You Should
Test That!
Conversion Optimization for
More Leads, Sales and Profit
or The Art and Science of
Optimized Marketing
C h r i s G o w a r d
WILEY
Contents
Foreword
xxiii
Introduction
xxv
Chapter 1
Why You Should Test That
1
Your Website Is Crucial to Your Business
2
Your Website Is Underperforming
4
All Websites Can Be Improved 4
The Halo Effecr of Underperformance 5
Web Design for Results (Rather than Aesthetics)
9
Why "Best Practices" Aren't Best
10
Is There a HiPPO in the Room?
11
The Risks and Costs of Website Redesign
12
Your New Website Design Could Hurt Your Results 13
Your Improvements May Be Overshadowed by Mistakes 13
Use Evolutionary Site Redesign 15
Conversion-Rate Optimization Increases Revenue
without Increasing Advertising Spend
15
Comparing Conversion-Rate Optimization with
Paid-Search Optimization 15
Conversion-Rate Optimization and Your Business
17
Conversion-Rate Optimization Results by Industry 17
Calculate the Benefit of Conversion-Rate Optimization 18
CRO Works alongside SEO
20
SEO and CRO Can Play Well Together 20
How to Do CRO without Hurting Your SEO 21
You Should Test That!
22
Chapter 2
What is Conversion Optimization?
23
Conversion Optimizatior^Requires Controlled Testing
23
The Scientific Method of Controlled Testing 24
Selecting a Sample (Not a Free One, a Statistical One) 25
Using a Tool Designed for Controlled Testing 26
"Best Practices" Are Not Conversion Optimization 27
The Before & After Method Is Not Conversion Optimization 29
External Factors Mess with Your Data 30
Usability Testing Is Not Conversion Optimization 33
Surveys Are Not Conversion Optimization 37
Click Heatmap Tracking Is Not Conversion Optimization 38
What Is Conversion Optimization?
39
1
Who Are Your Target Audiences?
39
Setting Goals
41
Define Your Goals 42
The Goals Waterfall 42
Prioritize Your Goals 42
Should You Optimize for Micro-Conversions? 46
Web Analytics Goals vs. Conversion-Optimization Goals 48
The Continuous Improvement Cycle
54
Continuous Improvement Is Key to Success 55
Progress from Macro to Micro 58
Chapter 3
Prioritize Testing Opportunities
61
Use Data to Prioritize Tests
62
Your Web Analytics Data 62
Your Home Page Isn't Your Front Door 62
View Data at the Page-Template Level 63
The PIE Prioritization Framework
66
Prioritize Pages with High Potential for Improvement
67
Top Exit Pages 67
Analyze Your Conversion Funnel 70
Gather Qualitative Data 72
Prioritize Important Pages
82
Pages with High Traffic Volume Are More Important 83
Pages with Expensive Visits Are More Important 85
Prioritize Easy Test Pages
89
Consider Technical Implementation 89
Consider Organizational Barriers 94
Prioritize with a Weighting Table
94
Reprioritize Regularly
95
Chapter 4
Create Hypotheses with the LIFT Model
97
Methodology Is More Valuable than Tips
98
The Gorilla in Our Brains
100
The LIFT Model
102
The Value Proposition 103
Relevance 104
Clarity 104
Anxiety 105
Distraction 106
Urgency 107
' Problems Are Opportunities! 107
Fill the Marble Jar
107
Create Valid Hypotheses
109
( The Hypothesis Structure 110
Good to Great Hypotheses 111
Chapter 5
Optimize Your Value Proposition
113
The Value-Proposition Equation
114
Your Visitor's Perception Filters
115
Tangible Features
118
Product or Service Features 118
Incentives and Offers 119
Intangible Benefits
123
Credibility 123
Social Proof J 128
Personal Benefits vs". Business Benefits 136
Costs
137
The Price 137
Delivery Cost 141
The Incredible Power of Free 141
Associated Costs 143
What Is
Your
Value Proposition?
144
Test Your Value Proposition
'.
145
Chapter 6
Optimize for Relevance
147
Marketing Funnel Relevance
148
Source Relevance.
150
Relevance to Ad Messages 151
Relevance to Search Keywords 152
Relevance to Emails 158
Three Ways to Create Landing-Page Source Relevance 159
Target Audience Relevance
L60
Customer Segmentation 160
Call-to-Action Relevance 162
Tone Relevance 163
Navigation Relevance
167
Competitive Relevance
174
Chapter 7
Optimize for Clarity
/
177
/
Information Hierarchy Clarity
178
Website-Level Information Hierarchy . 178
Page-Level Information Hierarchy 181
Design Clarity
182
Eyeflow Clarity 182 Image Clarity 186 Color Clarity 191Call-to-Action Clarity
193
' Copywriting Clarity
195
Chapter 8
Optimize for Anxiety
207
Privacy Anxiety
208
Usability Anxiety
215
Form Usability 215! Website Errors 217 Site Speed 218Effort Anxiety
219
Fulfillment Anxiety
223
Security 224 Fine Print 224 Brand Reputation 225 Delivery Promise 225Guarantees, Returns, and Urisubscription 226
Turn Anxiety in Your Favor
228
Chapter 9
Optimize for Distraction
231
Two Distraction Points
232
First-Impression Distraction
233
Look through Your Prospects' Eyes 233
Too Much Content - 235
Daunting Text 237
Complex Graphics 238
Large Headers 238
Redundancy 240
Message Distraction
244
Too Many Messages 245
Irrelevant Content _ 245
Too Many Options 247
Navigation Bars 248
Image Distraction 248
Chapter 10
Optimize for Urgency
255
Internal Urgency
256
Seasonality's Effect on Urgency 256
Create Internal Urgency 262
External Urgency
266
The Offer's Effect on Urgency 267
Create Offer Urgency 268
Chapter 11
Test Your Hypotheses
273
Set Test Goals
274
Types of Goals 274
Use Clickthroughs with Caution 276
Goal Triggers 1 277
The One-Goal Goal 279
Multi-Goal Tracking 280
Choose the Test Area
281
Templated Pages 282
Individual Static Test Pages 283
Individual Pages with Dynamic Content 283
Site-Wide Section Tests 283
Choose the Test Type
288
Consider Traffic Volume • 288
Multivariate Testing 288
A/B/n Testing 290
My Recommendation: Emphasize A/B/n Testing 291
Alternative Path Tests 293
Isolate for Insights
293
How to Get Good Great Results
295
Test Boldly , 295
Test Fewer Variations 296
Avoid Committee Testing 296
Win with Confidence 296
Maintain Your Control 297
Use Testing Expertise 297
Chapter 12
Analyze Your Test Results
299
Reading the"Tea Leaves
300
Monitoring Your Tests
301
Wait for Statistical Significance 301
Remove Under-Performers 302
Don't Give Up Too Early 302
Evaluating Results
303
How Accurate Are Your Results? 303
Multiple Goals / 306
Revenue Results , 306
Compare Isolations 3I0
What to Test Next?
311
Re-Prioritize Your Priorities 311