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The best conversion rate optimization practices are dead – well, not so soon!
Before the advent of multivariate testing technologies, the only option for conversion rate optimization practitioners was to follow empirically proven “best practices”. Now that multivariate tests are often showing that many of the best practices are not as generally applicable as originally thought, many are questioning their validity. We think that the best practices deserve the attention but be wary of their limitations.
If you never did any conversion rate optimization, you need to adopt a simple practical framework. The Internet is full of these “10 best” … “7 essential” … or other adjectives used to describe the most important things you need to do to optimize your pages.
In the past, consultants would use these rules to design effective websites. With the advent of testing tools, these rules are then used to design A-B (sometimes called Split Tests) or multivariate tests (rarely, done only by very few large e-commerce players).The most popular tool for A-B testing is Google’s Website Optimizer. To see what kind of results others are getting you should visit: WhichTestWon.com or Abtests.com.
Let us make our own contribution to the best practices framework:
1. Put all the best stuff “above the fold”
A surprising number of your visitors will not scroll at all, so it’s best to make sure that the most important content is placed “above the fold” (top 300 pixels of your web page)
2. Keep it simple
Imagine that every element on your page either increases the conversion rate or decreases it – or just takes up space. In most situations, less content produces higher conversion rate (see: Website Conversion Rate’s Road To Hell: Web Page Clutter).
Test the following options:
- Test the impact of eliminating a page element by creating a blank variation (a single white pixel)
- Make your first paragraph short, no more than 1-2 lines
- Add white space between page elements so that a visitor can absorb information easier
- Remove distracting links
- Eliminate main navigation on the page
3. Provide a clear call to action
Whether you use graphic buttons or hot-linked text (or both), tell your visitor what they need to do. Copy tests here will give you the biggest bang next to testing headlines.
Test the following options:
- Change the size and colors of graphical elements to make sure that the call for action is very visible
- Edit copy to find out which wording resonates with the web visitors the most
- Vary (or add, if one does not already exist) a persuasive message directly above the call to action
4. Lead the eye
Your ultimate goal is to lead the eye along the page towards the call for action. Typography, color, and graphical elements can both help and hurt your objectives.
Test the following options to make right stuff “pop”:
- Use arrows pointing to the call for action
- Use bold
- Use italics
- Highlight important words
- Add hand-drawn annotation (This is a higher-risk one, and depends on the corporate image you’re trying to portray)
5. Have a Clear and Direct Headline
The headline is the first thing a user sees upon landing on your web page. It provides an opening into the content of the rest of the page as well as a bridge to the place from which your visitor came.
Try several versions of the headline exploring the following aspects:
- Try a few direct and simple statements of what the user is trying to accomplish.
- Use main keywords or slogans to enhance relevance to the traffic source
- Explore different fonts, letter sizes, and colors of your headlines
6. Deliver your value proposition with short direct messaging
Your value props should all be the answers to “why?” A good copy should be limited to three or four bullet points that don’t mince words. This is no time to get cute either. If users can’t quickly and easily understand the benefits of your product or service, they will not hesitate to click the back button.
7. Test different images.
Attention-grabbing images are great, but only if they help to communicate your sales message (which they rarely do).
Explore the following:
- Images of the product
- Images of the product being used, maybe by a “role model” character
- Images of the successful outcome of the product
- Images of happy customers holding the product (that is, a testimonial and product shot all in one).
- Put captions under your images and test them. Interestingly, people almost always read the captions under images.
8. Incentives
The objective of an incentive is to “tip the balance” of web visitor’s emotional state and to make them more interested to react positively to the call for action.
Test different offers. In general, do whatever you can to get the product into the customer’s hands. If you’re so confident in your product, prove it by taking some of the risk. Here are some examples:
- A one-month free trial
- Buy-one-get-one-free
- Pay in installments
- Longer commitment
- Shorter commitment
- Buy now, pay later
- First one free
- Automatic renewal
- We’ll hold your check for 30 days
Test different reasons why the visitor should act promptly. For example:- “Offer ends Wednesday”
- “Only 42 units left”
Test different premiums – that is, the bonuses they get if they order. For example:- Free reports
- Gifts
- Accessories
9. Reinforcing credibility
Brand, trust and security icons as well as testimonials deliver confidence messages that can have a tremendous impact on conversion. They ease the mind of the prospective buyer, who might not know your brand.
Try the following:
- Add testimonials from happy customers. In general, a video testimonial is better than a testimonial with an image, which is better than a testimonial with just a name, which is better than an anonymous testimonial
- Add testimonials from the media. If you don’t have any, try giving them free stuff in exchange for reviews and feedback.
10. Be aware of your SEO setup
First, let us be very clear, multivariate testing by itself will not affect your SEO ranking. However, in the future, when you permanently apply a winning page combination that disregards your existing SEO setup, you might create unintended impact to your SEO ranking.
Therefore, it is always a good practice to preserve the existing SEO setup during the optimization experiment design. For example, if you are fully aware of your key words you will then easily design new variations that are compliant with your keywords.Is there something wrong with the best practices?
Not necessarily. Just be aware of the following limitations:
- There is no guarantee that any of the rules or combination of the rules above will actually produce improvements on your web page. What works for one company may not for another. Web is littered by a large number of new websites that were completely redesigned to comply with the best practices that completely failed to outperform the old ‘ugly’ predecessors
- Use of the best practices is just the opening game and not end game. This is a simple checklist that you should follow in designing your new page or optimization test. Any change needs to be tested and verify
- Do not get confused if certain changes result in a drop in conversion rate. The human eye is wired to read a web page in the order of visual importance (what catches attention first). Hence, some changes that you might make to comply with the best practices can draw attention to a non-performing part of the page, which will result in a loss of conversion. That is why you have to be prepared for multiple tests
- Conversion rate optimization is ongoing affair. Seasonality and constant market changes are going to impact conversion rate of your page. What worked well yesterday may not work as well today. To remain effective you must continually test and monitor the performance of your key web pages
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Tim
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