CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION

METHODS FOR CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION

Conversion optimization requires cross-discipline skills that are more common to behavioral scientists than today’s crop of instant-gratification marketing providers. While a lot of marketing can be automated, performing conversion optimization effectively requires old-school grueling research.

1. Hunt for Clues in the Data – Running your conversion rate against potential independent variables in a regression analysis is a really great start for determining potential reasons behind a lack of conversion performance or opportunities for capitalizing on growth activities. In this process, examine everything. Don’t ever rule out variables that seem obvious or disconnected. A lot of marketing data is commingled, so you have to put as much as possible in your regression model to exclude co-variation. Here’s an example: for years people considering longer time-on-site as a positive metric. Would you be surprised to learn that very often time-on-site is inversely correlated with conversion rate? Why would this be? The answer lies in traffic targeting. An audience that has higher purchase intent is going to spend less time on the website because they reached their endpoint (a conversion) sooner. This process necessitates an open mind and an absence of ego.
2. Examine Heatmaps and Frustration Reports – Heatmaps will show you the hot spots of attention on your website. You can use this to strategically position calls to action. Frustration reports, on the flipside, give you a broad overview of pages that are causing users to exhibit digital symptoms of frustration: frantic scrolling, click rage, rapid page switching, and resorting to search when browse doesn’t find what they need.
3. Watch User Sessions Till Your Eyes Bleed – This is the grueling part. The only meaningful way to understand your customers’ experience on your site is to watch them use it. You’re too close to it. You won’t use your own site the same way your customers will. Watching user sessions is an amazing experience. If you’ve never done it before, you have to give it a try. You’ll be amazed at how easily you can read someone’s mind just by their mouse movements and browsing actions. It’s a borderline spiritual experience of oneness when you realize that the reason you’re able to read this person’s mind is because of how the same we all are.
4. Let Your Customers Speak – Sometimes the best way to determine what customers want is to ask them. You can certainly do this informally via day-to-day conversations, but be sure to train your staff to capture conversational highlights in some kind of qualitative data repository. You can also listen to your customers quantitatively through surveys. Surveys should be designed to answer the “why” behind data trends found in regression analysis of marketing data, but they must be designed carefully so as to not be leading or peppered with the researcher’s biases.
5. Create a Continuous Improvement Cycle for Your Website – Illuminating friction points and website hot spots isn’t enough on its own. You must continuously develop and redevelop your website to adapt to the needs and behaviors that emerged from your research.