Group items tagged

Web Engagement Management (WEM) is a strategy for how an organization brings together its human and technology resources to optimize its digital presence. In the article What is Web Engagement Management (WEM)? we outlined 5 core WEM components. But we just skimmed the surface. Here's more on what we think is at the center of WEM.

Good email stuff from @matthewhayes on @ClickZ. Email is so important to conversion.

Here are some good answers to burning questions when using video on your pages..

@widerfunnel "We have tested rotating offers many times and have found it to be a poor way of presenting home page content." Enough said.

Businesses love rotating banners because they are cowards. They are afraid of picking something and running with it. They don't want to lose a chance to get everyone. Well, when you try to sell to everyone, you sell to no one. If you won't listen to me, please, read Chris Goward's article. When it comes to testing, the Wider Funnel people konw what they're doing.  

For online services like Shopify, "Onboarding" is a fancy word for conversion. This slideshow takes you through Shopify's successful onboarding process.

One thing to note: they have Optimizely split-testing software installed. This could be how they came to this successful "onboarding" implementation.

A blog is critical for SEO. It can also be a great lead generator and email list builder.

The Conversion Scientist™ is crucial to our marketing efforts.

Rich Page has a great list of do's and don'ts here with examples. You should take a look. Annoying Ads Unclear value proposition Articles with no call to action Not mobile optimized Short articles, no sub-headlines Cluttered sidebar columns No social proof Bland articles Poor incentive to subscribe No exit-intent popups Start Here page

Just because you have the data that proves you are "right" about something, don't expect anyone to believe you.

It's not about the data, it's about how you present the data.

Since Conversion Optimization is ONLY about generating data to guide decisions, I love to explore the various ways of presenting it.

Here is some awesome eye candy from some amazing sites.

The steps we take as conversion optimizers look suspiciously like designers. Each of theses steps can use more data, though:User PersonasJob StoriesUsability TestingAffinity Mapping2x2 AnalysisProblem DefinitionIdeate & CreateMockupsPrototypeValidateOur task is to execute on this with high frequency and make small changes as we go to learn what moves the needle.

There are sevreral items in this list that are important for conversion optimizers to take note of, things to try. Mobile-first design: I surprised to learn how many leads and sales are now coming from the mobile web. Skeleton screens: Far better than some spinning animation for decreasing both load times AND percieved load times. Photo-cenric Menus: Try these for ecommerce sites. Scroll-triggerd animations: ONLY FOR STORY TELLING! Animated Call-to-action Buttons: Try those that shimmer without interaction. Hand lettering: Be careful not to make things hard to read. AI for design: I just have to try Grid.

@theGrok writes: "We opened the first CRO agency in 1998. We no longer offer CRO services to clients. We still have a lot of friends in the industry. It's likely some of them will disagree with the way we approach it. That's OK! The goal of this post it help you hire a CRO agency that is a great fit."

Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg are the reason I'm in this business. I'm grateful, and many of our clients, current and past, are grateful. So, I can't think of a better source for guidance in this industry.

 @uribarjoseph If you are getting into the split testing game (a sure sign that you want to dominate your niche on the Web) then you will find these eight rules invaluable.

When users look for information, they have a goal and are on a mission. Even before you started to read this article, chances are you did because you either had the implicit goal of checking what's new on Smashing Magazine, or had the explicit goal of finding information about "Navigation Design".

This is a short little ditty from @ioninteractive that makes an important point about Landing Pages that is very easy to forget. Landing pages have a single-minded purpose or they are something else.

While this article focuses on urgency and social proof, take a look at the way this Ruby Lane product page is designed.

Price is prominently displayedAdd to Cart button is high on the pageShipping is handled before entering checkoutThe product description is near the hero shot (and well written)Several high-quality photos are provided.All are above the fold or close to it. Are you working this hard to help your visitors buy?

 @peeplaja has given us another great post, full of examples and destined to change your fortune if you put it to work on your site.

The primary barrier to speaking clearly about our business is that we must choose to communicate with someone other than everyone. In other words, we must risk being uninteresting to some portion of our audience in exchange for really knocking our value prop out of the park for others.

Read carefully. Then choose.

The question to ask on a landing page is, "Will WOW increase my conversions?" Some of these "WOW" features have proven to reduce conversion rates.  Rotating banners of any sort attract the eye away, and can pull readers out of the "meat" of the page where they are more likely to convert. Accordian menus and tabbed content may prevent scanners from quickly consuming the page. It's a bit of a Catch 22: they may not have the patience to click on each item until they've scanned the content... which is hidden. Social widgets can deliver social proof and increase conversion rates. However, social media chicklets that let the visitor go off to Facebook or Twitter work against the purpose of a landing page: to keep visitors on the page until they make a decision. Why send traffic that you've paid for off to Mark Zuckerberg? Lightbox popovers are universally derided if you ask people. However, they almost always increase conversion rates. 

Every audience is different, so test these WOW features with your own crowd.

 @richpage #CRO Checklists are very helpful when making decisions about your website. They take the immediacy and emotion out of your decisions.

I love checklists and this is a good one. It's ten things to consider when designing your checkout process.

My favorites are:10. Consistently Expose Your Value Propositions7. Offer help throughout the process5. Remove header navigation during checkout (so easy!)4. Reassure the Prospect that the Price is RightI'll let you explore the rest of the ten checklist items.

@neilpatel collects some of the most interesting eye-tracking images available and provides seven insights that can help you design your pages and choose images. We have done our own eye-tracking study of business video and you can get the full report now. The report offers similar conclusions for the use of video in a landing page. It includes over 30 minutes of embedded video that you can watch yourself.

Neil's conclusions include:Be careful you you use [images of] peopleThat people love media (especially on search results pages)That men and women look at images differentlyThat simple images can be more effectiveThe power of the left side of the pageThe power of facesThat people love hand-written notes (my favorite)Enjoy the images he provides.

Forbes doesn't mince words when talking about CRO. Author Niel Patel has built several online businesses, including CrazyEgg and KISSMetrics. He would know.

The article starts off with a great insignt: "Conversion optimizaiton works."