Web Design Blog

For me, Google Website Optimizer (GWO) has been the best new tool or service launched in the last three years.  It has literally created tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional revenue for my company and my freelance clients.  That said, I initially found GWO very difficult to implement. Essentially, GWO works through code such as this:

<script>utmx_section(”Your First Test”)</script>
<!– YOUR HTML GOES HERE –>
</noscript>

Ignore the strange </noscript>, that’s just the way GWO works.  Once you’ve implemented the script, you then upload alternative versions of your HTML to the GWO website.  GWO will insert the alternative versions of the HTML randomly to your visitors to test which versions perform better.  You can test page layout, button color/sizes, ads, textual content, navigation structure or anything else you can imagine.

The problem occurs when you want to test dynamic pages or the same section of HTML across multiple pages.  For example, I want to test a different product page layout across my site (because no single product gets enough traffic to reliably traffic).  I cannot insert HTML into the GWO script because the HTML will be different on every page.

The secret (which many of you may have already figured out, but it took me a while so hopefully this post will help some of you) is to insert CSS or Javascript ONLY into your GWO script.  View GWO as a rotating CSS/JS file, not as actual HTML.  This may involve using CSS to hide or change various aspects of your page and I’ve even used GWO to alter the HTML structure via Javascript on pages I did not have full control over.  Before, your code might have been:

<script>utmx_section(”Your First Test”)</script>
<h1>Large Product Title</h1>
<img src=’bluebutton.gif’>
</noscript>

Now you can do the below and apply the same test to every product:

<script>utmx_section(”Your First Test”)</script>
<style type=’text/css’>
.producttitle {
font-size: 24px;
}
</style>
<script type=’text/javascript’>
document.getElementById(’addtocartbutton’).src = ‘bluebutton.gif’;
</script>
</noscript>

This is a very simple example, but the power of this concept is that you can now test large sections of your entire site.  You can use CSS to move switch the positions of content sections or hide all the product prices for your category pages (early testing shows this actually improves the conversion rates on one of my sites…).

If you have any questions about GWO implementations, please ask in the comments and I’ll be happy to assist.

I’ll be honest.  A year ago, I was an unbeliever.  The idea that something on your site could influence me to buy or not buy was hogwash.  No stupid seal or testimonial was going to change my mind.  Let me tell you, if you’re not doing everything you can to boost the conversion rate of your website - you’re either losing your money or losing your client’s money (and your client should probably fire you).  Over the last year, my eyes have been opened and I’ve begun to realize how much power I have over website visitors to squash their fears and nudge them toward making larger purchases.  Here’s an overview of three of the tools at your disposal:

Seals
Seals matter.   Most sites should see conversion increases of 10-30%.  Which seals are most important/work best?  You’ll have to do your own testing on that, but they definitely make a difference.  According to a recent national survey by Consumer Reports, more than 71% of online shoppers look for third party seals.  The key is place them where they matter most.  Security seals should be on checkout pages, BBB seals should be homepages and product pages, etc..  The goal is to give the visitor the security they need to take the next action, whatever that might be.  There are many different kinds of seals ranging from general business seals, security scans or SSL seals.  I doubt most consumers can tell the difference between the types of seals, but obviously the more well-known brands should carry the most weight.  Common seals include BBB, McAfee (formerly Hacker safe), Trust Guard, Hacker Proof, Control Scan and Verisign.  McAfee, Trust Guard and Hacker Proof all offer some sort of conversion increase guarantee.

Testimonials
I always discounted testimonials in the past because obviously they can’t be be verified and maybe many others ignore them as well, but a significant percentage of visitors do nto.  Depending on the site and quality of the testimonials, typical sites should see conversion boosts of 5-50%.   Rather than rehash it all, read this excellent post from Grokdotcom on the Dos and Don’ts of Testimonials.

Alternate Payment Options
Depending on what you sell and your target customer, this could be a major or minor factor.  When I began accepting credit card payments instead of just PayPal on my web design company directory, my total sales went up over 25% despite the fact that every single one of my advertisers probably has a PayPal account. People use different payment methods for many different reasons, including security of their financial information, no credit card and protection from fraud.  Try PayPal, Google Checkout, eCheck, Moneybookers, Bill Me Later and eLayaway.  As a side bonus, sometimes you can save quite a bit with an alternate method.

There are many other ways to boost conversion rates, but I’ll be saving those for a follow up post.  As I said at the beginning of the post, if you’re not doing ALL you can to optimize your website and give your customers security, you’re not doing enough.

Most importantly though, TEST TEST TEST.  Do not implement any of these options without testing your site.  Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer makes this super easy.  My next blog post will feature my #1 tip on how to implement Google Website Optimizer in seconds so subscribe to RSS now (<-call to action, we’ll see if it boosts my blog subscription rate).