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Top 5 Strategic Reasons for Usability Testing

2009-08-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

5. Usability data is addicting and can lead toward a long term desire to better serve your customers. Watching a usability testing session unfold in real time allows you, the product maker, to take a step away from the product and understand what is happening on the ground. Without empathy, it is much more difficult to come to the right design decisions.

4. Surveys, while inexpensive to conduct and in some cases statically valid, rely heavily on self-reported behavior or preference (and on retrospective accounts of past behavior). Since people are notoriously bad at articulating what they want and need, and are often unaware of their own behavior, surveys can fall short. Usability testing, because it depends on measuring behavior can find problems that would not be revealed in a survey.

3. Although a heuristic or expert usability review will give you insight to usability problems and can catch some issues inexpensively, usability testing can help define the scope and severity of usability issues so that you can tackle problems in the order of priority. Usability testing always results in findings that we didn't know existed prior to testing (as usability professionals).

2. You are a project manager or executive and would like to generate buy-in from your peers/leaders about changes that need to happen. For one reason or another, the user experience has taken the backburner, but you need to convince stakeholders that there is definite room for improvement - that will directly impact your bottom line. A usability test is the perfect way to measure the user experience and get the evidence you need. You'll even test your own assumptions.

1. Your website needs a redesign. Your team has inspired (or at times contentious) viewpoints in terms of strategy and content, but you need to understand how users experience your site. Usability testing can help you make the right decisions and compromises, because you'll hear directly from those who your site is affecting the most. Drive forward with data.

Is Your Site Speed Optimized?

2009-06-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

As pointed out on Google's Research Blog, speed matters. Google ran a test on their search results to determine how page loading time affects user satisfaction. In Google's experiment, they injected a delay of only 100 to 400 milliseconds. The decline in the number of searches is certainly measurable.

While none of us have the traffic level of Google, it still brings up an interesting question: Is your site speed-optimized?

There are several reasons to optimize the speed and functionality of your page:

Increase user satisfaction through usability efficiency

Increase time-on-page metrics

Decrease your own and your users' bandwidth needs

In addition to code-level changes you can make on your website, functionality changes will also increase the user's perception of speed and performance. The efficiency in which users can achieve their goal on your site is as important as how fast your site loads.

The bottom line is that when we speed-optimize our pages, it increases usability - the keystone to increased conversions.

Google recently published a resource for developers that shares knowledge of how we can code to make web pages load faster. While most developers and designers know most of these tips, it is great to have all of these resources in one place; everything from articles to downloads to community forums.

Here are some of our favorite articles from Google's speed resource:

User experience and site performance

Optimizing web graphics

Properly including stylesheets and scripts

CSS: Using every declaration just once

Prefetching resources

Want to check the speed of your website?

Here are three resources that will help you to test your website speed:

Website Speed Test by WebsiteOptimization.com

Yahoo's YSlow Firefox plugin

Google's Page Speed Firefox plugin

Being Google Analytics Consultants and Google Website Optimizer Consultants we can help you analyze, test and optimize your website speed.

Google Website Optimizer Increases Conversion 591%

2009-06-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

How website usability testing increased sales in the face of the global travel recession

Nature Air used website usability testing and improved search engine optimization to reverse decreasing web sales. The global recession has taken a serious toll on the travel industry. Costa Rica Airline, Nature Air, was feeling the harsh reality of the recession.

However, their online revenues are now up over 20-30% over their record sales in 2008. One of the key tools used to help make this turnaround was Google Website Optimizer. Below is an example of a website optimizer test that helped increase the conversion rate of their 17 destination landing pages from 3% to 19%.

Nature Air's destination pages are key to the overall success of the website since they are among the top landing pages that people land on from search engines. These pages garner the best traffic from users who are in the later stages of the buying cycle and are ready to book a flight. Thus it is critical for these pages to effectively push people to the flight booking engine.

Original Destination Landing Page

This is the original design of the 17 destination landing pages:

New Destination Landing Page

This is the new design of the 17 destination landing pages, which was really only a simple change of adding a contextual call to action:

Simple Changes can Turn into Big Profits

The amazing thing is this website optimizer test illustrates that very simple changes can have a huge impact. In fact, a 591% conversion rate increase...wow! Below is a screenshot of the Google Website Optimizer report screen showing the dramatic results.

Below is a screen capture that shows the ONE specific change that was made to this page that was responsible for the dramatic conversion rate improvement.

The thinking behind this change was that by placing the call to action within the content area, with messaging specific to the location, and including the starting fare price, the call to action would become more relevant and people would connect with it and be persuaded to book a flight.

What is better than increasing conversion 591%?

Increasing the free search engine traffic to these 17 landing pages. Check back for our follow-up blog post to this website optimizer case study to see how we got over 50 #1 rankings on Google and over 100 #2 & #3 rankings on Google for Nature Air which drove more people to these pages who were actively searching for location specific flights in Costa Rica.

Read more about the Nature Air Website Optimization Case Study
Learn more about our Google Website Optimizer Consulting Services.

Please share your thoughts or questions.

Local Search gets even more powerful with Google Local Business Center

2009-06-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

If you are serious about local search and thoroughly understanding your traffic sources, you need to check out the new activity dashboard in Google Local Business Center. It offers new reporting that shows impressions and, more importantly, the activity on your local search listings.

For example, it shows your top search queries, total website activity from local listings and how many clicked on 'more info', 'directions', or clicked to your website. You can even see 'where driving directions requests come from' which can be quite insightful. You have to hand it to Google for continuing to help out businesses better analyze and market their businesses. Google even offers plenty of great tips on how to improve your local search listings and more.

If you haven't already started using Google Local Business Center for managing your local search and Google Maps listings, you need to start. Other great features that you will want to take advantage of if you are managing a business with multiple locations or multiple businesses is the ability to do bulk business listing uploads. This is a huge timesaver for an agency like ours and for the in-house person who manages national business locations where local search is vital to search engine optimization success.

Login and start using Google LBC (Local Business Center) today!
www.google.com/lbc

Read the full Google announcement about the new LBC dashboard

Free & Fast Google Analytics iPhone app

2009-06-01T16:30:00.000-07:00

Our team launched our free Google Analytics iPhone app today. It is very basic to start but utilizing the Google Analytics API it provides fast access to your site activity within multiple accounts and profiles.

Being a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant, we frequently need to grab quick site metrics during a meeting and this iPhone app is all about giving you fast, anywhere access.

Google Analytics iPhone App Features:

App uses Google's Analytics API to retrieve your data quickly.

Date Ranges:

Yesterday
Last 7 days
Last 30 days
Custom Date Range

Analytics Reports display:

Visits
Pageviews
Pages/Visit
Bounce Rate
Average Time on Site
% New Visits

Coming very soon in next version

Top Landing Pages
Top Exit Pages
Top Keywords
Date Range Improvements so that date range is accessible from all pages and more easily changed
More to be announced...

Please share your ideas and feedback. We are excited about building this out into a fully featured app that will make all your valuable Google Analytics data quickly accessible.

Special thanks goes out to our iPhone App Developers Ryan Bertrand and Ken Colborn. Ryan did most of the development on this app. Even though there isn't much to the app at this point he put in a lot of hard work to get the foundation in place and get comfortable with the Google Analytics API so we can build it into a more robust app. Nice job, Ryan! You can check out some of his other useful and fun iPhone apps on iTunes like Fake'em Out Call, Text, & More.

Download free app now via iTunes: Free Google Analytics iPhone App

The Importance of Designing Toward Key Scenarios

2009-05-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

When someone moves to a different state, there are a number of state-owned websites a new resident may need to use. For this scenario, how does the California DMV website compare to that of the Washington DOL? The DMV leaves a lot to be desired in terms of usability, and the main culprit is the lack of content specificity.

For example, let's say a user is looking to obtain a license as a new resident of California, I would assume a fairly common task. On both sites, there are a number of different pathways a user can take, but let's look at the main navigation. For the DMV website, I would click 'Drivers License,' 'New Driver,' then 'How to apply for a driver license if you are over 18.' At this point, I'm taken to a never-ending content page, 90% of which does not apply to me a new resident. Some of the confusion can be attributed to the fact that the same content is reused for both new drivers & new residents.

On the WA State DOL page, there is a landing page designed specifically for new Washington residents. On the main navigation, I click 'Moving to WA,' then 'Get a WA License.' I'm taken to a page that's specific to my situation and contains very little extraneous information. As a user, the page title, content and headings are speaking specifically to my needs.

We often work with clients to create key scenarios and personas to help paint a more elaborate picture of the ideal user experience before designing a single pixel. If followed, these recommendations can relieve headaches especially if the efforts are applied appropriately during the development cycle:

Design towards specific key scenarios: These should be in direct alignment with the most common reasons a user would come to your site.
Build pages that have content specific to the target user type: This allows the page titles, headings and content to align with what specific users needs to know.
At first, don't worry too much about edge cases, or uncommon user goals: Design for the 80% scenarios first because these will have the most bang-for-the-buck.
Do website usability testing and be sure to recruit participants who match your target profile: Make sure you test your design assumptions with real users in a lab who actually use your site.

Have any similar experiences on government websites? Share them with us.

Web Optimization Tips and Tools from SES New York 2009

2009-04-20T12:42:00.000-07:00

It's very simple to improve the conversion of your website. First make sure your site works and fix anything that is broken. 99% of the sites we perform website evaluations on have a variety of common problems such as bad internal/external links that lead to error pages, form validation issues, functionality like forms and shopping carts that don't work reliably, and etc. Once you have properly tested your site (Google Webmaster Tools and Xenu are great tools to identify broken links) you are ready to optimize it. Now, the key to website optimization is to better understand what people are doing on your website and why they are doing it.

Free Website Optimization Tools

Being a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant and Google Website Optimizer Technology Partner we are huge fans of Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer which are free tools that help you identify weak links in your site and test changes you make to your site to ensure you are going in a positive direction. In addition to these tools, 4Q Survey is a great free tool that helps you get a better idea of why people do what they do on your site and Crazy Egg is a very inexpensive tool that gives you deeper insight into what people are or are not clicking on in the context of a specific page.

Watch our short video interview after speaking at Search Engine Strategies New York 2009 where we discuss these website optimization tools, our process for improving conversion, and a couple case studies where we have quickly and easily delivered huge conversion rate increases:

Let us know if you have any questions about our simple process for tuning your website conversion rate. Enjoy these website optimization tips and have fun with these free tools!

Susan Boyle - Made to Stick - What You & I can learn

2009-04-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

What can you and I learn from Susan Boyle (if you haven't heard of her, you're likely the only one)?

It is to craft our marketing messages (or any communication) so that they will stick in the minds of our audience.

If you are a marketer (or you are in any way responsible for creating messages for your company) you need to read Made to Stick. In it Dan & Chip Heath researched and presented what made stories and messages (both modern and ancient) stick in the minds of those who heard them.

So let's compare the principles outlined in Made to Stick with the video of Susan Boyle that (as of this writing) has been viewed 33,570,148 times (four days ago when my wife showed it to me it had been viewed 4 million times. That's viral!):

Principle 1: Simple - What could be more simple than a singing contest (we're all familiar with them now)?
Principle 2: Unexpected - Here's where the producers hit a home run. They made it appear as though we were going to witness a train wreck, but instead witnessed a virtuoso performance. Brilliant production.
Principle 3: Concrete - Susan sings beautifully and wins over the the crowd.
Principle 4: Credible - The judges, crowd, and show in general give the message its credibility. Would the message have spread if it was an audition tape with no judges or crowd?
Principle 5: Emotional - I know people who actually teared up when they watched this. A quick view of the comments show people are viewing it again and again because they are emotionally attached to Susan.
Principle 6: Stories - This is a classic Cinderella/Ugly Duckling story.

As you can see Susan Boyle (and the "Britains Got Talent" producers) hit every one of the SUCCESs Model principles and excelled in at least 3 (unexpected, emotional, and a story).

You and I will have more SUCCESs in our online marketing efforts to create messages that stick if we will follow the same model.

Apply it today and let us know how it works.

Double your Conversion Rate at EM9 Conference in SF

2009-04-16T00:03:00.000-07:00

Ready to improve your Marketing Campaign ROI by Doubling Conversion Rate?
You invest a lot of time, money and effort into your website and online marketing. Wouldn't you like to know about a simple process using free and inexpensive tools that can help you methodically boost your return on investment? Okay, I know you are thinking that this is just more hype, but it is the real deal and we have proven case studies.

The tools include Google Website Optimizer, Google Analytics, 4Q Surveys, and Crazy Egg. At the eM9 Marketing Conference in San Francisco on April 21 and 22 I will be sharing how to double your conversion rate with this proven process and basic tools that anybody can follow.

Not only will you increase your profits with little investment but the true benefit is increasing market share for long-term sustainable profitability.

We are excited to be speaking on two sessions (solo presentation at 3:00pm and the eMarketing panel at 4:30pm) at the eM9 Conference in San Francisco and we hope to see you there!

eM9 Marketing Conference
If you aren't familiar with the eM9 Marketing Conference here are more details:

The eM9-SF provides the forum for the very latest trends, best practices, processes and ideas that are transforming the future of marketing. Sessions contain new content and cutting edge actionable ideas and processes you can bring your entire team.

The eMarketing Association (eMA) is the world's largest international association of emarketing professionals. The eMA has members in over 40 countries around the world, and sponsors or manages over 30 events a year. Each conference session is 45 minutes and covers an essential aspect of emarketing. Each session is presented by a high rated speaker and industry expert. Speakers must hold titles of CEO, President or Vice President, and have experience in presenting to sophisticated marketing executives.

Having recently shared some similar marketing tactics on how to double your conversion rate on the east coast at Search Engine Strategies in New York; we look forward to sharing even more on our proven process near our office on the west coast.

Leave a comment below and let us know if you are coming to the eM9 conference!

Top 50 Google Website Optimizer Tips on What to Test

2009-03-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

Below is list of what to test (from my session on 'Radically Improving your Conversion Rate' using Google Website Optimizer at Search Engine Strategies New York 2009) in really no specific order because each site is different. If you are new to Google Website Optimizer check out our Top 7 Google Website Optimizer Tips before you start testing. Then use this list to generate ideas of what to test on your site using Google Website Optimizer.

Put the best info and calls to action Above the FOLD (avoid false bottoms that make users think there isn't any more content)
Repeat your Call to Action throughout a long page
Add a Form to the page to generate leads or even order your product
Make Calls to Action contextual and specific to content of page versus generalized calls to action
Call to Action Button Design (shape, style, size, color, white space, grouping, etc)
Customer Centric copy with benefits not just features (test using the customer focus with the We We Calculator)
Remove Clutter (Dense well organized and separated content is not clutter)
1 versus 2 versus 3 column layout
Move content (text/images/calls to action/etc) around on page

Move from Right-side to Left-side and vice-versa
Change paragraph/content order (Make sure you use the funnel style of writing for the web with most important point at top to fine points at the bottom (i.e. details)

Test Variations of Navigation and on some landing pages it might even be best to remove some or all navigation
Add categories/sub-categories to your home page (order and weight by popularity/importance)
Emphasize Important Content (Bold, Larger/Colored Font, etc)
Large Headlines with clear user benefits

'Top 5 Reasons to stop ____'
'Why you need ___'
'3 Things you may not know that could kill you'

Make your content scannable
Add Sense of Urgency messaging like 'Sale Ends Today' or 'Only 5 Left'
Readability! Different Fonts (Sizes, Colors/Contrast, Styles)
Tagline/USP in header that provides distinct positioning/differentiation
Increase body copy (just enough) to overcome all common objections

Rearrange order that you address objections
Answer who, what, when, where, why and how

Summarize/bulletize benefits at bottom of page (Don't forget that most important point goes at the top of the page)
Add Testimonials (with photo, name, company, logo, title)
Add Media Logos (if featured in news) or other third party logos that will add credibility
Larger/Wider Search Box
Remove Instructions since it should be easy to use and not require any explanation (of course you may need to improve your page first)
Proximity of content elements
Add vertical/horizontal space
Move closer or farther away from certain content on the page to see if proximity helps or hurts
Phone Numbers - where they are placed, how obvious, and know that different phone numbers may actually impact conversion
Faster loading pages (Optimized Images, etc) as load time can be a big impact
What is clickable - users expect almost everything to be clickable (use free tool www.CrazyEgg.com to see where your users are clicking)
Images

Show your product/service in use to demonstrate benefits and so user can better imagine what it would be like to own it and how would improve their life
Show happy customers (with product if applicable or after using product, etc)
More than one image (especially different views from side, back, top, bottom)
Tell a story with product/service images
Larger versus smaller versus no images (no images has surprised many as the best result in some cases)
Add Ability to Zoom (and even offer quick zoom icons of key points in image)
Add Captions under your image
Add Call-outs to draw attention to parts of a photo/image and add info to point out most important aspects

Offer other ways to order by phone and fax (in cart)
Removal or de-emphasis of coupon/promo field in cart/checkout
Ajax to hide optional form elements unless needed
Remove unnecessary fields or change order of fields
Visually Group Related Fields (especially in larger forms)
# of checkout steps (1 vs 2 vs 3 vs 4)
Repeat main offer and benefits in cart
Upsell on add to cart action or in cart
Add Guarantees, Return Policies, Privacy Protection (especially within close proximity of request for personal email/info)
Credit Card and other payment logos when asking for payment info
Add Reassurance Logos like Verisign, BBB online, McAfee Secure, Trust, and etc.
Increase/Decrease Prices (your pricing can actually cause concern by being lower than someone expects especially compared to your competitors)

Odd Pricing ending in 9's and 7's (interesting forum discussion on pricing)
Different Offers
Free Shipping
Save 20%
Buy 1, Get 1 Free
Buy now, pay later
Pay in installments
Free trial
Longer/shorter commitment

Add Reviews
More/less Product Copy
Tabbed content versus long page of content
In Stock Messaging (above or below add to cart)
Product Detail Headings (instead of 'related items' try 'you might also be interested in' especially if the items really aren't related accessories for the product)
Rich media like Video and Flash Animation
Click to Call, Live Chat, and other widgets
Ability to sort, filter, rank, and search product category and sub-categories

More Google Website Optimizer Resources you might enjoy:

Enjoy and feel free to ask any questions or add new ideas of things to test in the comments.

KISSmetrics list of Google Website Optimizer resources

2009-03-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

The KISSmetrics blog recently posted 35 Resources for Getting the Most out of Google Website Optimizer.

We are of course excited that they included six resources that we created or were involved in:

We highly recommend that you check out the rest of the resources KISSmetrics has listed. We use many of them often.

Now go get testing!

Instant Segments Using Google Analytics Advanced Segments

2009-02-27T07:46:00.000-08:00

In contrast to filters and multiple profiles, which also allow you to segment your analytics, advanced segments are instantaneous and can often accomplish much of the more basic filters that you'd want to create. The segments you create are available in all reporting areas of Google Analytics.

Let's say that you want to only view visits from the United States. At the top right of your dashboard, click the dropdown next to 'Advanced Segments' and then click on 'Create a new advanced segment.' From there, it's easy; just create a new custom segment with a dimension of 'Country/Territory' that matches 'United States.' You can click the 'Test Segment' to determine if it is properly working. Don't forget to name your segment so that you can refer to it later.

To apply this segment, at the top right of each report, just click the drop down next to 'Advanced Segments' and apply your new 'USA Only' segment. You'll be able to apply this segment to ecommerce, visitor data, goals, traffic sources, and much more. This is a quick, fast, and effective segmentation that can really pay off in helping you understand how your USA visitors interact with your site. You could also create a non-USA segment by creating a new segment with a 'Country/Territory' that 'Does not match exactly' the value of 'United States'.

Below is an example of a graph showing all visits compared to USA-Only visitors.

If you use the _setVar() function, those values get placed into the Visitors > User Defined Value dimension. You can use this value to quickly create a segment. Let's say you only want to see how logged in members behave on your site. Just use the pageTracker._setVar('Member'); in your javascript on the login success page and then setup your segment as pictured below.

Another informative segment idea is to create a filter called 'High Engagement Visitor'. Use the Visitors > Page Depth with a condition of 'Greater than' and a value of 3 or whatever you determine a high engagement visitor is. Now you have instant statistics on how this select group of users behave.

The possibilities are endless. Keep in mind that you can also use metrics such as goals and ecommerce data to create more detailed segments. Blend the dimensions and the metrics and you can come up with some very helpful segments.

The advantage of using these advanced segments is that you don't have to wait for a custom filter to kick in and you don't need to create a new profile (something you should definitely do if you are creating a custom filter - so that you don't mess up your main profile).

The custom segments you create are tied to your analytics login and you can apply them to any account or profile. Keep in mind that any segment that you create is not going to be visible by a user with a different login (even though they can view the same profile/account). This is because the segment is tied to your login and not to accounts/profiles.

If you have other Google Analytics advanced segment ideas to share that may benefit our readers, please feel free to leave a comment.

Google Analytics Profiles and Filters - So Much Power!

2009-02-26T10:38:00.000-08:00

Google Analytics Profiles and Filters allow you to have so much more power and control over your analytics data. In fact, they allow you to do almost anything expensive web analytics packages can do.

Why Use Google Filters and Profiles?
Most importantly, filters allow you to make analytics data more meaningful by segmenting and cleaning the data to provide distinct, customized views of your data for different purposes and audiences. Profiles allow you to create separate views of your analytics data and they are key to using filters because you don't ever want to add filters to your primary account profile. A word of caution, never add a filter to your primary profile as you must protect the integrity of this data and when setting up advanced filters it is easy to make a mistake that can severely damage your analytics data.

Basic Google Analytics Filters
You can create basic filters to exclude people (based on IP address, domain name and etc) from your company or your web agencies to avoid skewing your analytics reports. This is a filter that everyone should already have setup and in use. If you don't have this setup this is where you need to start and you need to get this setup right away. Other basic filters give you the ability to separately track site subdomains, include only traffic from a specific geography, and etc. For example, we recently are working with a client that approaches marketing to USA and International (outside the USA) audiences separately and even has different agencies

Advanced Google Analytics Filters
More advanced filters can allow you to track your search engine rankings, see what adwords searchers really typed, see only organic traffic from Google, see only Google Image Search traffic, and much more. As we mentioned above, the power and potential of filters and profiles is really only limited by your imagination. Of course, many of us don't have the time to play around and experiment so we highly recommend leveraging off the great ideas and examples that others in the industry are readily making available.

Great Resources on Google Analytics Filters and Profiles

List of All Google Analytics Filter Fields and their purpose.
Google Analytics Blog: How to create a custom filter
LinkLove: Filters in Google Analytics (explains how to see what adwords searchers typed)
ROI Revolution: Filtering Your Data (info on setting up the most important basic filter)
Yoast: Track SEO Rankings with Google Analytics
Yoast: New SEO Reports for Google Analytics
Closed Loop Marketing: Advanced Google Analytics Profiles and Filters - Part 1
Closed Loop Marketing: Advanced Google Analytics Profiles and Filters - Part 2

WARNING: Before you go crazy with adding filters always make sure that you leave your original profile untouched as a raw data profile with no filters applied. This is critical to maintain and protect the integrity of your analytics data because once you have filtered data out it is gone forever. New profiles are quick and easy to create. At the bottom of your account screen (the page that lists your website profiles) you will see an "Add Website Profile>>" link and to the right of it you will see the "Filter Manager>>" link where you manage your filters (screenshot provided below).

As always please leave your comments and we will be happy to answer your questions. Have a great day!

Easier Tracking of iPhone Analytics

2009-02-26T08:04:00.000-08:00

An update to Google Analytics Advanced Segmentation feature allows you to quickly and easily see what your iPhone users are doing on your site. The iPhone has brought phone based web browsing to a new level making it simpler to view websites on their phones. As more and more smartphones make it easier to browse websites it will be important to see how these visitors use your site.

To see the iPhone statistics simply click on the Click the "Advanced Segments" drop down menu at the top-right of any report,select "Visits from iPhone", and unclick "All Visits". Now you are ready to see what you iPhone visitors are doing.

"If you use AdWords, you can now use Analytics to better analyze the performance of any campaigns that use our new iPhone and high-end mobile targeting feature," explains Chrix Finne, Google Mobile Ads Team.

"We've added the iPhone segment to get you started, but you can always create a custom Advanced Segment to compare or combine iPhone visits with other mobile operating systems; for instance, if you're targeting ads in AdWords to iPhone & high end mobile devices (which currently includes Android devices), you can create a new segment for iPhone & Android."

You can read more at The Official Google Analytics Blog.

Blast AM at SES Chicago: Lesson in Google Website Optimizer

2009-01-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

More WebProNews Videos

Google Website Optimizer is a great tool, but just like any other tool, it too has to be used correctly in order for it to work correctly. Kayden Kelly of Blast Advanced Media is an evangelist for Google Website Optimizer and believes the tool takes analytics to a whole new level that gets actionable data for clients. He lists five tips for getting started and using the tool.

The first tip is: keep it simple. Kayden suggests testing major page changes but with few variations. Just as Google says on their Website Optimizer Helpful Hints page, the more complex tests take a lot longer to get usable feedback.

Read the full post at Web Pro News

Google Website Optimizer A/B Test Tutorial for Content Page

2009-01-10T07:50:00.000-08:00

In this post we demonstrate how to setup a Google Website Optimizer A/B test using the Motivity Ecommerce/CMS Platform.

The Motivity platform includes a Google Website Optimizer module that allows you to test your website content and ecommerce pages. In order to test pages you normally need to insert snippets of JavaScript code provided by Google into your pages which most content management and ecommerce systems currently don't support. But this CMS platform does this automatically on every page and on many of the standard content areas of your site. In addition, you can use the button in any of the WYSIWYG site editors to add the Google Website Optimizer tags in order to make additional sections of the page testable.

Watch the Google Website Optimizer A/B Test setup using the Motivity platform:

Another great feature is that you can manage all of your A/B and Multivariate tests from a centralized location and see which pages are being tested in each of your tests.

Request more information by calling 1(888) 252-7866 or request a demo at http://www.motivityweb.com/

Google Website Optimizer Multivariate Test Tutorial for Ecommerce Product Page

2009-01-10T07:43:00.000-08:00

In this post we demonstrate how to setup a Google Website Optimizer Multivariate test on an Ecommerce Product Page using the Motivity Ecommerce/CMS Platform.

The Motivity platform includes a Google Website Optimizer module that allows you to test your website content and ecommerce pages. In order to test pages you normally need to insert snippets of JavaScript code provided by Google into your pages which most content management and ecommerce systems currently don't support. But this CMS platform does this automatically on every page and on many of the standard content areas of your site. In addition, you can use the button in any of the WYSIWYG site editors to add the Google Website Optimizer tags in order to make additional sections of the page testable. Another great feature is that you can manage all of your A/B and Multivariate tests from a centralized location and see which pages are being tested in each of your tests.

Watch the Google Website Optimizer Multivariate Test setup using the Motivity platform:

Request more information by calling 1(888) 252-7866 or request a demo at www.MotivityWeb.com

Google Website Optimizer Multivariate Test Tutorial for Ecommerce Category Page

2009-01-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

In this post we demonstrate how to setup a Google Website Optimizer Multivariate test on an Ecommerce Category Page using the Motivity Ecommerce/CMS Platform.

The Motivity platform includes a Google Website Optimizer module that allows you to test your website content and ecommerce pages. In order to test pages you normally need to insert snippets of JavaScript code provided by Google into your pages which most content management and ecommerce systems currently don't support. But this CMS platform does this automatically on every page and on many of the standard content areas of your site. In addition, you can use the button in any of the WYSIWYG site editors to add the Google Website Optimizer tags in order to make additional sections of the page testable. Another great feature is that you can manage all of your A/B and Multivariate tests from a centralized location and see which pages are being tested in each of your tests.

Watch this Google Website Optimizer Multivariate Test setup of an Ecommerce Category Page using the Motivity platform:

Request more information by calling 1(888) 252-7866 or request a demo at www.MotivityWeb.com

Website Optimizer Tips for Tracking Complex Conversions

2008-12-18T16:02:00.000-08:00

You don't need to have a separate page to track Website Optimizer conversions

We've learned that many people struggle with how to setup conversion tracking in Google Website Optimizer for videos, product demos, ajax forms, multiple forms on a page, or other pages that either have multiple desired actions or don't have any clear actions. We've provided three solutions for tracking these complex conversions using GWO's Javascript code to either track the time on page, link clicks, or form submissions as a conversion.

Conversion Tracking for Videos & Demos

Want to know how well your videos or product demos are working? You can test the effectiveness of one video style versus another style of video using the time on page as a conversion goal. For example, if the two videos you are testing are say 2 minutes long you can set the conversion to be counted when they reach the full 2 minutes. Or maybe count a conversion at the point where the meat of the video wraps up (say at 75% of the way through the video at the 1 minute and 30 second mark). This type of conversion tracking is a great way to be able to utilize Google Website Optimizer to determine which video your users respond better to.

Google Website Optimizer Javascript Code for tracking time on page
To use this method you will need to add the code below, in place of the Conversion code provided in the Website Optimizer tool. This new code should be pasted into the page after your tracking script, and immediately before the </body> closing tag. You'll need to update the _uacct and urchinTracker variables with your own account numbers (they'll be the same numbers that appear in your tracking script on the same page).

<script> if(typeof(urchinTracker)!='function')document.write('<sc'+'ript src="'+ 'http'+(document.location.protocol=='https:'?'s://ssl':'://www')+ '.google-analytics.com/urchin.js'+'"></sc'+'ript>') </script>

<script> setTimeout('_uacct = "UA-xxxxxx-x";urchinTracker("/xxxxxxxxx/goal");', 60000); </script>
To modify the amount of time that should elapse before a conversion is counted, change the 60000 figure above. This figure represent milliseconds, so 60000 equals 60 seconds.

Google Website Optimizer Conversion Tracking for Link Clicks

If you don't have one specific conversion page because more than one link destination page (i.e. action) from a page can count as a conversion than this is a great technique to use.

Code for Tracking Links as a Conversion
First, put this code below right after the <body> tag:

<script> if(typeof(urchinTracker)!='function')document.write('<sc'+'ript src="'+'http'+document.location.protocol=='')">https:'?'s://ssl':'://www')+'.google-analytics.com/urchin.js'+'">')  </script>

Next, put this code on every link you want to track. Your link would look like this:

<a href=http://www.yahoo.com/” onclick="return ConversionCount();">You text link</a>

Google Website Optimizer Conversion Tracking for Ajax Forms

If you don't have one separate conversion page due to the use of Ajax forms that submit to the same page or have multiple forms that submit to multiple destinations you can use this technique to track the specific forms actions that you want to count as a conversion.

Javascript Code to track a form that submits to the same page like an ajax form use this code on the onsubmit:

<form action="/cart.html" method="post" onsubmit="return ConversionCount()">

Questions?
Leave a comment here or ask a question on our Google Website Optimizer Group on LinkedIn

Google Website Optimizer Test: We Didn't Implement the Winner

2008-12-14T22:39:00.000-08:00

Google Website Optimizer Multichannel Ecommerce Case Study

Why was this Website Optimizer test so important?
This test makes a great case study for the value of follow up tests, how strong conversion rates can still be improved substantially, and most importantly provides a critical lesson in why the Google Website Optimizer results cannot be taken at face value. You must truly understand a website's underlying business goals and sometimes make small compromises on the volume of leads in turn for higher quality leads.

Let's start from the beginning...
We identified several deviations from lead generation best practices on the AudioEditions.com 'Request a Catalog' page that we believe were adversely impacting the conversion rate. Thus we ran a test to see if taking out the left and right side columns (most importantly removing the call to action for "Request a Free Catalog" since the user is already on the page to do this), synced up the headline with the offer to reinforce the "Free" expectation, adding a larger cover image (to set clearer expectations of what they are requesting), and simplified the form fields down to the minimum info needed for the catalog request (especially since some of the fields were difficult to understand).

Our Experiment Hypothesis
You must always start any test out with a hypothesis. The hypothesis process is key in determining whether or not this is a test that should even be run. In this case study, our hypothesis was that we could gain at least a 25% increase in conversion with the new variation that will remove the apparent obstacles.

Website Optimizer Test #1

In our first test we ran a simple A/B test. Here is the original page (A)

URL: http://www.audioeditions.com/audio-books-catalog.cfm

Here is the revised page variation (B)

URL: http://www.audioeditions.com/audio-books-catalog-v1.cfm

Which version of this page won; A or B?

Here is the Google Website Optimizer Report Screen

Valid Concerns from the Client
While this first 'Request a Catalog' test demonstrated a 67.4% increase in conversion we received valid concerns from the client that the improvement was likely just related to the layout/content changes and not the elimination or modification of form fields.

Follow Up Website Optimizer Test #2

So we ran a follow up test to validate that the conversion increase was not just a result of the design, layout and headline changes but also substantially impacted by the form field changes. This way the client could properly gauge the business value of adding each critical form field and decide whether or not the conversion impact was worth it.

Tip: Google Website Optimizer provides a link on your completed tests for easily running a follow up test as in this example. If we had stopped with the first test and implemented the improved page variation you can see below the important lessons that would have been missed.

Here is the follow up test using the original (A) against 3 (B) page variations

URL: http://www.audioeditions.com/audio-books-catalog.cfm

Here are the three (B) page variations

URL: http://www.audioeditions.com/audio-books-catalog-v1.cfm

URL: http://www.audioeditions.com/audio-books-catalog-v2.cfm

URL: http://www.audioeditions.com/audio-books-catalog-v3.cfm

Which version of the page won; A, B1, B2, or B3?

Again the original (B) page variation won. Here is the Google Website Optimizer Report Screen showing the dramatic differences that the form fields made:

Why didn't we implement the winner?

After discussing the follow up tests with the client it became clear that even though variation B1 had the most dramatic 41.7% improvement; the variation B3 with a 32.4% improvement was the best choice since it gave the client much more (customer data) value and the ability to digitally deliver marketing in the future (which is key). The final conversion rates were not that different and understanding the client's underlying business goals it was the best decision to make a small compromise in the volume of leads for the higher quality of leads.

Just because you have a good conversion rate doesn't mean it can't be better!

The initial form conversion rate was 22.1% and the final conversion rate was 32.5%. Many people may think that such high conversion rates aren't worth bothering with but clearly we demonstrated that there was still considerable room for improvement. High value pages on a site should always be the focus of your efforts and continuously analyzed for further testing and improvement.

Top 7 Google Website Optimizer Tips

2008-12-13T06:59:00.000-08:00

Here are our top 7 tips for Google Website Optimizer when you are getting started and looking for fast, actionable feedback to improve your website conversion rates.

Keep it Simple
Start with A/B Testing and test major page changes with fewer variations. Google offers some sophisticated functionality for performing multivariate tests but remember that these complex tests take much longer to get actionable feedback since much higher traffic and ultimately conversions are necessary.
Conversion within 1-click
An important lesson we have learned is to use a conversion step within one click of the page you are testing because too many variables can come into play that may drastically impact your testing results when using a conversion step that is multiple steps away. For example, if you are testing the conversion of product detail page changes you likely want to use the cart page as the conversion step (1 step away) versus the order confirmation page which may be 3 or more steps away. When using the order confirmation page your test results will likely be skewed by the performance of your cart and checkout process, especially if you are running a simultaneous test on one of these other steps.
Don't Run Overlapping Tests
Be very careful not to run tests that may impact or be impacted by other tests. For example, avoid testing simultaneous tests in the checkout process.
Test Pages with Most Potential Impact
Use Google Analytics and user feedback mechanisms like 4Q surveys, Usability tests to identify areas on your site that will bring the most improvement to your conversion rates. Here are some tips on the common pages to prioritize in your testing efforts:
- Top of Sales Funnel
(i.e. Home, Category & Product Detail pages)
- Higher Traffic
(i.e. Top Landing/Entry pages, Top Exit pages & Highest Bounce Rate pages)
- Key Process Step
(i.e. Cart, Checkout, Account Registration, & Lead Generation Forms)
(hint: if you have a required registration step REMOVE it)
Disable Poor Performing Variations
Google Website Optimizer reports will give you visual feedback on your tests. When a test is a success the report will highlight the test variation in green, if it is a failure it will turn red, and when the variation is in progress and not a winner or loser it will be yellow. For example, if you are running your control page (A) against say 3 variation pages (B1, B2, B3) and you see that 1-2 of your variations (B2 & B3) turn red and are performing significantly worse than your control (A) and variation (B1) we recommend disabling (B2 & B3) to accelerate the test to more quickly get the actionable input you are looking for.
Failed Tests are Successes
Don't be too frustrated when your new page variations fail. Remember that you have successfully prevented damaging your website conversion rate. All tests are a success when you remember this important point.
Start with Best Practices (and then test them!)
To improve the likelihood that your tests will be a success, learn from other case studies and proven best practices to create new page testing variations. BUT remember that they are not steadfast rules and you must always Test! What works for Apple, Amazon, or a respected competitor in your industry might work for them but it doesn't guarantee that it will work for you. Just because you see a certain design, layout, or feature on another site doesn't mean that is working or that it has been tested successfully.

Have another Google Website Optimizer tip? Leave a comment...

SES Chicago & Snow!

2008-12-05T09:34:00.000-08:00

Here at Blast we're all very excited that Kayden is moderating and presenting a session at Search Engine Strategies Chicago next week. We're also very excited that we're not going with him. At least those of us who are native Californians and aren't quite ready for below freezing weather & snow. Yes, we're wimpy Californians.

In all honesty, we are excited that Kayden will be presenting at SES because he's presenting a small slice of the recent results we've helped produce for our clients. We have seen great results by combining our expertise with tools like Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer and to have the opportunity to share some of these tactics and results is great.

For more information on these tactics, contact us today.

To follow Kayden at SES Chicago, follow him on Twitter.

AT&T Doesn't Want You to See Special Offers

2008-11-20T06:39:00.000-08:00

After taking about 20 steps, I couldn't get to the special offers in AT&T's email! Apparently, AT&T doesn't really want you to get your free ringtone or help the environment. Read the quick case study below...

AT&T's Mistake #1: Hiding the offer in the email preview

Due to the use of only images in AT&T's email I was not aware of what their special offers were. Normally, I would have just deleted the email but I have been witness to AT&T's blunders before so I decided to go further.

Solution: Use Actual Text for the Promo Content and use background images for the visual interest so the user can instantly see the compelling content in the email without downloading the images.

After you decide to download the images this is what the email looks like (below). The email now gets me interested in getting a free ringtone or helping to save the planet by choosing to go paperless. Cool! So I click the link for the free ringtone and this is where it gets interesting!

AT&T's Mistake #2: Landing Page Doesn't Deliver on Expectations

When you click the link the landing page that comes up on the site is a plain registration page that has no visual graphics or marketing messaging from the email in the content of the page. This is a complete disconnect and leaves users wondering if they are at the right place and less likely to complete the desired action.

Solution: The landing page below should have a visual connection with the email (i.e. use the musical note image and include orange/blue colors) and at a minimum maintain the same messaging such as "Register to Get a Free Ringtone."

AT&T's Mistake #3: Know your audience

The first thing is AT&T should know I am already a registered user before they send me an offer to encourage me to register.

Solution: First send me an appropriate offer. Second, when I click the offer and am already registered they should detect that and not send me to the registration screen (above) or at least provide me the option to login. Once I do follow their path to get passed the register/login screen AT&T should send me to the offer they originally presented me in the email which they didn't.

Okay, Don't Give Up Now!

I was now on a mission to get to this offer and I tried all sorts of tactics to get around this such as making sure I was logged in before I clicked the offer. Here is a partial screen capture showing that I am in fact logged in before I got the registration message in the next step.
I was stopped again, as I still got the same registration screen above.

In yet another attempt, I went ahead and entered my phone number as requested on the registration screen and got this message saying that I already registered.

So to play along with AT&T I went ahead and clicked the 'myWireless Account' link and re-logged in. Yeah, I finally got passed the login/register step but I was sent me to the general account area with no information about the free ringtone or how to go paperless. Aaarrrggghhh! This is one of the worst online experiences I have had in a long time.

Solution: I never should have had to go through this step as the option to login or to automatically detect that I was already logged in should have allowed me to bypass this step. However, they actually logged me out!! Then once I successfully went through AT&T's hoops I obviously should have been sent to the offer they promised me.

Mercy!! I give up.

If anyone ever gets to the elusive offer described in the email please leave a comment on this post and let me know how your experience was.

Let this be a good lesson in properly designing your emails, simply delivering what you promised to the user on the landing page, knowing your audience, and above all PROPERLY TEST & ANALYZE your marketing and web site.

Free Tools to Optimize your Website and Avoid Such Mistakes

We use free tools like Google Website Optimizer and Google Analytics to get the data of WHAT people are actually doing on your site and 4Q iPerceptions Surveys to find out the WHY of what they are doing on your website.

Google Releases New Gmail Themes!

2008-11-19T16:45:00.000-08:00

My inner designer would like to take a quick break from strictly SEO-related Google tools to bring you this announcement:

Google has spiced up our Gmail inboxes with new visually-appealing (not to mention, keenly stylish) themes! If you're tired of staring at the same old inbox everyday, you can now choose to spruce up your junk mail folder with ninjas, a Japanese tea party, or set it to resemble a charming, slightly unkempt writing desk!

You'll find these themes by signing in to your Gmail account, clicking on the "Settings" link in the upper right-hand corner, then selecting the "Themes" tab.

Voila, instant mailbox makeover!

Enjoy. :)

Google's Search-based Keyword Tool

2008-11-19T09:08:00.000-08:00

Via Search Engine Land, Google released a new keyword tool last night named the Search-Based Keyword Tool. This new, nifty tool from Google helps you to identify potentially valuable keywords that you may be missing from your website and AdWords campaigns based on search query data from your site's content.

From the horse's mouth:
The Search-based Keyword Tool generates keyword and landing page ideas highly relevant and specific to your website. In doing so, the tool helps you identify additional advertising opportunities that aren't currently being used in your AdWords ad campaigns.

Based on your URLs, the Search-based Keyword Tool displays a list of relevant user queries that have occurred on Google.com (and on other Google search properties, such as google.co.uk) with some frequency over the past year; these suggestions can be found under the Keywords tab, in the New keywords related to (site) section. In the Keywords related to your search section, you can see a broad list of keyword ideas that are also relevant, but aren't necessarily based on your site.

This is an especially useful tool for those of us who are running eCommerce-based websites, as it can aid you in figuring out popular items that you may have not previously thought to advertise for on your site, or on your valuable AdWords campaigns.

Great timing, considering the upcoming holiday season!