Webtrends Optimization

Note: This is the second post of a 3 part series, each focusing on one type of test result that is tough to deal with. Read the first article on highly mixed data.

As an optimization analyst, this is probably the hardest result to bring to a client. Oddly enough, it actually is favorable to part 1’s highly mixed data and part 3. I am talking about optimization that determines that the original page is better than the tested variations.

How does this happen?
Sometimes a page just gets it right. How would you change Google? I looked for a few variations and came across one by Andy Rutledge and another by Valacar. They both are beautiful designs and a lot of thought were put into them, but at the same time, would they really make Google more profitable? It’s definitely a tough sell and there is a big challenge in improving this type of page.

The goal is for users to search. Yes, they want users to click on ads eventually, but there’s not a whole lot they can do for ad clicks on the homepage. The best they can do is get users to search as fast as possible. So would a redesign make it more usable and readable? Maybe. To a level that it would increase their revenues? That’s tough to say.

The more simple the goals of the page, the less information and messaging the users needs, the more likely that the page will be difficult to optimize.

What can you do to prevent this?
Be careful when choosing a page to test. Find a page where the user will take some time to look at what is going on. This is another reason why most landing pages are great places to optimize, because users naturally need to be introduced to the product and sold on why to convert.

The logical thing to do would be to simply refrain from testing pages that seem to be performing well, but this is rarely a good rule. Unless it is performing well because of a lot of testing, then you don’t really know if a page is performing well or not (see my post on conversion rates.) Testing always brings surprises and personal judgment is no replacement for a test; a good looking page can perform poorly and a page with subpar creative can perform great.

What can you do if this happens?

Because of the above reasons, you may actually plan for this scenario to occur. Many people believe redesigning an old page will provide improvement, but what if it is old and performing well? In that case, you may plan to try to improve but not expect to beat the old version.

In any case, if your original page wins, then you have confirmation of your page’s success. It is unlikely that all possible improvements were tested in one test run though, so it may take a few more runs to really confirm its solidarity, but the page has won against the initial best ideas and that is an achievement.

This lesson tells you that you can move on and that is progress in itself.

Moving forward, I would try drastically different approaches, either in layout or design and testing around offers. Otherwise, I would apply the successful original page to tests for other areas of your site.

I have to be honest when I say that this rarely ever happens. Almost every page has room for improvement at every step of the conversion funnel.

Whew, I will try to get the third and toughest optimization result next week.

CC photo credit: philosophygeek

Ready for the holiday season? My boss, Frans Keylard (Director of Optimization), wrote up a 3 pager on “5 short tips to maximize your holiday campaign” (download PDF). I summarized it in my own words below, but check the PDF for more detail on how to get your conversions up during the holidays or any season!

Monthly sales increase as much as 20% for many online retailers in December and so having a good site now is more important than any other time. Optimization can drive up your sales beyond the seasonal increase in the short term and, in the long term, helps to add even more lifetime customers to your business. With that in mind, here’s 5 short tips to ramp up your site.

1. Seasons Matter: Change your site to match the season, we call it “seasonal-tuning.” Don’t let your site look stale; you don’t want Halloween colors and images for Christmas time. Matching what your customers are actively seeking will really drive your campaigns to success. This may not always work though, so make sure to test what has worked previously against new seasonal images. Lastly, even seasonal images need testing, so try different messaging in each, e.g. product shots, giving the product to another, and people using the product.
2. Know your existing customers: Reach out to existing customers, they are the most qualified audience and you should know them better than anyone else. Create offers that have a lot of perceived value to them. Also, use offers for people who don’t follow through the whole purchase process and try to pull them back in. They are interested but just need a reason to bite. Remember to know both what customers buy and why too. If you’re best selling chairs are shown in an office setting, when your customers are really home business users, then you might lose conversions. Use a home office image instead and get more relevancy to your items.
3. Find a new audience: Seasonality doesn’t just go for your web pages, apply them to your PPC text and banners ads and you’ll get new visitors quickly. Think holidays, turkeys, gift-giving, family, anything that resonates with your audience and your products. Include some seasonal offers for good measure too. You can do SEO around these words too, but that takes future planning. A good way to setup seasonal SEO for next year is by looking at what PPC and SEO worked this year, so make sure you don’t lose that valuable information.
4. Offers over branding: Don’t get too caught up in branding, just sell the product and offer. People are under pressure to buy nowand if your focus isn’t on helping them to do that, they’ll find someone else. You can build your brand later and have a reason to if they bought from you!
5. Build seasonal landing pages and optimize them with multivariate testing: Building a seasonal landing page is easy to do and optimizing that page is a must during seasonal periods. We optimized an online recipe search over the summer and found the best summer imagery, but once winter came around we changed the type of food and got a 30% sustained lift over the best performing summer image.

Stores change their decorations every season, so make sure to do that with your online store front. Give people a reason to stay at your site, even if you think it is small, it could have a huge impact. Finally, never forget to test and tune your changes every season, every year. Good luck!