel sheets to decide which sites and segments are worth pushing as well as how much time to spend on each.
Context Sense — Wingify
As a huge fan of behavioral targeting and conversion optimization, Wingify is a personal favorite. This neat little tool wraps juicy little tidbits up into a simple to scan page. The company itself offers easy to use testing tools, which are ideal for those who find the many others out there intimidating.
This is a pretty nifty site for all sorts of targeting, testing, and segmentation. In addition to its great tools, they also have tons of information that can certainly help take the mystery out of this kind of geekery.
Google’s Website Optimizer — Google
Emphasizing its desire to help webmasters create better websites, Google launched a testing tool of its own. While it’s never as good as having an expert there to guide you through the process and help you translate all the information you’ll receive. It’s one of the most comprehensive free tools out there today.
Super Conversion Button — Because you want your visitors to push the right buttons…Now you can quickly make your own. They have a few other tools you might want to check out while you’re there.
15 Tools That Reveal Why People Abandon Your Website — Rather than listing the tools I think are the best separately, I found this post from Conversion Rate Experts does an excellent job. You can see the variations of the many tools while getting a good idea of what you can use to test and investigate your site. Ion Interactive also has a quick list of tools you can use.
The Finer Points Of Conversion Optimization
Simple Buyer Mining — Tim Nash goes through a real basic way you can set up and use buyer mining to your advantage. You’ll figure out the important basics like age, gender, and location as well as how to make use of Facebook ads. There’s tons more of information here like “Active VS Passive Profiling“, but you’re best to go wandering through on your own.
Craft Website Increases E-Mail Capture by 22.3% on Landing Page Form — Wider Funnel has a great collection of case studies for those looking for hints and tips. Definitely worth the download!
25 Google Website Optimizer Tips For Better Product Pages — Product pages are some of the most important pages on your site, but they can also cause the most grief. To help you sell more, Google compiled some priceless tips for ecommerce sites.
Performable — These guys have compiled a priceless database of information, case studies, and guides to help you learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about conversion optimization.
Profiling Landing Page Users — This is an extremely in depth case study that’s worth gold. Walk with Tim as he goes through the profiling phase and explains why he does what he does.
Roles vs. Personas vs. Cognitive Styles in Conversion Optimization — I came across this post recently and I really enjoyed how it helped distinguish these three often confusing bits of lingo. While normally I’d chalk up words like these as being prime buzzword bingo candidates, I think that reading about each of them will help you gain a real understanding of what you should be thinking about when trying to improve your site.
The 5 Rings Of Conversion Optimization — Search Engine Land normally discussion search related topics, but this post looks at the effect of your web presence on your site’s conversion. It’s a neat way to consider how your actions off the site can change what users do on your site.
Conversion Funnels In Google Analytics — Saad Kamal has a lot of great content on his site, and this piece is no exception. It’s like the how-to for dummies guide for analytics basics…easy to follow and effective enough to give you a good start.
Writing Sales Copy For Conversions — This two part series from Tim Ash was featured on Search Engine Watch quite a while ago, but it’s still an excellent resource for beginner writers and one I highly recommend reading before you start to play with your own copy. You can find the second installment here.
Human Photos Double your Conversion Rate — Think Vitamin looked at how something as simple as adding human photos can improve sales and conversions. I found it to be fascinating and thought provoking. However, I should add that you should never take anything like this at face value. Always test everything to make sure the concept is just as effective on your site.
Copy Vs. Design: Which Is Most Important To Conversion? — Brian Massey looks at the age old debate in an attempt to decide once and for all which element is most important. I firmly believe that websites are like pie, and if the fruit is moldy, the whole pie is going to suck. For me, a successful website isn’t one with just a beautiful design, or one with an ugly design but good copy. Everything needs to come together perfectly if you’re going to have any hope of making money. That being said, I find the post brings up a number of good points that will get you thinking in the right direction when working on your own site.
Conversion Optimization Through Video: 10 Things You Should Be Testing (PDF) — Who would think to test their videos? Eyeview! That’s who. There are some great nuggets in this PDF to make sure even your videos are earning you money.
One Comment on "Conversion Optimization Master Class"
What a collection of resources on Conversion Optimization. But, I love the introductory text most where you compared websites with cars.. What a relevant example to explain certain things about websites and their conversion facts to a client. Hats Off…