Group items tagged

Hanging out at SES Chicago last week, I spent some time with Stewart Quealy, VP of content development for SES, who told me that he enjoyed my last column about the power of a great unique value proposition. He suggested that as more new faces begin to adopt conversion rate optimization, some may not be as familiar with the fundamentals as many of us are. And of course, the end of the year is always a good time to talk the fundamentals. This week, I want to discuss another conversion rate optimization basic: the call to action (CTA).

The elements of persuasive architecture -- momentum, calls to action, credibility, trigger/keywords, AIDAS, WIIFM, and benefit-oriented copy -- depend on proper hyperlink use. Understanding what to hyperlink, when to do so, and why can turn mediocre conversion rates into superior ones.

Perhaps one of the most sensitive calls to action (aside from asking for credit card information) is the request for customer feedback (especially when the request is made through the intrusive and long-despised pop up window.)

Sucharita Mulpuru and Forrester Research recently released a report called Myths And Truths About Online Customer Reviews. The report covers a lot of ground, but I want to hone in on customer behavior after reading negative reviews. Many retailers have avoided adding reviews for fear negative reviews will hurt sales, despite the proven conversion benefits they deliver. From the report, here are 7 actions consumers take after reading not-so-shining reviews (customers may take more than one action)

SEO is nice for popularity, but conversion is even better. So, before you go out and start snatching up more keywords than you can shake ...

I spotted vente privee (private sale) e-tailer RueLaLa inviting members to add upcoming "boutiques" (private sale events) to their Outlook calendars in an email:

When it comes to selling online, getting someone to take action right now is often the key to success. Many ...

Add to Cart buttons - they may be small, but no online retail store can do without them. These little, rectangular, sometimes colorful clickables connect the product to the shopping cart and are an extension of your branding. It's important to put some thought into what your "Add to Cart" icon looks like in your shopping cart.

Subscription options for consumables is not necessarily a new concept, but certainly an underused tactic of online retailers. It's far more common to see e-tailers offering tiered pricing (discounts on quantity) to increase basket size. But customers don't always want to order a case lot of something - who has room for a year's worth of coffee in the cupboard? Others don't have the cash-on-hand to pre-purchase items.

Are you selling your white papers short with poor merchandising? Many sites offering "free" white papers, case studies, or resources in exchange for some visitor information utterly fail to merchandise their downloads. Yet if your website doesn't treat your white paper as containing valuable information, your visitors won't either.

Last year we posted cart buttons from over 100 top online retailers. Just over a year later, I spotted 46 out of the 111 retailers using different button designs. But does that mean they're testing? Not necessarily.

Classic Closeouts is the best example of supporting a value proposition that I have come across in my travels around the Internet.

Remember how, a while back, we talked about the benefits of using active verbs in your copy (Think Active!)? You must have got some benefit from that discussion - it's one of my most popular articles ever. So I think it's time we played Fun With Grammar again (if only your 9th grade English class had been so application-oriented).