Step-by-step instructions for executing a website testing and optimization plan Website optimization is can be an overwhelming endeavor due to the fact that it encompasses so many strategic and technical issues. However, this hands-on, task-based book demystifies this potentially intimidating topic by offering smart, practical, and tested instructions for developing, implementing, managing, and tracking website optimization efforts. After you learn how to establish an optimization framework, you then dive into learning how to develop a plan, test appropriately and accurately, interpret the results, and optimize in order to maximize conversion rates and improve profits.
- Zeroes in on fundamentals such as understanding key metrics, choosing analytics tools, researching visitors and their onsite behavior, and crafting a plan for what to test and optimize
- Walks you through testing and optimizing specific web pages including the homepage, entry and exit pages, product and pricing pages, as well as the shopping cart and check-out process
- Guides you through important optimization areas such as optimizing text and images
- Addresses advanced topics including paid search optimization, Facebook fan page optimization, rich media, and more
- Includes a companion website that features expanded examples, additional resources, tool reviews, and other related information
Full of interesting case studies and helpful examples drawn from the author's own experience, Website Optimization: An Hour a Day is the complete solution for anyone who wants to get the best possible results from their web page.
Table of Contents:
Foreword xxi
Introduction xxiii
Chapter 1 Setting the Website Optimization Scene 1
Introduction to Website Optimization 2
The Rise of Website Optimization: The Aftermath of the Dot-com Bubble Bursting 4
The Differences between Landing Page Optimization, Conversion Rate Optimization, Website Testing, and Website Optimization 6
The Difference between Website Optimization and Search Engine Optimization (SEO ) 7
Chapter 2 Set Up and Improve Usage of Key Web Analytics and Testing Tools 9
Week 1: Learn the Importance of and Set Up an Analytics Tool 10
Monday: Understand the Need for Web Analytics Data to Help Website Optimization Efforts 10
Tuesday: Select a Web Analytics Tool for Your Website 11
Wednesday: Implement Your Web Analytics Tool and Test to Make Sure It’s Working Correctly 15
Thursday: Know How to Set Up Your Website Conversion Goals 17
Friday: Set Up Key Segments of Visitors to Monitor and Target 19
Week 2: Find Your Website Conversion Rate, Success Metrics, Benchmark, and Set Targets 23
Monday: Check Your Current Traffic Levels and Set Targets 24
Tuesday: Check Your Website’s Overall Conversion Rate and Set Targets 24
Wednesday: Check Your Repeat Visit Rate and Set a Target 25
Thursday: Find Specific Success Metrics for Your Website Type and Benchmark 26
Friday: Set Targets for Your Success Metrics 30
Week 3: Learn the Importance of and Set Up a Website Testing Tool 31
Monday: Understand the Importance of Having a Testing Tool 31
Tuesday: Familiarize Yourself with the Available Website Testing Tools 32
Wednesday: Determine a Budget and Understand Possible Technical Barriers for Tool Selection 36
Thursday: Implement Your Testing Tool, Setup, and QA Test Campaigns 38
Friday: Understand Web Testing Tool Terminology, Concepts, and Reports 40
Chapter 3 Lay the Foundations for Optimization Success 47
Week 4: Learn Key Optimization Fundamentals to Help You Succeed 48
Monday: Identify Your Company’s Current Website Optimization Performance 48
Tuesday: Evangelize and Create an Analytics and Optimization Culture 51
Wednesday: Prepare a Better Initial Website Optimization Strategy 54
Thursday: Create Detailed Test Plans 56
Friday: Consider Test Outsourcing—When and Why 58
Week 5: Understand and Create an Optimization Organization 61
Monday: Find an Executive Sponsor for Your Optimization Efforts 61
Tuesday: Gain Buy-in from Key Stakeholders 62
Wednesday: Assemble a Dedicated Optimization Team 66
Thursday: Integrate Testing and Optimization Web Processes into Your Company 70
Friday: Communicate, Review, and Iterate 72
Week 6: Learn Testing Best Practices to Improve Your Success 75
Monday: Use an Insightful, Hypothesis-Driven, and Iterative Testing Approach 75
Tuesday: Learn Strategies for Creating Effective Tests 77
Wednesday: Learn the Power of Targeting and Personalization for Improving Conversions 83
Thursday: Avoid Common Mistakes When Creating and Running Your Tests 89
Friday: Learn How to Analyze Results and Determine a Test Winner 92
Chapter 4 Understand Your Visitors and Their Needs—the Keys to Website Optimization 95
Week 7: Create Personas and Use Cases for Your Main Visitor Needs 96
Monday: Put Yourself in Your Visitor’s Shoes to Help Create Personas and Use Cases 96
Tuesday: Create Some Simple Personas for Your Visitors 97
Wednesday: Create Use Cases for Your Website 99
Thursday: Re-create the Use Cases on Your Website and Grade the Ease of Doing So 101
Friday: Learn How to Get Even Greater Value from Your Use Cases 102
Week 8: Create a Unique Value Proposition and Clearly Promote It 103
Monday: Understand Your Current Unique Value Proposition from Your Visitor’s Perspective 103
Tuesday: Survey Your Visitors to Help Create Your Value Proposition 104
Wednesday: Learn from Competitor Websites to Improve Your Value Proposition 104
Thursday: Create or Improve the Unique Value Proposition for Your Website 105
Friday: Effectively Promote Your Unique Value Proposition on Your Site 107
Week 9: Understand Your Visitors’ Intent by Visually Analyzing Them 109
Monday: Learn the Importance of Visually Analyzing Your Website Visitors 109
Tuesday: Check Click Heat Maps for Your Key Pages 110
Wednesday: Use Eye Tracking Tools to Understand Visitors’ Eye Flow 112
Thursday: Use Visitor Recording Tools to Gain a Complete View of Your Visitor’s Experience 114
Friday: Implement Tools and Gather and Review Visual Analysis for Insights 116
Week 10: Generate Insights from Visitor Satisfaction and Feedback Tools 117
Monday: Learn the Importance of the Voice of Your Visitors and Asking for Feedback 117
Tuesday: Survey Your Website Visitors to Gain Feedback and Insights 117
Wednesday: Use Website Feedback Rating Tools to Gain Further Insight 122
Thursday: Gain Feedback on the Usability and Task Completion Rate of Your Website 124
Friday: Make Use of Web Chat Tools to Gain Additional Insight 127
Chapter 5 Build the Foundation of a Better Converting Website 131
Week 11: Understand and Improve Your Website’s Layout 132
Monday: Understand the Impact of Your Web Page Fold 132
Tuesday: Understand the Impact of Your Website Design on Eye Flow 135
Wednesday: Check Your Website in Different Browsers and Resolutions 136
Thursday: Learn Other Website Layout Best Practices 137
Friday: Check How Your Email Marketing Efforts Look 139
Week 12: Improve Page Load Speed 139
Monday: Understand the Negative Impact of Slow Page Load 140
Tuesday: Check How Fast Your Web Pages Load and Diagnose Issues 140
Wednesday: Limit and Optimize Your Usage of Slow-Loading Website Elements 142
Thursday: Reduce the File Size of Your Images and Videos, and the Length of Your Page Code 142
Friday: Optimize the Delivery of Your Website Content 144
Week 13: Optimize Your Navigation Menus and Links 144
Monday: Learn the Importance of Navigation Menus and Links 145
Tuesday: Optimize the Contents, Usability, and Location of Your Navigation Menus 145
Wednesday: Optimize Your Usage of Navigation Drop-Down or Fly-Out Menus 147
Thursday: Improve Your Usage of Website Navigation Links 148
Friday: Learn Other Best Practices to Help Visitors Navigate Your Website 150
Week 14: Optimize and Learn from Your Internal Site Search 153
Monday: Offer a Good Internal Search Tool 153
Tuesday: Optimize Your Internal Site Search Location 154
Wednesday: Optimize Your Internal Site Search Functionality and Usability 155
Thursday: Optimize Your Internal Site Search Results 156
Friday: Analyze Your Top Internal Keywords for Additional Insights 160
Chapter 6 Learn the Power of Influence and Persuasion on Visitors and Conversions 165
Week 15: Influence Your Visitors by Optimizing Your Calls-to-Action, Headlines, and Text 166
Monday: Review and Optimize Your Headlines and Subheaders 166
Tuesday: Review and Optimize Your Call-to-Action Buttons and Links 169
Wednesday: Learn Other Best Practices for Improving Your CT As 172
Thursday: Shorten Long Sections of Text and Convey Key Points 174
Friday: Make Sure Your Website Text is Easy to Read, Understand, and Relate To 175
Week 16: Influence by Optimizing Your Images, Promotions, Videos, Rich Media, and Advertising 178
Monday: Optimize Your Usage of Images 178
Tuesday: Optimize Your Promotional Banners 183
Wednesday: Optimize Your Onsite Advertising 185
Thursday: Optimize Your Video Usage 188
Friday: Use Rich Media Website Greeters to Increase Engagement and Influence 191
Week 17: Harness the Power of Social Proof, Reciprocity, and Scarcity 193
Monday: Build Social Proof by Optimizing Your Testimonials 194
Tuesday: Build Social Proof by Optimizing Your Usage of Ratings and Reviews 197
Wednesday: Other Best Practices to Help Improve Your Social Proof 200
Thursday: Use Scarcity to Influence Your Visitors 204
Friday: Influence Your Visitors by Using Reciprocity 205
Week 18: Influence by Making Your Visitors Feel Safer and Building Trust 206
Monday: Optimize the Display of Security and Trust Seals and Symbols 207
Tuesday: Make Use of Supporting Text and Pages to Build Trust and Security 210
Wednesday: Reduce the Risk of Purchasing for the Visitor 212
Thursday: Optimize Your Customer Support and Contact Options 214
Friday: Learn Other Best Practices for Increasing Levels of Trust and Security 216
Chapter 7 Optimization Best Practices and Test Ideas for Different Page Types and Flows 219
Week 19: Focus On and Optimize Your Home Page 220
Monday: Learn How Your Home Page is Being Judged and Check the Bounce Rate 220
Tuesday: Find Out What Your Visitors Click and Do on Your Home Page 223
Wednesday: Shorten and Declutter Your Home Page 224
Thursday: Give Your Visitors a Few Clear Choices to Meet Their Needs and Your Goals 225
Friday: Learn Other Testing Ideas for Your Home Page 226
Week 20: Optimize Your Product, Service, Lead Generation, and Other Key Pages 228
Monday: Optimize Your Product Pages 228
Tuesday: Optimize Your Service Pages 233
Wednesday: Optimize Your Lead Generation Pages 235
Thursday: Optimize Your Category Pages 239
Friday: Optimize Your Pages That Compare Product or Service Options 244
Week 21: Optimize Your Shopping Cart and Checkout Flow 246
Monday: Check Your Shopping Cart and Checkout Flow Conversion Rates 246
Tuesday: Optimize Your Shopping Cart Page 249
Wednesday: Optimize Your Checkout Flow 254
Thursday: Optimize Your Order Review and Confirmation Pages 257
Friday: Learn Other Advanced Shopping Cart Best Practices 258
Week 22: Identify Other Key Pages and Flows for Optimization 259
Monday: Identify Issues with Top Entry Pages and Optimize 259
Tuesday: Identify Issues with Top Exit Pages and Optimize 260
Wednesday: Identify Issues with Your Other Top Conversion Flows 261
Thursday: Look for Issues with Traffic Sources Leading to Your Conversion Flows 262
Friday: Identify Other Pages with High Impact on Conversion to Optimize 264
Week 23: Optimize Your Website’s Mobile Experience 265
Monday: Check the Percentage of Mobile Traffic, Conversion Rate, and Bounce Rates 266
Tuesday: Check What Your Website Looks Like on Mobile Devices 267
Wednesday: Understand the Need for a Mobile Version of Your Website 267
Thursday: Optimize the Mobile Version of Your Website 269
Friday: Consider Making an App Version of Your Website 273
Chapter 8 Keep Them Coming Back—Optimize for Repeat Visits 275
Week 24: Focus on and Generate More Repeat Visits 276
Monday: Learn the Importance and Benefits of Repeat Visits 276
Tuesday: Check Your Repeat Visits and Analyze for What Causes Them to Come Back 277
Wednesday: Obtain More Visitor Email Addresses to Market to and Encourage Repeat Visits 278
Thursday: Create Content That Encourages Visitors to Come Back More Often 280
Friday: Retarget Your Repeat Visitors via Contextual Banner Ads on Other Sites 281
Week 25: Optimize Your Registration or Sign-Up Pages to Get More Repeat Visits 282
Monday: Check the Performance of Your Registration or Sign-Up Pages 282
Tuesday: Focus on the Benefits of Signing Up or Registering 283
Wednesday: Optimize Your Sign-Up and Registration Forms and Pages 284
Thursday: Optimize Your Newsletter Sign-Up Forms 286
Friday: Test Other Ways to Increase Completion Rates on Your Registration or Sign-Up Pages 288
Week 26: Optimize Your Email Marketing Efforts to Get More Repeat Visits 290
Monday: Learn Best Practices and Test Ideas for All Email Marketing Methods 291
Tuesday: Run Email A/B Tests to Find the Most Engaging Emails 293
Wednesday: Create and Optimize Your Confirmation Emails 295
Thursday: Create and Optimize Your Follow-Up Emails 296
Friday: Try Using Advanced Email Optimization Techniques 298
Chapter 9 Review and Learn from Your Results, and Keep Testing and Optimizing 301
Week 27: Review and Learn from Your Optimization Efforts So Far 302
Monday: Revisit Your Success Metrics and Targets 302
Tuesday: Review Your Use Case Completion Rates and Resurvey Your Visitors 303
Wednesday: Rerun the Website Optimization Checklist 303
Thursday: Review What You’ve Learned from Your Test Results to Create Better Future Tests 305
Friday: Review and Improve Your Internal Testing Process Performance 305
Keep Optimizing and Testing: Your Website is Never Perfect! 307
Appendix A Website Optimization and Testing Tools 309
Appendix B Test Idea Tracker 313
Appendix C Test Results Tracker 315
Index 317
