This document outlines a process for structuring conversion optimization efforts. It recommends beginning with technical and heuristic analysis to identify problems on a website. Next steps include digital analytics to find leaks, mouse tracking to see where users click, and qualitative surveys and user testing to understand user problems and decision-making. The process advocates solving big problems first, using persuasion for trickier issues, and testing radically different concepts. It stresses the need for a systematic, repeatable approach and emphasizes doing the necessary research to discover what really matters for improving conversions.

1. How to Turn Data into
Customers
Structuring your conversion optimization efforts
Peep Laja, ConversionXL

4. How would
you go
about it?

5. “you can easily sort through
the 100+ techniques”

10. Best practices?

14. Don’t copy your
competitors, they
don’t know what
they’re doing either

15. So you need a
systematic approach.
A process.

16. If you can’t
describe what
you’re doing as
a process, you
don’t know what
you’re doing
William Deming

17. How do we
optimize the
optimization
program?

18. The discovery of
what matters

19. What are the
problems? Where?

20. 1. Testing
2. Research

21. Yet another guy
with a bunch of
data 

22. Ask the right
questions

23. • whose problem are we solving?
• what do they need?
• what do they think they want?
• why?
• how are they choosing / making a decision?
• why?
• what are they thinking when they see our offer?
• how is what well sell clearly different?
• where is the site leaking money?
• what is the problem?
• what are they doing or not on the website?
• what leads more people to do X?

24. …careful with your interpretations

26. Step #1: Technical analysis
• Is shit broken?
• Where?
• Which browsers?
• Which devices?
• Which pages are slow?

28. Step #2: Heuristic analysis
• Relevancy?
• Clarity?
• Motivation?
• Friction?

29. Clarity

31. Visual hierarchy

34. Screw

35. Screw

36. Screw

37. Screw
Uninspiring
headline. Not
enough info
5 bullets is too
much, lack of
focus
My grandma
designs
better sites
Testimonial
credibility
questionable
Too little is
done to get
me to click
Unhelpful
screenshot

41. What’s
wrong with
this picture?

42. Step #3: Digital analytics
• Where are the leaks?
• Which segments?
• What are users doing?
• Which actions correlate
with higher conversions?

43. Measure everything
You’ll need it later

50. How many
different ways are
there?

54. #4: Mouse tracking & form analytics
• Where do they click?
• How far down they scroll?
• Differences between devices?
• Session replays

56. #5: Qualitative surveys
• Buyer groups
• Which problem are they solving?
• How are they deciding?
• What’s holding them back?
• What else do they want to know?

61. #6: User testing
• What’s difficult to understand?
• What’s difficult to do?
• What goes wrong?

64. Now you know what
(most of) the
problems are with
your site!

65. • Instrument
• Just Do It
• Test
• Hypothesize
• Investigate

66. 1. Solve big problems with
obvious solutions first

67. 2. Use persuasion, creative
ideas for trickier stuff

68. 3. Test radically different
concepts to move past
local maxima

69. Issue Bucket Background Action Rating
Google Analytics bounce
wrong
Instrument Google Analytics script is loaded twice!
506 of the home page both contain GA
all the other pages.
Remove the double entry
★★★★★
Conversions are low for Investigate Possible cross-browser issues. Conduct cross-browser
★★★
People don’t know how
category pages
Hypothesize Too many options, unfamiliar
architecture & layout.
Re-think the category
★★★★
Missing value
home page
Test Add a compelling value proposition in
your website that states what your
what can they do here and why should
Add prominent value
★★★★★
Content is very hard to JFDI Font size 11px is too small Increase font size
★★★

71. Full case study:
http://conversionxl.com/case-study-how-we-improved-landing-page-conversion/
79.3% uplift in conversions
Peep Laja, ConversionXL @peeplaja

72. Systematic, repeatable,
teachable process

74. This shit is difficult

75. “Everybody
wanna be a
bodybuilder but
nobody wanna
lift heavy ass
weights”
Ronnie Coleman

76. “Everybody
wants a win,
but nobody
wants to do
the heavy ass
conversion
research”
Peep Laja

77. Remember this:
1. Think in terms of processes, not tactics
2. Focus on the discovery of what matters
3. Do the heavy ass lifting

78. Thank you!
Come to ConversionXL Live
March 30th – April 1st 2016