Extra Revenue Source #1: Conversion Optimization
This is the first in what I hope to be a regular series focusing on additional revenue sources for design firms. I’m a huge believer in A/B testing, multivariate testing and conversion optimization. Essentially, the art and science of improving the effectiveness of a website - whether the end goal be a purchase, sales lead or simply increased page views.
Just recently, we added an arrow to the signup form on Handbag Planet and increased conversion over 50%. I also added an arrow on a client’s e-commerce site and increased conversion over 10%. This is just an example of what one small element can do.
Benefit #1: Numbers-Based Sell
One of the big benefits of conversion optimization is that it’s completely numbers based. It’s an easy sell to clients and once you have proven success with a few clients, it gets even easier. We’ve all run into those clients and potential clients who don’t understand why design is truly important. You won’t have that problem with conversion optimization.
Benefit #2: Long Term Revenue Source
Conversion optimization is an on-going process and can generate long term revenue for your company. Eventually, you will reach the max effectiveness of a website but for large websites it may take many months to reach that point. The best online companies such as Amazon, Google, Zappos and Overstock never stop testing.
Benefit #3: Low Learning Curve
Study sites that are known to convert well and do a lot of testing. Follow the resources listed below.  You won’t become a conversion expert overnight but you can still have a dramatic effect on a client’s website with only a few hours of study and experimentation.
Benefit #4: Satisfaction for You & Your Client
And ultimately, this is what our jobs are truly about. Building the most effective website possible for clients. There’s nothing better than a client’s reaction when you tell them their site is now twice as effective as it used to be. This does wonders for your word of mouth marketing and client referrals.
What do you think about conversion optimization as a service? Any positive or negative experiences?
Useful Posts & Pages
64 Elements to Test, Test Length Calculator, 108 Ways to Boost Your Website’s Profit, The Secret to Painless Google Website Optimizer
Useful Blogs & Webinars
Grok Dot Com, Marketing Experiments, Get Elastic
Useful Books
Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to GWO, Call to Action, Web Form Design
jonathan atkinson:
I am a great believer in this but currently I do not charge a separate amount to my clients to increase the effectiveness or conversion rates - why? Well, I charge a monthly maintenance fee for looking after the hosting services (email issues - any downtime support - regular backup services etc) and part of this cost includes me quickly looking at their stats, page views etc etc and then looking at each page over time to work out which ones are either not performing as well as they should, or indeed have decreased in effectiveness over time - I then suggest a little work is required to help push those figures up.
Recently a client, who had never had a website previously, and as such we were building the site up in visitors and purchases. We noticed that their online ticket sales were just not a good enough conversion rate compared to the number of clicks elsewhere on the pages. We simply altered some of the graphical images used for buttons and by decreasing the size of some lesser important - but would look for - buttons and increasing the one that earned a revenue, we increased sales by over 30% in the first week.
The upside for the client is obvious. The upside for me as a service provider in multiple. I look like the best provider that this client has known as I truly care about what I created and my clients bottom line. It continues to place a value on that monthly maintenance charge. And I get to charge for the alterations to pages and the client still sees a return.
I fully recommend trying to incorporate something like this into your business - if clients seem un-responsive at first, then tell them you are willing to do some quick changes for free, let them ride for a few weeks to see if they make a difference and then if they do the client agrees to keep them there - which they will - you get to charge. The benefit to this is the client doesn’t pay for something that they don’t know will work or not, but then when it does they are charged - the benefit to you is that a good change always works and you wouldn’t normally bill for it the day you do it anyway, but would include on the monthly bill as normal - everyone is a winner!
James Paden:
Thanks, Jonathan. Appreciate the feedback. Definitely a good option for many firms.
Bryan Eisenberg:
James,
Thanks for the kind words and links. You know I agree with how valuable the small elements are. Now that the technology for testing is no longer an issue (it’s free) more people need to get the knowledge on how to do it.
Solid post!
Best wishes,
Bryan
James Paden:
Thanks, Bryan! For those that are new to the conversion optimization game, Bryan (and his brother, Jeffrey) are two of the leading specialists in the field. I linked to it already, but be sure to subscribe to their blog, http://www.grokdotcom.com for excellent articles and advice.
What Do You Think?