Online Conversion

 @thisissethsblog introduces us to a video that defies critique. But, haven't we all played a part in a meeting like this?

If you've ever wondered what "business porn" is, this post covers pretty much all of it.

The superhero, the running businessman, the meaningless graph, and the sexy business hottie.

If I was to add one more, it would be the suited handshake.

Megan Leap is available to take a look at your website and online strategy.

Imagine if you were given six months of identity protection by Target or Zappos or Neiman Marcus before they had an online security breach. Imagine if the identity protection was valid for any purchase you made. This is the promise of AllClearID. They are a client of ours and are at the forefront of revising the way we look at online security.

If you run an ecommerce site, this is a value proposition that will increase your conversion rates. We've done the tests.

 @b2bmarketing via @huffpostbiz John Fox gets landing pages and is bringing the tale of this important online strategy to the masses who read the Huffington Post. Much of the article was based on an interview with yours truly.

There are two defining characteristics of a landing page: It must keep the promise made by the link or ad that brings people to the page It is single-mindedly focused on getting them to take an action that will help them or the business Fox goes on the talk about trust, proof and images as keys to effective landing pages. He also talks about eliminating distractions and avenues for abandonment.

Thanks for a great article, John.

 @crazyegg hits us over the head with a list of mistakes we make when testing our site. The most brutal is "#8: You're testing a crappy site."

Fear not, especially if you're shepherding a new testing initiative for your company. There's great advice and encouragement here.

To avoid these mistakes in your business, consider a Conversion Catalyst program from Conversion Sciences. Your first call is free.

 "57% of customers will abandon a web page if it takes more than 3 seconds to load." This is just one of the interesting factoids found in this heartbreaking infographic.

You'll learn the eight primary factors that cause potential customer to abandon your site.

What is the impact of reviews on the purchase decision? It's in there.

Finally, discover what website factors make buyers buy more.

Then, have a conversation with us to find out how to harvest more revenue from your site. Your first call is free.

 "57% of customers will abandon a web page if it takes more than 3 seconds to load." This is just one of the interesting factoids found in this heartbreaking infographic.

You'll learn the eight primary factors that cause potential customer to abandon your site.

What is the impact of reviews on the purchase decision? It's in there.

Finally, discover what website factors make buyers buy more.

Then, have a conversation with us to find out how to harvest more revenue from your site. Your first call is free.

 @thisissethsblog Trust is one of the key ingredients in the Chemistry of a Landing Page. Seth Godin underlines the reason in his short, pithy way.

If you don't have their trust, why would they believe any of the other elements on the page?

Your copy?

Your claims?

Read the most important question on Seth's blog.  

 @sitetuners offers a great way to look at conversions and landing pages through the eyes of cating. Don't propose on the first date. Suit Up! Show that you're the perfect match. Go for the second date. Read on to find out what this all means to your website.

We tracked the eyes of 22 people as they watched three kinds of video: Talking head video, webinar-style slide video and hand-drawn whiteboard-style video.

What we found out was that a human face is magnetic. Even when props were added, the viewers' gazes returned quickly to the face.

This article on how onscreen talent can hurt your product demo videos echoes our findings.

Yes, humans love human faces. We gaze at them and examine them. Unfortunately, this is a problem when we want someone to look at something else.

The Penn and Teller magic video in this article is worth the trip.

 @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.

Even data analysts can have a sense of humor, as is proved by the folks at eMetrics Summit. This short video will make Gilbert and Sullivan turn over in their graves, but these are the kind of people you are going to be seeing more and more in company marketing departments.

This article offers Orwell's Five Rules For Writing: Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech that you are used to seeing in print. Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. Never use the passive where you can use the active. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word. You can see some of these principles in action.

@yaost offers some good advice in this article. In particular, there are some testing "elephants in the room" that he points out. These include the fact that the Z score used by testing tools assumes a normal distribution -- a bell curve -- in the data. That is often not the case.

He also recommends ending tests on week boundaries. If you start a test on Friday and end it on a Tuesday, you may be exaggerating your results as Tuesdays are often bigger conversion days for ecommerce sites.

This article is just nerdy enough for most marketers, and you're going to have to add some nerdy to your repertoire if you're not already there.

The science we love must be entertaining, and what's more entertaining than finding more revenue hidden in your website? This creative little video does a great job of making string theory entertaining. It'll introduce you to words that will make you a hit at scientist parties, too. Thanks Roy H. Williams for the link.

Landing pages are your friend, and here are seven tools that will make your pages very friendly to your bottom line. OMI is also teasing my new Conversion Crash Course. Check it out.

Forms are a key component of Landing Pages (in addition to Offer, Image, Trust and Proof). When a visitor considers completing a form — for lead gen, to subscribe or to purchase — it is the moment of truth.

So, it is sad that so many forms work to chase these ready customers and prospects away.

This article will give you some things to consider as you guide development of your website forms in these areas: Right time of informing about problems/success Right place for validation messages Right color Clear language

 @crestodina I spoke at the Conversion Conference #convcon this week about flipping your message according to your Web visitor. This can be applied to subject lines, search ads, display ads and landing pages.

One of the most powerful "flips" is between the four kind of visitors outlined by Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg in their book Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?.

Here is a creative twist on the four kinds of visitors you'll encounter on your website: video game characters.

Is the page, post or email you're working on right now targeting Frogger or Mario or Galaga or PacMan?

It should.

 @peeplaja "People have an infinite attention span if you are entertaining them."

I get a lot of questions about sales letter styled landing pages. Do they work? Do I need to write that much?

My stock answer is that they do work, but that your copywriter needs to know what they are doing. These kind of landing pages typically work with visitors that already know and follow your business.

Peep says it best: "Buyers are readers." There is more wisdom in this entertaining post.

If there was one thing that defeats your efforts to market with data, it would be lack of resources. Marketing departments are notoriously under-staffed for the workload delegated by executives. It can become overwhelming to imagine doing tests when you're just trying to get communications out the door.

In the interest of helping you find more time and happiness in your work, I offer this excellent list of 26 "time hacks."

Please. Do some split testing with the extra time you find. Your visitors will thank you.

26 Time Management Hacks I Wish I'd Known at 20 from Etienne Garbugli @egarbugli

 @conversion_team It's easy to cut prices.It's hard to build up the value of what you offer in words and images. If you can occupy the high-price category in your niche, life gets much easier.

So, I was pleased to find this article which makes a bold statement: "Avoid Best Practice Conversion Rate Optimization"

What?

While your competitors are testing button color, you can be comparing yourself to the competition, being open about your profits, and doing the math for your visitors.

Best practices only get you so far. Here are some alternatives for online success.