National Post (National Edition)
OPTIMIZE YOUR WEBSITE AND SELL MORE.
Optimizing your website to sell more
If you have an inkling that your e-commerce site is underperforming, but can’t find out why, you have probably run into one of the dirty secrets of online selling.
Very few marketers, web designers, e-commerce consultants, and content producers actually know for sure what works on a website and what doesn’t.
Think about it. Why is there a red buy button in the top right corner of a landing page? Because most people are right handed? Because the eye naturally flows to the top right corner? Because your designer insists that red is a dynamic colour that encourages action? Because the boss’s wife or husband likes red?
These all may be true. But they might also be completely false. The red button may instigate far fewer buys than, say, a blue button. But, how would you know? Chris Goward, founder and chief executive of the Wider
Funnel “conversion optimization” agency — it enhances conversion of web visitors into active users or buyers — says the only way you will know what works is if you test everything constantly.
Although it would seem obvious that testing is the only way to determine with certainty an action that will be taken by a buyer, it’s a fairly new concept, largely enabled by the Web’s ability to allow a website manager to track every movement on a site.
Goward, of Vancouver, is the main booster of continuous testing. He’s proved its value by boosting marketing results up to 400% for such companies as eBay, Google, SAP, Electronic Arts, Iron Mountain and others.
A recognized thought leader on conversion optimization who has spoken all over North America and in Europe, Goward has now put most of his “strategic marketing optimization” methodology into a book titled, appropriately, You Should Test That!: Conversion Optimization For More Leads, Sales and Profit or The Art and Science of Optimized Marketing (Wiley, 2013). He implicitly believes that by scientifically testing marketing approaches an organization can gain insights that improve marketing and business results. This scientific testing usually involves “split” or “multivariate” testing” (comparing one or more actions to others) and a healthy dose of rigour and effort.
“We aim to produce marketing insights to understand the why behind how prospects act rather than just the what of which tactical iteration works better,” he says.
“You really can test everything, not just landing pages and websites. Many entrepreneurs are testing their business concept before they have huge businesses. Some call it Lean Startup or Scientific Marketing. Whatever you call it, if you decide to use the scientific method for business decision-making, you’ll find a way to test and learn at every stage.”
For many organizations, conversion optimization in marketing stops at SEO, which some contend is the be-all and end-all of Web marketing. But SEO is primarily aimed at drawing visitors to a website. Guiding those visitors to take specific actions such as filling out an inquiry form or purchasing a product, is conversion optimization in marketing.
In more than 250 pages, You Should Test That! provides tools and methods for carrying out conversion optimization. In particular, it illustrates Wider Funnel’s own LIFT (Landing page Influence Function for Tests) model, which provides methodology for six factors that affect conversion rates. Various hypotheses to improve each of these factors are continually tested to create an overall improvement in marketing.
The most important test involves the well-known marketing bedrock — the value proposition (more commonly expressed as “What’s in it for the customer?”). Organizations often believe they have put forward a value proposition correctly but have rarely tested it scientifically under real market conditions. The LIFT model lets them do that.
Marketing aside, Goward says rigorous testing could help in many other aspects of business operation. By scientifically testing all approaches, a firm can gain insights that improve marketing, business and operational results. Testing usually involves “split” or “multivariate” testing” — comparing the results of one or more actions to others to gain operational insight.
“We’ve seen business-level impact from testing. That’s where the real potential from conversion optimization lies,” he said.