Web optimization

1. WEB OPTIMIZATION
A/B AND MVT TESTS
June 2013

2. LEAD LIFECYCLE
A/B + MVT

3. METHODS CURRENTLY USED FOR IMPROVING
CONVERSION RATES

4. A/B VERSUS MVT
A/B
Radically different designs
• Designs don’t need common
elements
• Templates can be structured in
completely distinct ways
• Content doesn’t need to be
shared
Focus on:
• Key messages
• Content structure
MVT
Primarily used to test different
treatments of elements:
• Layout tweaks & positioning of
elements
• Text amends
• Buttons - size, colour, style,
labels & icons
• Removal of particular elements
Focus on:
• Optimizing what is already
working for you

5. HOW MOST PEOPLE A/B TEST
Buttons: Colors, shape, fonts…
Layouts
Photos

6. … AND CONVERSIONS WENT UP BY
4%!
Can you do any better?

7. ALTERNATIVE FOR BIG WINS
Testing random elements is very inefficient.
We won’t find the big wins this way.
Red vs Green buttons doesn’t help us understand our customers.
WE FIRST NEED QUALITATIVE DATA,
AND USE OTHER SOURCES OF DATA TO GET A
BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT OUR
CUSTOMERS WANT
WE’LL FOCUS ON THE RIGHT TESTS
AND INCREASE OUR CONVERSIONS
A LOT FASTER

8. TESTING PROCESS
1. GET QUALITATIVE INSIGHTS
2. PREDICT HOW TO IMPROVE
3. CONFIRM PREDICTION WITH A/B
AND MVT TESTS

9. WHERE IS THE QUALITATIVE DATA?
1. Surveys (Survey software + 1 question surveys)
2. Feedback (Email, Customer Service, Call Center Sales Team...)
3. Reach out (Get customers on the phone)
4. Web Analytics (GA) or other Web Analytics Software
5. Usability Tests (recorded sessions, Craigslist users+Amazon’s
Mechanical Turk+UserTesting.com)
6. Data Warehouse

10. WHAT CAN BE TESTED?
• Does having a special price for upgraders yield higher overall sales than
a flat pricing model?
• Does Geo-Targeted pages convert at a higher rate?
• What is the optimal placement and copy for CTAs
• How many pages in the buy-flow is optimal?
• How effective and efficient is proactive chat in boosting overall
conversions
• How many CTAs and / or featured offerings are optimal on the home
page?
• Are bullet points or prose styles are more effective on landing page?
• Do promos perform better as %s or as $s off?
• Does a certain messaging approach consistently outperform another
regardless of specifics? ...

11. FUNDAMENTALS
1. Landing Pages ≠ Websites but might get more complex
2. Stop sending traffic to Home Pages
3. Landing pages are campaign source specific
4. Landing pages are campaign specific (keyword-targeted landing
pages)
5. Landing pages need to be constantly updated (seasonality,
design trends, offers…)
6. Optimization for Mobile landing pages
7. Localization (Geo-targeted landing pages)
8. Traffic Segmentation

12. PRIORITIZATION

13. PLANNING

14. EFFICIENT LANDING PAGES = MAJOR PPC
SAVINGS
Google also integrate best practices for landing pages into the “quality score” formula:
- The historical CTR of the keyword and the matched ad on Google
- Your account history, measured by the CTR of all the ads and keywords in your account
- The historical CTR of the display URLs in the ad group
- The quality of your landing page
- The relevance of the keyword to the ads in its ad group
- The relevance of the keyword and the matched ad to the search query
- Your account's performance in the geographical region where the ad will be shown
GOOGLE Guidelines:
1/ Relevance and original content:
- Users should be able to easily find what your ad promises.
- Link to the page that provides the most useful information about the product/service. For
instance, direct users to the page where they can buy the advertised product, rather than to
a page with a description of several products (or home page).
- Feature unique content that cannot be found on another site
- Provide substantial information

15. EFFICIENT LANDING PAGES = MAJOR PPC
SAVINGS
2/ Transparency:
- Business info (About Us, Privacy Policy, Newsletter Opt Out, Registration explanation)
- Honor the deals and offers you promote in your ad
- Deliver products and services as promised (clearly mention up/X sales)
- Avoid altering users' browser settings (i.e back button or browser window size)
3/ Navigability:
- Provide a short and easy path for users to purchase the product or offer in your ad.
- Avoid excessive use of pop-ups, pop-unders, and other blocking elements
- Make sure that your landing page loads quickly (Keynote).

16. LANDING PAGE OPTIMIZATION FORMULA
C = 4M + 3V + 2(I-F) – 2A
C = PROBABILITY OF CONVERSION
M = MOTIVATION OF USER
V = CLARITY OF THE VALUE PROPOSITION
I = INCENTIVE TO TAKE ACTION
F = FRICTION ELEMENTS OF PROCESS
A = ANXIETY ABOUT ENTERING
INFORMATION

17. CAPTOLOGY
Urgency
Value
Credibility
Trust
Limited time offers
Countdowns
Limited Quantities
Free Content
Discount/Savings
Free Consultation
Free Trials
Testimonials
Social Proof
Awards…
Design
Media Logo
Verification
Memberships

18. BEST PRACTICES
1. Nothing is sacred. Questions all assumptions
2. Less is more, reduce choices
3. Words matter. Focus on your calls-to-action
4. Define quantifiable success metrics
5. Some experiments must fail in order for you to learn from them

19. TOOLS
Things to Consider:
- Conversion data is a must
- Developer time
- Test on two different pages (real regular expressions)
- Event-based activation (wordpress, copy/paste)
- Wysiwyg Editor
- 1 JS script

20. NEW DELIVERY PROCESS

21. RESOURCES
TESTING TASK FORCE
(TECHNICAL, QA, ANALYTICS)
POWER USERS
(CREATIVE, PRODUCTION)
DRIVERS
(STRATEGY, ANALYTICS):
MARKETING TEAM + SENIOR ANALYST
PHASE 1: PILOT
PHASE 2: TEST LEAD

22. PRE-REQUIREMENTS
CONVERSION DATA
TESTING PLAN
TRAINING SESSIONS
TESTING IDEA CONTESTS
COMMUNICATION PLAN
AGILE METHODOLOGY (15MN STANDUPS)
PROCESS ALIGNED WITH OTHER BUSINESS UNITS
AND GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY