Double Your Conversions in 30 Days

Double Your Conversions in 30 Days
quicksprout.com /double-your-conversions-in-30-days/
Written by Neil Patel & Ritika Puri

You’ve poured money into designing a beautiful website, spent thousands on Facebook ads, and are pushing
social media updates like nobody’s business. But still, you’re not seeing results — why?
You tear your hair out with frustration. You pump $1,000 more into new Facebook campaigns. And st ill, not hing.
Before you drive yourself craz y, take a step back and breathe. Your traffic acquisition strategy is probably just fine.
The problem is conversion optimiz ation — the on- site process of transforming prospects into new customers and
existing customers into repeat buyers.
Luckily, you can fix this problem with focus and dedication. The next 20,000+ words will teach you how, step- by- step.
You’ll do more than improve your conversions. You’ll double t hem. In terms of prerequisites to getting started, all
that you need is the willingness to listen, learn, and work hard.

Int roduct ion
No mat t er where you’re st art ing,
you will st ill achieve result s

Conversion optimiz ation sounds way more complicated than it actually is. That’s because marketers like to use
fancy words like A/B testing, monetiz ation, revshare, and churn to describe what they do.
Don’t sweat the technical stuff. Think of conversion optimiz ation as the process of making a new friend at a bar. Or, if
you don’t like bars, think about the Girl Scouts who sell cookies at your local grocery store every February. Their
key selling point? Those kids know how to convince their target customers to buy.
Just like a brick- and- mortar store, persuasion, communication, and human interest are the heart and soul of doing
business online. Remember that your website is speaking to a real, live person — not a computer screen.
Conversion optimiz ation takes hard work, and if your company is young or cash- conscious, you shouldn’t feel
pressured to drop $100K+ to hire a full- time expert or consultant. Just do it with your team. As you keep reading,
remember the following key points:
Conversion optimiz ation is cross- functional — you involve your entire team from design to copywriting and
analytics
The process is continuous — once you start, you never ever stop
You’re going to hit roadblocks — trial and error will help you stand strong
Capture metrics for making actionable decisions — start with your goals and reverse engineer the process to
achieve ROI.
Alright ! Let ’s get t o Week 1 of doubling your conversions:

Here’s What You’ll Learn in Week 1
Understand the goals and underlying principles of conversion optimiz ation
Learn about your users & how to create marketing messaging to meet their needs
Become intelligent & well- versed in the topic of conversion- centered design
Get acquainted with tools that will help you execute quickly
Set up your A/B testing infrastructure

Est ablish Success Met rics and KPIs
You wouldn’t drive from Los Angeles to South Orange County without a map,
GPS, or keen sense of direction. Nor would you go play darts with your friends
in the dark.
You don’t need a 100- page business plan to develop an actionable, growthfocused conversion optimiz ation strategy.
Start by with a map of your company’s conversion funnel. If you don’t have one
already, you may need to sit down with your team to sketch one out in a
conference room.

Source: Scott Brinker (Ion Interactive) via SearchEngineLand
Conversion models vary between business models and companies. There are a couple different ways to visualiz e
this concept, so pick the one that makes the most sense to you. Here is another infographic that describes the
conversion funnel in terms of on- site customer actions:

Source: Visual.ly

Know the Goals that Prioritiz e ROI
Online marketing produces a heck- of- a- lot of data. That’s an understatement. And if you’re not laser- focused on
your goals, you’ll get buried under a data avalanche.
To be successful in your company’s conversion optimiz ation, you need to ignore the noise. Think: shining light vs.
eightfold path. You need to monitor success metrics that directly influence your company’s ROI. Here’s a breakdown
of the categories where these success metrics fall:

Engagement
This concept relates to stickiness, which is how much and how often your customers are engaging
with and returning to your website. Examples metrics in this category include unique visitors,
pageviews, average visit duration, return visits, and bounce rate. If you’ve ever taken a journalism
class, think: who, what, how, where, when, why, and how.

Virality
Think of this concept as a word- of- mouth effect. When people value your content, product, or
services, they’re going to tell the world. Shares, tweets, and likes give your content a higher
probability of residual exposure. In other words, they generate an echo effect in the form of free
marketing.

Leads and Conversions
As a marketer, one of your core goals to generate leads to your sales team. When assessing
ROI, you need to measure both the number and quality of your leads by forecasting a dollar
amount to how much each lead is worth to your company.

Revenue
Tying revenue to your marketing efforts is difficult, but it’s mission- critical for your company to
do. In order to measure revenue, you need to know the number of deals closed and sales
generated from your marketing efforts. (Hint: Segment revenue generated by marketing channel to
gauge the efficacy of each individual program)

Lif etime Customer Value
Your company needs to maximiz e this number — more so than the value of transactions from
direct response deals. Make sure that the lifetime customer value (i.e. the revenue generated
from your user base over time) has significantly higher margins compared to your marketing spend.

Align Your Business’s Success Metrics with Steps of the Conversion Funnel
The customer journey is a complex lifecycle. When people come to your website, they may not be ready to make a
purchase immediately — and that’s okay. Direct response marketers are typically concerned with how many
transactions occur immediately. If you follow this mindset, you’re going to overlook an extremely important metric —
lifetime customer value.
The first step of a successful conversion optimiz ation strategy is to think of your marketing as a long- term
relationship with your audience. There are key milestones in this process that aren’t entwined with direct sales.
This chart will help you align conversion goals to different user intents:

Conversion Goal Map
Funnel St age

Cust omer Mindset
What do you do?

Cust omer Act ions

Success Met rics

Discovery/awareness

Unique visitors

Initial research

Pages per visit

Information gathering

Time on site
Bounce rate

Early/Top
of t he f unnel

Social media shares

Why should I care?

In- depth research

Return visitors

Cost analysis

Return visits

Competitor research

Pages per visit
TIme on site
Bounce rate

Early- t o- mid
of t he f unnel

Social media shares
How do I believe you?

Lead form completions

Complete demo

Wishlist additions

Purchase

Average order value

Sign- up

When can we start?

Ebook downloads

Phone call to sales rep
Mid- lower
of t he f unnel

Request for more details

Average order siz e
# of transactions
# of purchases

Lower f unnel

The success metrics you choose should be custom- tailored to your business’s unique model. For instance, ecommerce success metrics may look different from an ecommerce stores. Don’t forget about off- site interactions
either — especially if you’re running a brick and mortar storefront, conversions are likely to happen offline.

Example Conversion Goals by Business Type
Funnel
St age

E- Commerce

Agency

Newsletter clickthroughs
Social media shares from
content
Early/Top
of t he
f unnel

Newsletter clickthroughs
content

Brick- and- mort ar
Newsletter clickthroughs

products

Return visits

Ebook downloads

Yelp bookmarks

Simulator completions

Whitepaper downloads

Social referral

Stylist consultations

Email list signups

Website offers/promotions
claimed

Emails to a sales rep

Ebook downloads

Requests for more details

Wishlist additions

Early- t omid
of t he
f unnel

Calls to the office/sales rep

Lead form
completions

Bookmarks
Mid- lower
of t he
f unnel

Customer service queries
Requests for more details

First time purchase
Lower
f unnel

Wishlist additions

Repeat purchase

Today’s Homework

Deal closed

Sales in store

1. Open up a Word, Notepad, or Google Doc in a window next to this guide. Notebooks work too. If you’re a
manager or part of an organiz ation, you may want to loop in your team by jumping into a conference room
with a whiteboard.
Generate a big list of every on- site goal you want your users to complete, and explain why these concepts
are important to ROI for your particular type of business.
2. Create a diagram of your company’s conversion funnel. There’s no need to create anything fancy. Just make
a rough sketch of what your customers are likely to be doing and thinking.
3. Map the relationship between steps 1 and 2.
Bonus st ep: Create a list of metrics that relate to the goals you’ve specified from 1. Ideally, you should track these
trends as goals in your analytics software. If you don’t have analytics software, check out KISSmetrics and Google
Analytics.

Align User Segment s t o Conversion Funnels
Conversion funnels can help you understand what your users want and the paths
that they’re taking to find what they need on your website. That’s only half the
marketing equation. In addition to monitoring what your users are doing, you
need to understand who they are.
The fact is that there is no one- siz e- fits- all approach to sales. Conversion
optimiz ation is more complex than most business owners realiz e. Memoriz e the
following infographic from AtBreak.com:

Here Is How Conversion Steps Look
Even for Craz yEgg, it’s rare for people to just come to the site and convert. They need to be wooed, and typically,
this process takes a long- time. And realistically, the more expensive your product, the more steps you should
expect your conversion funnel to have.

Here is an example conversion f unnel f or Craz yEgg:

Users first learn about Craz yEgg when
researching heatmapping options through a
PPC campaign. They come to Craz yEgg,
read a couple of articles and then like the
company on social media. This user keeps
reading articles until finally, they’re ready to
sign up for a free trial. After finding value in
the free trial, he/she becomes a paying
customer.

Conversion Step 1: Discovery
through PPC Ad
Conversion Step 2: Engagement via
the Blog
Conversion Step 3: Engagement
with Brand via Social Media
Conversion Step 4: Free Trial SignUp
Conversion Step 5: Sale!
Customers Need Guidance
As you can imagine, customers and prospects
need guidance to get through this process that can
sometimes span weeks, or even months. The
problem is, most businesses leave their prospects
in the dark, without clear knowledge of conversion
steps they should be taking. Even the most
expensive of websites can experience this
challenge. Take the Covered California Healthcare
Exchange, as an example.
A big barrier to signup is that people aren’t sure how to
enroll in the right health insurance plan. As a result, they need
to rely on customer support agents, which can be expensive
and time consuming.

Guiding your users means understanding their needs, pain points, and personality types. There is no one- siz e- fits
all approach to conversion optimiz ation. People come from a variety of backgrounds and have different levels of
familiarity with the Internet. The challenge is that you need to talk to all of these people on a 1:1 basis.

Create User Personas
Who are the people you’re marketing to, and what do they value? What are their hobbies? What solutions are they
likely seeking out when they find your business? To speak to your customers and prospects on a 1:1 basis, you
need to understand who they are.
When you’re going through this process, don’t worry about visualiz ing groups. Instead, imagine that you’re talking to
real people. Hop on Facebook or LinkedIn and print out pictures of your actual customers.

Here’s an example of a business buyer persona:
Jen is a 26 year old female who lives in California.
She is an Internet power user and frequently spends more
than 10 hours a day online.
She’s well- versed in technology and taught herself how to
build websites at an early age.
She has experience building multi- million dollar marketing
programs for enterprise organiz ations, but she recently left
her job as a manager at a tech company to start her own
content strategy business.
She makes decisions incredibly quickly, keeps a tight hold
over her credit card, and knows how to avoid BS sales
tactics.
She prefers working with her personal networks, and takes a
relationship- building approach to business development.
She only cares about ROI.
When she was working for a big company, she was not the ultimate decision maker but was a key
influencer who worked with her team collaboratively (although she had the flexibility to spend more than
$1MM with very little oversight). Now that she’s working for herself, she is the ultimate decision maker.
She doesn’t make impulsive decisions and gets annoyed by aggressive sales practices. She prefers
doing business with organiz ations who prioritiz e consulting and educating above selling.

Now here is my consumer buyer persona:
Jen is a 26 year old female who lives in San Francisco.
She’s always cold and always feels inadequately prepared for winter.
She enjoys shopping but never has time for it because she is
working.
She relies on the Internet to influence her purchasing decisions.
She is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to her expenses.
Since starting her own business, she has tightened up her budget to
necessities only, but she is always open to great products.
She enjoys buying gifts for her friends and family.
She can be way more impulsive than with her business decisions,
which are typically calculated, rational, and planned out in advance.
Or, you could have a little more fun with your user personas, and create
something like my self- portrait:

Today’s Homework
1. If you haven’t spent time talking on the phone with your customers and prospects, now is the time to start. Talk
to 3- 5 people, and interview them about their experience with your brand. Don’t run them through a checklist,
and don’t come across like you’re fishing for information. Keep the conversation casual — this process is a
type of qualitative research, a concept that we’ll review later this week.
2. Work with your team to create comprehensive buyer personas of different customer types.
If you’re running a B2B business, use the following questionnaire:
The basics:
Job title
Age
Education
Industry
Where they’re located (city, suburb, rural)
Who do they report to
Years in this role
Key job qualifications:
Responsibilities associated with this buyer persona's job

Highest job priorities/responsibilities in this buyer persona’s direct area of influence
The top problems/pain points they’re facing that your company can help solve
Several perceived barriers to the above problems
What actions the buyer may have already taken to solve their key problems
If you’re running a consumer- facing business, use the following questionnaire:
The basics:
Age
Education
Industry
Where they’re located (city, suburb, rural)
Favorite stories
Key characteristics of this persona:
What does he/she do for fun?
What does he/she value?
What is this person’s temperament?
What frustrates this person?
Who are this person’s best friends?
Alright. Another day’s over. Let’s jump into day 3. If you’re feeling ambitious, feel free to get a head start.

Run Qualit at ive Research St udies
On day 2, we promised that qualitative research would be an important topic. This
technique is so valuable to your conversion optimiz ation strategy, that we’ve devoted an
entire day to it.
More often than not, marketers get obsessed with metrics. They’re buried in numbers
without fully- understanding the why and how.
Qualitative research is extremely important for making sense of your research. But
unless you’ve taken social science or MBA classes, you’ve probably never even heard
of this term.

What Is Qualitative Research?
Qualitative research is an exploratory practice that researchers and marketers deploy
when they’re not quite sure what to expect. Generally, researchers enter the process with
a completely blank slate and open mind.
At the beginning stages of qualitative research, marketers and business leaders may not yet
have a thorough understanding of the problem — qualitative research can help define it. Your
strategy is to look for connections between concepts and ideas (ones that you didn’t see before
— the point of qualitative research is to identify new perspectives).
A common misconception about qualitative research is that you’re not collecting data. This is a
myth. It is important to understand that data collection means more than generating statistical
analyses and numbers.
Common methods of collecting data include focus groups, triads, in- depth interviews, uninterrupted observation, and
ethnographic participation. Methods are typically semi- structured and casual as opposed to rigid and formal.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Don’t Waste T ime: Turn to Existing
Data
One way to kickstart your qualitative
research process is to turn to the conversion
optimiz ation tools that you already have in
place. If you’re running live chat software or
are working with a full- fledged customer
service team, you’re in luck. You probably
have a bunch of data that is already going to waste.
Here are t hree places t o t urn:
1. Your LiveChat transcripts and
2. Your customer service records
3. FAQs in your knowledge center (via UserVoice)
The strategy you’re using here is observation. Research customer feedback in a natural,
uninterrupted setting.

The strategy is to sift through these records until you start to see a clear pattern in customer activity. What are some
clear pain points? What do your customers value, and what are they looking for? Why are customers interested in
your business?
Jump into these resources with an open mind, but also make sure to maintain a sense of focus. Pick 2- 3 questions
that most directly impact your business’s ROI. For instance, you might want to research which website elements are
posing challenges to conversions.

Run Customer Interviews
The word “interview” is enough to scare anybody. Before you get research- happy and
whip out your tape recorder, take a moment to remember your most valuable learning
moments. These are casual conversations, not structured, research- driven Q&As.
So do just that. Make an effort to talk to more of your customers 1:1, especially if you are
running your business and part of the marketing team. Don’t expect your sales and
customer service reps to do this leg- work for you. Offer to listen in on some calls, or
handle your calls yourself.
You might want to create a script of questions you want answered, or you may want to keep the conversation

completely open- ended.
Whatever you do, keep the dialogue casual. Don’t make it look like you’re fishing for information — that’s a sure way
to put people on edge.
If you’re struggling to come up with what questions to ask, just look to some of the concepts that you already want to
know:
1. What’s stopping people from converting?
2. What are some pain points that people experience during the conversion process?
3. What is your company’s core value proposition?
4. What could your company be doing better?
5. What would compel your customers to refer your company to a friend?
6. What would it take for your customers to do business with your company again?

Get External Opinions
First impressions are extremely important. If you’re only surveying existing customers, you’ risk
missing out on what’s outside your comfort z one. To keep your company’s perspectives fresh, it’s
important to talk to people who have nothing to do with your brand.
When you only have a day for this exercise, it doesn’t make sense to go plan a focus group or
full- fledged market research study. The solution isn’t to talk to random people on the street, either.
Rely on the power of technology to get you the answers that you need.
1. UserTesting
This platform provides user research results in under an hour. You can set up a test on your website with
instructions for exercises that you’d like completed. UserTesting creates a recording of your screen, collects
written answers, and records what respondents are thinking and feeling along the way.
You can select panel participants by demographic data, geographic information, and experience level with
the Internet.

2. Clarity.f m
Clarity is a matchmaking platform that connects advice seekers with subject matter experts. The majority of
Clarity users are entrepreneurs seeking business advice, but you can also use the platform to recruit
perspectives from your target customer base.
Clarity is also helpful if you are looking to gather feedback from a niche B2B audience, something that may
be more challenging on a platform like UserTesting. When you set up calls on Clarity, you’ll pay by the minute.

If Clarity or UserTesting aren’t viable options for you, just reach out to your friends, family, and professional
network. Offer up a gift card for peoples’ time.
Whatever your approach, be sure to be extremely appreciative, and take your conversations extremely
seriously. You never know what piece of advice will help you fix an otherwise mission- critical conversion
element.

Today’s Homework
1. Create a list of questions that are important to your company’s conversion optimiz ation strategy. These should
be actionable points of research that translate directly influence your company’s bottom line.
2. Start talking to potential customers, existing customers, and people unrelated to your brand. Choose a mix of
approaches that are outlined for Day 3. In case you forgot, here they are again:
Collection and analysis of insights from live chat transcripts and knowledge center forums
Listening to customer service and sales calls
Calling up existing customers and prospects
Personally participating in customer service calls
Running a UserTest
Calling up an expert via Clarity.fm
Talking to friends and family

Fix Low-Hanging Problems
Yesterday, we asked you to run qualitative research studies on your site. Fancy jargon

Yesterday, we asked you to run qualitative research studies on your site. Fancy jargon
aside, the goal was to start learning from your target customers — to help you diagnose
usability challenges that you would otherwise overlook.
What you’ll probably be surprised to see is how much low- hanging fruit opportunities
exist for improving conversions. In many situations, it’s simple stuff that bogs down your
customers.

Focus on the Low-Hanging Fruit
Find opportunities to make changes without the help of your development or IT teams.
Here are some examples of opportunities that other website owners typically find:
Make your web copy shorter — take what you have, cut it in half, and cut it in half
again.
Adjust your calls to action (CTAs) — make them easier to understand and more prominent on
your webpage for users to see.
Make your web forms shorter — a lengthy signup process can turn off your users from
wanting to work with your company.
Clarify your company’s value proposition — the benefits of your product or service may be
difficult to understand.
Boost the incentives — offer up a promotion or giveaway to encourage prospects to engage with your brand.
Create step- by- step instructions — find opportunities to guide your customers through the sales process.
Improve trust — ensure that you aren’t scaring your customers and prospects away; implement trust signals
via social media details, membership stats, testimonials, or client logo.

Dig Deep Where User Psychology Meets ROI
The heart of conversion optimiz ation isn’t math or science. It’s psychology. Your
strategy needs to solve a specific user need. Start by identifying specific user needs
— what you uncovered in chapter 3 — and reverse engineer the solution to meet that
goal.
Now comes the fun part — priorit iz ing your t ime. Your research may end up
presenting a laundry list of needs to address. There are only so many hours in the
day, and your marketing team (if you are lucky enough to have one) is likely limited on
bandwidth.
The way to focus is to look for patterns. Rather than solving every target customer’s pain points 1:1, find
opportunities to solve problems in batches. Then, align this list of pain points with your highest ROI opportunities.
Here are some example challenges t hat could happen on Craz yEgg:
(based on interviews with 14 people)
Ten prospective customers don’t understand the software
One person thinks the signup process is too long
Eight people want an easier way to subscribe to the blog
There is demand from 6 people for a different, complementary product
People (14 of them) were afraid to enter their credit card details
Out of t his list , which do you t hink are t he most immediat e opt ions t o t ackle? They are:
1. The fact that prospects are confused by the software
2. The fact that people are afraid to enter their credit card details
The blog isn’t the biggest priority inhibiting sales
Just one person was bogged down by the signup process; not enough to freak out
The demand for a complementary product is something that requires extensive time and dedication to

address — outside the scope of a quick fix.
The signup form issue was a challenge that Craz yEgg recently experienced. Visitors didn’t want to include their
credit card details to sign up for a free trial. Craz yEgg added an explainer to the company’s checkout page that
visitors would not be charged for the trial.
Craz yEgg quantified the difference in performance, and found that the new page yielded a 116% increase in signups.

Today’s Homework
1. Clean up your website copy. Simplify the messaging as much as possible. Cut it down in half if you can, and
get rid of paragraphs.
2. Of the challenges that you discovered on Day 3, pick 2- 3 that you can address right now. Make those
changes on your website. If you can’t fit it into one day (and do it well), it’s probably too big an issue for the
scope of this exercise.
Conversion optimiz ation is a marathon, not a sprint. BUT, you need to eliminate the hurdles that will inevitably stop
you from winning business. That’s exactly what you did today.

Learn t he Anat omy of a High-Convert ing Landing Page
High performing landing pages combine form with function. There is more to

High performing landing pages combine form with function. There is more to
them than great design — they’re set up to facilitate transactions, signups,
and engagement with your brand.
Great landing pages combine disparate elements into a unified, salesdriving tool. Landing page optimiz ation means knowing how the different
parts contribute to the overall effect. In addition to the “what,” you need to
understand the “why” and “how” of each individual page element.

Know the Following Concepts
Call to Action (CTA)
The call to action signifies the end goal that you want users to complete on your website. It’s
usually a big, bold, bright colored button. Believe it or not, there are entire blog posts
devoted to CTAs — they’re THAT important. It isn’t enough to say “click here” either.

You need to use CTAs to guide your audience through the conversion process and let them know exactly
what to expect as far as next steps — learn more, download e- book, try free demo, etc.
Notice how for Speak2Leads, the CTA stands out, includes an energiz ing action verb, and stands apart from
any other element on the page:

Social Proof

Social Proof
These are indicators that people 1. use your product and 2. like your product. There’s way too
much BS and way too many scams online. You need to show that there are real people who
use and like your product. We’ll explain this concept in depth later, but think: client logos,
testimonials, social media follower counts, subscriber data, etc.

Trust Signals
Similar to the concept of social proof, trust signals help your users understand that you’re
running a legitimate business (and that they can trust you with their personal information, credit
card data, etc).

Cognitive Dissonance
To get your target customers from point A to point B, the path needs to be clear. If you
complicate the messaging by throwing a bunch of page elements and concepts together,
you risk confusing your prospects with ambiguity. This concept is what conversion rate
experts and psychologists call cognitive dissonance.

A/B Testing
Improvement requires constant iteration. If you’re thinking of redesigning a page or testing a
new element, you need to compare two or more versions (and quantify the results). This
concept is known as A/B testing.

F-Shaped Pattern
This is the typical pattern people follow when they read a webpage. Study after study from
researchers like Jacob Nielsen shows that people will scan a page from left to right, down, left to
right again, and then down. Your design should follow an F- shaped pattern to help audiences
digest information as efficiently as possible.

Image Source

One Conversion Goal
That’s right. Just one per landing page. Absolutely no more, no matter how tempting it
seems. No matter how much you try to streamline multiple conversion goals, you’ll end up
confusing your prospective customers.

Value Proposition

Value Proposition
At any given moment, your prospects and customers have one question in mind. “What’s in it
for me?” Your landing pages need to answer this question head- on. Convince your customers
and prospects to do business with you.

See How It All Fits Together
The following infographic will help you visualiz e the anatomy of a high- converting landing page:

Today’s Homework
Today’s homework will be hands- on and really fun:
1. Start by memoriz ing the landing page diagram above. Learn it, embrace it, and start thinking about it from the
perspective of your company. Take out a pen and some paper to sketch out how you want your landing page
to look.
2. Mock up a landing page for 1- 3 product or service pages. Have your team critique to make sure you’re
conveying trust, social proof, a clear value proposition, and a straightforward CTA. This should be a real
landing page, not a practice one.
3. If you’re limited on design and IT resources, sign up for Unbounce. This software lets you create highperforming landing pages, no matter your technical capabilities or experience level. Unbounce will help you
save time and get up and running in a few hours max.

Creat e Variat ions of Exist ing Landing Pages
Conversion optimiz ation requires constant iteration. It’s rare that you’ll
find the right combination of elements on just the first try. To really find
a great solution and ensure that you’re positioned for success, you
need to keep testing ideas.

Be Smart About What You’re Testing
When it comes to landing page iterations, you can test anything from
colors to fonts, messaging, and CTAs. If you spend your time
changing anything and everything, you’ll get very little done.

You need to take a step back and think about the big picture. Every testing strategy starts with
an intelligent framework.
When deciding what to test, start with the concept instead of the individual page element. Here
are some examples:
Trust
Value proposition
Information overload
Action items on CTA
Emotion/Feeling/Sentiment
Option Overload
Friction
Incentives/Promotions/Offers
First Impression

Here’s an Example to Model
There should always be a reason why you’re testing something. Here is how Steve P. Young
has gone through this process while leading marketing at SmartShoot, a marketplace to connect
photographers and videographers with buyers who need media. For SmartShoot to succeed,
customers need to go through three steps:
1. Fill out a project request form
2. Create an account
3. Publish the project request
Like most companies, SmartShoot gets significant traffic to their company’s homepage. The funnel looks like this:

The goal is to get more people past step 2 (the project request form).
To boost this conversion rate, SmartShoot could have tested hundreds of variations. But this strategy is like throwing
darts in the dark. It’s a huge waste of time and money. The path to ROI would be long and confusing.
To decide what to test, SmartShoot went back to the data.
“To have t he quickest and largest impact on our lead f orm conversions, we won’t work on t he page
where t he conversion occurs, but rat her t he page immediat ely bef ore t he conversion — t he highlyt raf f icked home page.”
The process would be less complicated and costly but would produce higher ROI.
This was SmartShoot’s original homepage:

Steve guessed that the CTA, “Post a Project” was not as effective as it could be. Who wants to post a project? That
just feels like work.
Customers don’t want to do the work. They want SmartShoot to do the heavy lifting. So Steve talked to his customer
base to get a more accurate perspective of what they wanted:
Here’s what t hey heard:
We want quotes from vetted photographers and filmmakers
We want samples of their work
We do NOT want to sift through emails to see the quotes and sample work
Based on this feedback, Steve and his team decided to change three words. They changed the CTA from “post a
project” to “get a quote.”

In terms of getting people from the homepage to the request form, “Get a quote” converted at 40% higher rate than
“post a project”.
Clicks aren’t the only thing, though. For SmartShoot, the ultimate goal is to move users down the funnel. “Publish
request” is the real conversion goal (because it’s the most direct path to monetization).
“Get a quot e” won by 35% .
Test concepts that make sense, not on- the- fly ideas.

Today’s Homework
Open up the landing pages you made yesterday. Pick 2- 3 page elements that you think might need adjusting, and
figure out an explanation for why. Go through the methodology we outlined in the SmartShoot example to figure out
variations worth testing on your landing page.
The goal of this exercise is to have 2- 3 versions of your landing page to test. We’ll tell you what to do with these
tomorrow.

Set Up Your A/B Test ing Sof t ware
Conversion optimiz ation is a process that requires continuous testing, refining, and
scaling. Even the smartest marketers aren’t going to get their landing pages right on the
first go. There is always room for improvement, and even the difference of 1% in
conversion rates can make a world of difference.
Let’s say you bring in 1,000 visitors, and a conversion event is valued at $100.
At a 1% conversion rate, you’ll make $1,000. At a 2% conversion rate, you’ll make
double — $2,000. It goes without saying that every incremental improvement is
extremely important for your company.

What is A/B Testing?
The process of A/B testing ensures that you’re always driving these incremental
improvements — and that the discovery process never comes to a standstill.
By definition, A/B tests are a type of experiment. You test two (or more) variations of
something against each other against a randomiz ed, statistically valid sample. Then, you
measure the results to see which variant drives the best ROI.

What Can You A/B Test?
Anything. That’s why you need to be extremely strategic. If you A/B test everything,
you won’t get anything done. You’ll be testing all day without driving real results. As
we mentioned yesterday, you need to prioritiz e your educated guesses.
Here are some examples of elements that may make sense to A/B test:
Page layout
Communication/value proposition
Explainer videos
Visuals
Calls to action
Sign- up forms
Personaliz ation
Copy length
Headings
Subheadings
Customer testimonials
Client logos
Here is an A/B testing case study from Underwater Audio , a company that sells waterproof iPods and audio
accessories.
Underwater Audio’s primary goal is to sell products. Users are likely to be exploring items, researching options for
products, and potentially reading reviews too. For that reason, webpage scanning patterns are extremely important.
Underwater Audio suspected that their pages were not designed as optimally as possible.

Underwater Audio wanted to test out a concept that we discussed earlier this week, the F- Shaped browsing pattern:

Image Source
Typically, companies have just a few seconds to capture their audience’s attention. That’s why the Underwater Audio
tam decided to test the visual hierarchy on their product pages.
Here is what the original page looked like:

The CTA and testimonial bubble were moved to become the center of attention. The company hypothesiz ed that
these elements were important sales tools that would inspire user action.
Here’s what happened:
The company’s hypothesis was correct. The new page outperformed the original version by a 35.6% bump in sales.
The testimonial from a professional swimmer, more prominent CTA, larger font siz e, and clearly communicated
value proposition were key conversion drivers.

How to A/B Test
Don’t do it manually. If you run on in- house IT resources and Excel, you’ll end up taking forever.

Don’t do it manually. If you run on in- house IT resources and Excel, you’ll end up taking forever.
Rely on software to simplify the process as much as possible.
A/B testing software will help you set- up experiments, randomiz e web traffic samples, and track
results in one dashboard. Don’t worry about building something custom. You can get up and running
tomorrow, if you want.
And that brings us to your homework for the week…

Today’s Homework
Today’s assignment is to get set up with A/B testing software. Here are two options worth checking
out. Try demos for both to figure out which functionality you’ll need. Here is a Quora thread that can
help you research the features available in both options — most of the reviewers seem to think that
Optimiz ely is the simpler of the two options.
Visual Website Optimiz er
This tool comes with more than 100 features that let you split website traffic by geography, run multivariate tests,
segment user behavior, and optimiz e for mobile. You can run tests in just a few moments and track analytics within
the same interface.
Optimiz ely
This tool can help you test website elements and track results on the fly with a single line of code. You can change
copy, colors, images, and CTAs.
Unbounce, a tool that we introduced you to earlier this week for creating landing pages, also integrates with both of
these platforms. You can also connect both tools to popular CMS platforms as well as Google Analytics.
The first week is over, and boy, did time fly by quickly. Congratulations on making it through. Here’s to an awesome
Week 2.

Over the next 7 days, you’re going to improve each and every website element. We’ll have you perfect your
CTAs, revise your copy, organiz e customer testimonials, and collect media mentions. These are all concepts
that we walked you through last week. We’re going to treat week 2 as an opportunity to make you sit down
and do it.
By day 14, you’ll be ready to launch your A/B tests using the software that you chose on Day 7 last week.

Perf ect Your CTA
The days of “click here” are gone. You need to do more — much more — to
convince buyers to do business with you.
The problem with “click here” is that it’s generic, impersonal, and disconnected
from what people are actually doing online. When people are doing business
with you or learning about your company, they are doing more than just clicking.
They are learning about your products, trying out your demo, and buying your
products.
Guiding your users through your company’s conversion funnel means helping
them anticipate next steps. Your CTA maintains this human interest and 1:1
customer connection.

T ips f or Writing Great CTA Copy
1. Start with an action verb — these energiz e your audiences

1. Start with an action verb — these energiz e your audiences
2. Be specific — instead of staying “start now,” say “start using product x” (example below)

3. Be explicit about the conversion event — so users know what you want them to do

4. Make the value readily apparent — so users have an incentive to move forward
5. Communicate simplicity and ease — so buyers don’t feel like they have to do extra work
6. Make it about your customers — get inside their heads by using words like “you” and “me” directly in the
CTA
7. Make it short and simple — so buyers can make a decision instantaneously

8. Be transparent — a lot of shady stuff can result from a click; give customers a strong understand of what’s
about to happen

T ips f or High-Perf orming CTA Design
CTAs need more than great copy to perform effectively. You need to make sure you’re leveraging the
right design techniques as well. Here are some best practices that you should follow:
1. Every landing page should have exactly one CTA:
If users have too many options, they’ll get confused. Every landing page should support exactly
one conversion goal. It’s okay if you repeat the CTA twice on a page — just make sure that it’s
the same conversion goal in both instances.
2. T he CTA should be visually prominent on your landing page:
Don’t expect people to be reading your landing page line- by- line. As we explained last week, less copy is
typically more effective. Make sure that your CTA is a big button that readily stands out from everything else
on the page.
3. T he CTA should be a bold color, dif f erent f rom any other element on the page:
As we explained in #2, users are most likely going to be scanning your webpage. They don’t have the time or
attention span to read everything line by line, so make sure that you use color to make the CTAs really, really
obvious.
4. T he CTA should be towards the top of the page:
Don’t make your users scroll. It’s not necessary to keep your CTA above the fold, but don’t make your users
spend a lot of time scrolling. And by a lot of time, we mean just a few seconds. Keep your CTAs as high up on
your landing pages as possible.
Here is an example of a great landing page f rom UserTest ing.com:

Prioritiz e Cross-Device Experiences
It’s an understatement to say that people are glued to their mobile devices. Expect users to be
visiting your website from smartphones, tablets, and desktops. Make your CTAs easy to click and
understand from all three platforms. Mobile optimiz ation is another reason why your CTA should be
featured as close to the top of your landing pages as possible.
People don’t want to scroll — especially on their phones.

Today’s Homework
For today’s homework assignment, you’re going to perfect your landing page’s CTA. Here are the
steps you’re going to take:

1. Start your CTA copy with an action verb
2. Communicate exactly what your buyer is going to get after clicking
3. Choose a bold button color that contrasts with every other element on your landing page
4. Make sure the CTA is as big as you can possibly make it — without looking tacky or ridiculous
5. Ensure that it’s placed as prominently as possible on your homepage
6. Don’t beat your users over the head — make sure the CTA is repeated a maximum of twice

Revise Your Copy, Messaging & Headings
Writing great copy is tougher than it seems. Most people write too much or too little —
or they talk about the wrong things entirely. It’s really important that you devote the time
to getting your messaging right — it’s the most direct way to forge bonds with users
online. Pay attention to the following best practices:

Steps f or Revising Your Messaging
1. Keep your copy short:
Avoid paragraphs. Write what you have to say, cut it in half, and cut it in half again.
We live in a cross- device world where audiences have limited attention spans.
Say what you have to say in as little space as possible. Before you write any copy, remember that brevity is
your goal.
2. Make your text easy to scan:
Use subheadings wherever you go into detail. A user should be able to understand your messaging by
scanning subheadings only.

3. Focus your value proposition:
Create a short and to- the- point elevator pitch for why people should do business with your company. This
should be the focal point for your landing page.
4. Use action verbs:
This subtle technique will energiz e your audience and keep them engaged with your landing page.

5. Help your readers f eel something.
They spend enough time thinking. Emotions will keep them captivated.
6. Be consistent.
Define your company’s tone, voice, and style upfront in styleguide that you can deploy across marketing
initiatives.

Create a Brand Persona, Message Architecture, and Styleguide
A message architecture and brand styleguide will unify your marketing messaging
across platforms and channels. This process is especially important for multi- marketer
teams. You want one, central document to communicate with your users.
Here are the steps that Speak2Leads went through in crafting their message
architecture:

You now need to translate these abstract concepts into a concrete set of requirements for your company’s
communication goals. Get started by completing the following simple styleguide:
Object ive: The goals for your company communication
Audience: The people to whom you’re speaking
Tone: The style in which you speak to your audience
Not es: Any other guidelines that you want to communicate to your team
Keep your styleguide as short and to- the- point as possible, as you will be distributing the information across
multiple teams and departments. Make the process of creating these centraliz ed resources as collaborative as
possible. Don’t feel that you need to outsource the responsibility to just one team member. Have one person take
the lead, but make sure that the dialogue is collaborative.

Today’s Homework
Today’s homework assignment is about refining your brand communications — once and for all. We want to make
sure that you have a reliable and dedicated resource to inform communication best practices across your different
marketing mediums.

1. Brainstorm a big list of the qualities that you and your team believe that your brand should embody. No need
to organiz e anything yet — just make sure that your thoughts are on paper and that you’ve gathered input
from your entire team.
2. Quit the brainstorming and start organiz ing. Take the list you generated in 1., and group similar
words/concepts together.
3. Take the groupings you put together, and organiz e this list into a message hierarchy — similar to the example
that we showed you earlier.
4. Create your messaging styleguide to standardiz e your tone/voice across marketing communications and
channels.
Follow these steps, and your copy will be awesome.

Improve Your Dominant Visual
A dominant visual is the feature that first captures your audience’s attention. It is the
single most important tool for making an impression — and it can help you forget
this bond in an ext remely short amount of time.
Keep in mind that the entirely opposite effect can happen too.
If your visual is obnoxiously flashy or ugly/stock photo- esque, you’ll scare people
away. They’ll bounce so quickly that you won’t know what hit your landing page.
A high- impact visual should be engaging, explanative, and highly professional. It
should communicate human interest, emotional appeal, and educational value.
According to a usability study run by Jakob Nielsen, there is a wide gap in how
photos are perceived online. Some are incredibly attention grabbing and
conversation- worthy. Others are totally ignored — these tend to be generic stock
photos and images generated for the sake of aesthetics.

Eliminate Visual Bloat
Visual bloat (pictures for the sake of having pictures) is annoying — even if your images are
attractive. People prefer to have the information they want right in front of them. That’s
because:
1. Users are impatient. Especially when they’re on their mobile phones, they don’t have time
to wait for your images to download.
2. Buyers are information driven. They don’t care about bells and whistles. They want
information that’s quick and to the point
3. Readers want information that helps them make a decision about their purchase
decisions. Visuals can help them navigate details more quickly than reading chunks of
text.
And from a marketer’s perspective, your goal is the same — you want visual content that can help drive sales.
Remember that’ today’s buyer is more information driven than ever.

Focus on People
Photos of people are extremely attention- grabbing. Just take a look at the following report

Photos of people are extremely attention- grabbing. Just take a look at the following report
created by Nielsen and his team:
Image Source: Jakob Nielsen
According to an analysis of the company about page featured above, audiences are
spending 10% more time reading the photos than reading through the biographies. In other
words, it could be more effective to eliminate these chunks of text and instead, feature easyto- scan quickfacts.
But here’s the catch. The photos you choose need to be of real people. Nobody gives a darn
about stock photos, as exemplified by the analysis below — people scanned over the image
on the page (because it reeks of generic):

People are engaging when they’re real. A pretty face isn’t enough to fuel engagement — people want the backstory
too.

Choose Photos of Products
E- commerce companies need to take great photos of their products. Why? Because
people are paying attention to what stuff looks like when they shop. Photos are especially
important when product aesthetics are likely to influence a purchase decision. Products
that fall into this category include furniture, linens, and clothing. Electronics and TVs? Not
so much. Chances are, if products look alike, aesthetics won’t be a deciding factor.
Take a look at the following product page analysis that Nielsen and his team ran:

People paid significant attention to the Pottery Barn products page (less), but they devoted considerably less
attention to the televisions listing page on Amaz on. People care about what their future looks like. TVs? Well, those
pretty much look the same. It’s the tech specs beneath the surface that count.

Create an Explainer Video
Video is an extremely powerful storytelling medium — more so than any static image.
Videos may cost several thousands of dollars (at least) to produce, but they’re also some
of the most effective tools for communicating your message and value proposition in as
little time as possible. According to this analysis on Unbounce, explainer videos can
increase conversions by up to 20%.
Here is why t hey work:
Visual and verbal learning — people retain more information when learning through visual and verbal cues
Explainer videos communicate your company’s value proposition clearly, compellingly, and persuasively
Explainer videos will force your company to communicate your value in a few minutes, max
When entertaining and executed well, explainer videos can be very shareable — which is great for reaching
new audiences through your buyer’s network of family and friends.
If you make a video, make it great. Even if you’re running on a low budget, make sure to be as compelling and
engaging as possible.

Today’s Homework
Today, you’re going to make sure that you have the best images possible on your landing pages. Keep in mind that
great photos and videos can take a while to create — at the very least, take today to get the ball rolling to create
the best visuals possible.
If you don’t have an inventory of highly effective, original visuals, you’ll need to hire a photographer or videographer.
One solution to help you find a creative professional on short notice is SmartShoot, a marketplace for on- demand,
on- site video and photo creators. Another company worth checking out is Demo Duck — they produce amaz ing

animated videos.

Organize Your Cust omer Test imonials
Social proof sells. What better way to showcase your company’s value proposition than to
share stories from customers that love you. The better (more prominent) the brands you can
publiciz e, the more effective your testimonials will be.

Foundations f or Great Testimonials
What we’re about to say is much easier said than done:
Don’t be salesy.
At first glance, the task of creating a non- salesy testimonials seems pretty darn impossible.
The trick is to prioritiz e human interest as well as the story behind your brand- to- customer
relationships.
1. Explain your customer’s story
2. Explain your customer’s pain point
3. Illustrate how your product solved (or is solving) that pain point
4. Prioritiz e substance and measurable outcomes over fluff
5. Get to the point. quickly — that means no fluff
6. Make them entertaining
7. Include a picture or video, always — don’t rely on text alone
Clarity exemplifies these concepts on its customer case studies page. These were designed to focus on the Clarity
customers (and how they used the platform to make more strategic business decisions).
If you read these testimonials, you’ll see stories about amaz ing entrepreneurs, not a sales pitch about Clarity and its
founder. Not to mention, these write- ups are fun reads that give their Clarity’s users great exposure.

Here is an example from KISSmetrics: the goal is to get to the ROI and value (revenue) as quickly and efficiently as
possible. The case study’s title is highly compelling for an audience of business owners and marketers who are
looking for solutions to boost ROI.

Play Up the Logo Porn
Customer logos are high- impact. These visuals are the most efficient way to convince users
about the credibility of your brand, regardless of whether your company is a startup, sole
proprietor, or enterprise organiz ation.
The key is to share customer logos from companies that are reputable and well known —
these types of companies tend to be very selective when choosing vendors.
Here is an example from KISSmetrics:

And here is an example from InVision, an app that helps designers create high- fidelity mockups of web products:

Today’s Homework
Today, you’re going to get your customer testimonials ready to go. Here are the steps you need to take:
1. Before you jump and ask customers for a case study or testimonial, you need to do a little digging. FIrst,
figure out what it is exactly that you want to communicate to your audience. Are you hoping to explain how
your company saves time or money (or both)?
2. Based on your goals from #1, research which customers are in the best position to tell that story about your
brand. Reach out to these folks directly.
3. Collect testimonials over the phone or via email.
4. Ask permission to share your contact’s name and photo.
5. Offer to take your contact to lunch or coffee. Remember to show your gratitude, as these folks are going out of
their ways to give you support.

Showcase Addit ional Social Signals
Yesterday, we walked you through the concept of social proof, encouraged you to
collect testimonials, and helped you organiz e your client logos. Today, we’ll walk
you through some additional social signals that will help you drive sales.
No need to repeat what we already taught you. Let’s get right to it: 10 social proof
metrics that can help grow your business:

Beyond Testimonials and Logos: Social Cues Worth Giving
1. Real-time user behavior data
To boost your reputation as a popular business, communicate how many

people are using your product right now. This tactic will be especially effective
for hightraffic e- commerce storefronts.
2. Scarcity data
Running low on a product? Let your customers know, so they’ll be compelled to take
action.

3. Customer counts
Have you built up a significant customer base? This is no easy feat. Convince buyers to work with you by
showcasing how many partners are working with you already. Prospects will feel comfortable knowing that
they’re working with a reputable brand.

4. Subscriber counts
Are you running a blog with a significant social media following? Make the most of your stellar reputation by
sharing your subscriber count data. Trust is tough to earn. Subscriber data can help you show your audience
that you are a true authority and influencer in your field.
No need to pull an exact number. Approximations are just fine. Here is an example from Help Scout, a
platform that helps companies provide help desk support:

5. Social Share Data
If you’re integrating a storytelling component (via written or video content), make sure to showcase social
media share data. You can install a plugin like ShareThis that can manage and track all sharing activity for
you.

Today’s Homework
The process of choosing the right social cues combines art and science. You need to make sure that you’re
choosing the right numbers that exemplify your brand’s strengths. Pay attention to the following key steps:
1. Decide which metrics present your brand in the most favorable light possible. Your social media shares may
be lackluster, but your subscriber counts might be high. That’s fine. No brand is perfect — you’re going to be
strong in some areas and weaker in others. Handpick the social metrics that make you look awesome.
2. Make a list of the data points you collected in 1. Figure out the most visually compelling way to present this
information. Remember that these numbers are tools for persuading prospective buyers.
3. Integrate the numbers you picked from #1 with your landing page design. Focus on delivering a cohesive
experience for users on the page. Display social cues prominently, and make sure that you’re paying
attention to how the parts fit together into the whole picture.

Finalize Your Landing Page Variat ions
It’s hard to believe that the week is almost over. You’ve spent the last few
days tweaking elements on your landing pages. Today, you’re going to
finaliz e your variations so that you have 2- 3 versions to test.
If your website is high traffic and receives more than a few thousand hits a
day, it’s safe for you to pick 3 landing page variations. If your page only
receives a few hundred, pick only two variations.

What to Prioritiz e
Choose concepts that you want to emphasiz e before selecting tactics. For
instance, you might want to see how different types of social proof (social media shares vs.
customer counts) compare against one another. You might also decide to test the performance of
an explainer video vs. an infographic.

When deciding what you prioritiz e, start with what you think your customers want, and reverse engineer the tactics
you’ll deploy to get there. The most high- impact strategy for driving sales is to prioritiz e what your customers care
about.

Why Only 2-3 Variations?
At this point, you’ve probably guessed why we’re having you create multiple
landing page variations. Tomorrow, you’re going to set- up A/B tests, and by the
end of this 30- day period, you’ll have data to tell you which landing page was most
effective for converting your web visitors into buyers.
A/B testing software will test each of these landing pages randomly. You’ll need
high- volumes of web traffic to be evenly split against landing pages. Otherwise,
your test won’t be statistically valid (and you’ll be drawing conclusions from skewed
data).
When you have multiple landing page variations, your sample siz es will be much smaller. If you’re running a hightraffic website, you’ll probably be okay, but if you’re running moderately trafficked website, you might end up taking a
hit. It’s better to have statistically valid sample siz es than option- overload to test.
Just keep things simple. You can always test more options later, incrementally.

Today’s Homework
You’ve been making a fair number of tweaks to your landing pages in the last week. Today, all of these changes
stop (temporarily). Commit to the variations that you want to test.
1. Combination A (or what’s already up on your site) will be your control.
2. Combination B will be the variation that you test against A.
3. Create a hypothesis for which page you expect will perform better and why. Explain your arguments in terms of
user behavior.
Make sure that your landing pages make sense. Combine elements in a way that there is absolutely no cognitive
dissonance or confusion for what your company is trying to communicate.

Set Up Your A/B Test ing Sof t ware

A few days ago, we had you try some demos for A/B testing software. Today, you’re
going to finaliz e which one you want. You’re also going to launch your first round of A/B
tests so that you have results to measure at the end of these two weeks.
You’re probably going to use Visual Website Optimiz er and Optimiz ely, the two
solutions we introduced you to previously. Regardless of which one you choose, you’re
going to need to know the following:

How the Sof tware Will Help You
Your A/B testing software will be a comprehensive platform for launching tests,
monitoring patterns, collecting data, and extrapolating trends. The software will take care of
randomiz ing your web traffic, creating random and representative samples, and providing
recommendations based on findings.
There will be no leg- work required on your part. At the very least, you’ll need to implement a
few lines of code. The software will take care of everything else for you. The overall process
will be extremely low- touch.

Why You’re Setting Up Tests Today
A/B tests take time to generate results. You need to make sure that your sample siz e is large
enough to generate accurate results. You also need to run your tests over an extended period
of time — a day or so isn’t enough time.
We recommend that you run your tests for at least two weeks to capture natural fluctuations (like
seasonality). Ideally, your A/B tests should be running on an ongoing basis. Check performance
at regular 2- week intervals. Make optimiz ations iteratively. The end of this month is a great time
to start this process.

How to Get Started
Today, the goal is to get set up. You’re not going to do any analysis, and you’re not going
to check numbers compulsively. You’re going to get your A/B tests up and running, make
sure that everything is working, and then close your browser window.
As tempting as it is to watch your data like a hawk (like watching stock prices), don’t do it.
It’s a waste of time to chase numbers. You should be doing other things (like building a
business) instead.
As a part of getting started, make sure to set up the conversion metrics and KPIs that you want to track. These
include:
Traffic to your website
Relevant click- through rates
Conversion rates
When you set up your tracking in A/B testing software, make sure to keep everything simple. It’s better to track one

or two metrics than to waste time buried in a gigantic data dump. Specify what you want to track on day 1 so that
you’re laser focused on results when they’re ready.

Today’s Homework
You guessed it. Today you’re going to set up your A/B tests. You’ve already picked out your success metrics,
landing page variations, and software of choice (Optimizely vs. Visual Website Optimizer). Now, you just need to fit
the pieces together, install the relevant Javascript on your site, and just get up and running.
We want you to pick the right testing software for your company. Instead of listing out step by step instructions here,
we think you should work with the vendor you chose to make sure that everything is up and running efficiently. Follow
their instructions, support teams, and troubleshooting tools to make sure that you’re good to go.
What’s worth noting is that Optimiz ely is based in the U.S. and has a set of conversion optimiz ation consultants who
can help you make sure that you’re up, running, and testing the right approaches for your website. If you think that
you’re going to be relying extensively on support (i.e. need a lot of hand holding), they might be the solution you
need.
Once you’re done, sit back, relax, and enjoy your evening. Another week is done, and you’re about halfway through
the the program. Conversions en route.

Are we really entering week 3 already? Boy does time fly. We spent the last two weeks helping you perfect your
landing pages. Today, we want to stretch the concept a bit further. Week 3 is devoted to plumbing. Here’s what you’ll
learn:
How to deliver a cohesive user experience
How to deliver an integrated marketing experience
How cohesion can help drive conversions
How to prevent user drop- off at different conversion steps

Map Conversion Pat hs t o Drop Of f
In week 1, we helped you create conversion funnels to visualiz e your company’s
sales cycle. Today, we’re going to help you transform that abstract concept into
something more concrete.
We want you to outline the steps literally that people take on your website en
route to becoming first- time customers and repeat buyers. Draw these paths on a
whiteboard or sheet of people. Use Photoshop. It doesn’t matter how pretty these
diagrams look. They need to be tangible and accurate. You can even just create
a list in Word:

Example Conversion Paths
Here’s what an example pat h would look like f or an agency- based business:
1. St ep 1: Discovers brand through guest blog post
2. St ep 2: Clicks on link from guest blog post to company blog
3. St ep 3: Shares content via Facebook
4. St ep 4: Likes the brand on Facebook
5. St ep 5: Finds another article from the company blog on Facebook
6. St ep 6: Becomes an email subscriber
7. St ep 7: Opens an email that links to a blog post > clicks
8. St ep 8: Finds out from boss that he/she has budget to hire a consultant
9. St ep 9: Requests a phone consultation

And here’s how a pat h might look f or an e- commerce company:
1. St ep 1: Discovers the brand through a word- of- mouth referral from a friend
2. St ep 2: Browses the website for the first time
3. St ep 3: Signs up to receive a deal via email
4. St ep 4: Goes back to the website to redeem the offer
5. St ep 5: Adds item to shopping cart. Gets laz y. Falls asleep at computer.
6. St ep 6: Receives an email reminding him/her to check out.
7. St ep 7: Checks out. Completes first transaction.

Understanding Drop Of f
At each of these steps, there is significant potential for drop- off. Drop off happens when people
start, but don’t complete, the conversion process.
There are a number of reasons why drop- of f can happen:
People forget about your brand.
People get bored.
People get laz y.
Something breaks on the website.
There is too much friction on the website.
People procrastinate and put things off.

Drop Of f Is Entirely In Your Control: Prevent It
It’s easy to categoriz e drop off as something outside of the marketer’s control. Too easy.
Don’t f all int o t his t rap.
If you think you can’t influence these user actions, you’re in denial. You’re afraid to confront
reality. The ability to keep users engaged is entirely in your control. That’s the point of
conversion optimiz ation.
By analyz ing the different steps of your conversion funnels, you can pre- empt drop off by
responding with cues to move people along. Here’s an example for an e- commerce
business:
1. St ep 1: User finds website through word of mouth
2. St ep 2: User places an order and completes checkout
3. St ep 3: User forgets about e- commerce company > after the sale, follow up with an email offer with a deal,
coupon or promotion.
4. St ep 3: User comes back to redeem offer.
5. St ep 4: User adds items to cart. Falls asleep at computer. Forgets about shopping cart > e- commerce
merchant can send an email to logged- in users with abandoned shopping carts; remind them to complete the
transaction.
6. St ep 5: Repeat purchase = conversion = success
The steps mentioned above are very likely to be a real- life scenario, so let’s imagine that it was. Had we not taken
steps to prevent drop- off, the sale would have never happened.

Today’s Homework
1. Go through the list of conversion steps that you expect website users to take on your site. Audit each of these
steps to determine how to prevent drop- off. Write these steps down so that you have the information in front of
you, visually — similar to the lists we walked you through a few paragraphs ago.

2. See how this list stacks up with actual user behavior on your website (assuming that you have analytics
installed). See where people are actually dropping off.
3. Provided that you have analytics in place, create an email marketing campaign to start tackling drop- off. Your
CRM or email marketing system should have a way to set- up rules to target the people who are likely not to
convert.
When you set up these rules, make sure that your email messages make sense. It would be embarrassing to send
a “don’t forget to checkout” email to someone who hasn’t visited your business in months. If you get it right,
marketing automation is an awesome conversion optimiz ation tool. Get it wrong, and you’ll embarrass your
company.

St art Collect ing Email Addresses
Your email list is one of the most powerful tools you can have. Even if you don’t know
what to do with it. Even if you don’t have a real company. Set up a pre- launch page and
start collecting emails.

Why?
People are glued to their inboxes. Thanks to mobile, you can reach your target customers, no matter where they
are. And if you write compelling copy? People will actually look forward to your messages.
Email marketing is one of the most direct ways to reach buyers 1:1. On social media, you’re sending the same
message to your entire community, but with email, you have more opportunity to specializ e and custom tailor your
message. As we’ve mentioned earlier in this guide, personaliz ed messaging is one of the most powerful strategies
for driving conversions.

Why Build Your Own List?
If you’re a marketer, you’ve probably come across opportunities to purchase email lists.

If you’re a marketer, you’ve probably come across opportunities to purchase email lists.
This strategy is ok in some circumstances, but 80% of the time it’s not. People who aren’t
expecting your message will find your approach spammy. They’ll be turned off to your brand.
As it is, people get enough junk mail. It’s why we’re all sick of the postal service and why we
dread checking our mailboxes every day. Email spam is much, much worse.
Shady email marketers will try to tempt you, promising you a significant ROI from very little effort.
You know what? They’re probably lying. As with many things in marketing, if it sounds too good to be true, it
probably is.
Marketing is hard work. Resist the temptation to take a potentially dubious shortcut.

Think about it. When people opt- into receiving more information from you, it’s a sign that they’re engaged with your
brand. They’ll welcome your emails. They’ll read your messages with an open mind and heart. They’ll care about
what you have to say.
When you build your own email list, you’ll build a distribution list of people who are genuinely interested in your
brand. The process of building an email list isn’t easy. It takes time and energy. But it’s totally worth it.

Treat Email Sign-Ups Like a Conversion Goal
People get a ton of email. On a daily basis, they’re bombarded with spam. They’re
incredibly skeptical of (potentially shady marketers) who want to collect their personal
information.

You need to convince your audience that signing up is worth the effort — and that you will treat their information with
respect.
Clarity does a great job incentiviz ing signups by offering a free ebook download:

So does Noah Kagan with his blog, OkDork:

Strategies f or Collecting E-mail Sign-Ups
Wondering how to get started?

Wondering how to get started?

Here are some techniques f or generating e-mail list sign-ups:
1. Set up a landing page with an offer for a free e- book. Request that users signup
to download the e- book. When a user signs up, send him or her the e- book via
email. That way, you can encourage more opt- ins to your e- mail list.
2. Include a subscribe widget on your blog, next to your best content.
3. If your website features account sign- ons, require e- mails as part of the signup process.
4. If you’re running an e- commerce business, you can offer an incentive (like a coupon, deal, or promotion) in
exchange for your users signing up.
5. If your company hasn’t launched yet, you can validate your idea by setting up a pre- launch page like the one
that PitchBox created:

Today’s Homework
Start collecting e- mail addresses using at least one of the five techniques that we mentioned above. Choose the
techniques that best complement your existing marketing strategy. Remember — conversion optimiz ation is about
leveraging key brand assets for growth.
If you don’t see an immediate opportunity to start generating e- mail signups, don’t worry. Spend sometime refining
your overall marketing strategy instead. Commit to producing an e- book or whitepaper, for instance.

St art Planning Your Email Market ing Campaigns
Yes, you started building your email marketing list yesterday. No, we’re not going
to take room to pause. We want you to stay on your toes and continuously
moving forward. That’s why we’re having you plan your email marketing
campaigns today.

When to Send Your First Email
The short answer? Immediat ely. You want to email new subscribers as soon as
they sign up. Establish an instant connection to be at the forefronts of your buyers’
attention spans.
Send your subscribers an e- book or great piece of content. Add value right off the bat, and
you’ll instantly grab your audience’s attention.
Keep in mind that you don’t be executing your email campaigns manually. You’ll use automation
software like Marketo, Eloqua, InfusionSoft, or MailChimp to reach your prospects.

T hink in Terms of Sequences

Plan your email campaigns around specific conversion events. Keep a long- term view of your
funnel. When people aren’t buried in emails, they’re not necessarily looking to spend money.
They’re looking to relax, feel entertained, and learn something new.
Your email marketing sequence should promote engagement, not direct sales. Conversions will
happen — we promise.

Plan out the steps you want your users to take. This process is called sequencing, and you can do it in a
spreadsheet.

T hink in Terms of Segments
One way to focus your email marketing strategy is to segment your list. Create groupings for
customers and prospects. Segments will allow you to tailor your messaging to specific
customers and prospects.
Your CRM software can help you organiz e your segments. Just think about how you want to
organiz e your email list. Here are some grouping ideas:
Prospective customers
All repeat buyers
One- time buyers
Place of residence
Gender
Business type (small business, startup, enterprise)

Know the Law
The FTC is serious about preventing spam. Make sure to follow the CAN- SPAM Act so that
you’re not exposed to potential lawsuits. Here are the rules from the FTC:
1. Don’t use f alse or misleading header inf ormat ion. Your “From”, “To”, “ReplyTo” and routing information — including the originating domain name and email address
— must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.
2. Don’t use decept ive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the
content of the message.
3. Ident if y t he message as an ad. The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose
clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.
4. Tell recipient s where you’re locat ed. Your message must include your valid physical postal address. This
can be your current street address, a post office box you’ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a
private mailbox you’ve registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under Postal Service
regulations.
5. Tell recipient s how t o opt out of receiving f ut ure email f rom you. Your message must include a clear
and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting email from you in the future. Craft the
notice in a way that’s easy for an ordinary person to recogniz e, read, and understand. Creative use of type
siz e, color, and location can improve clarity. Give a return email address or another easy Internet- based way

to allow people to communicate their choice to you. You may create a menu to allow a recipient to opt out of
certain types of messages, but you must include the option to stop all commercial messages from you. Make
sure your spam filter doesn’t block these opt- out requests.
6. Honor opt - out request s prompt ly. Any opt- out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt- out
requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient’s opt- out request within
10 business days. You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying
information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or
visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt- out request. Once people
have told you they don’t want to receive more messages from you, you can’t sell or transfer their email
addresses, even in the form of a mailing list. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a
company you’ve hired to help you comply with the CAN- SPAM Act.
7. Monit or what ot hers are doing on your behalf . The law makes clear that even if you hire another
company to handle your email marketing, you can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the
law. Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the
message may be held legally responsible.

Today’s Homework
1. Study the FTC laws to make sure your emails are compliant.
2. Create 3 segments in which to group your email list.
3. Draft a warm, engaging welcoming email based on the guidelines we specified above.

Creat e a Free Trial Program
People are protective of their wallets. Same with businesses. As a seller, you need to prove the value of your
product upfront. A website, product descriptions, and even video may not be enough.
Users may want to preview your product before they commit to becoming subscribers or first- time buyers.

Prove the Value of the Product
Give them full transparency or functionality, but put a time limit on the trial. For instance,
Craz yEgg (heatmapping software) gives users a free trial for a full 30 days:

Fuz e, a platform for video collaboration, conference calls, and presentations provides a 60- day free trial.

KISSMetrics provides a 14- day trial before users can opt to pay for a subscription:

If You Can’t Do a Free Trial?
One option is to feature a demo. A Speak2Leads free trial is quick to set up, but because there is
people- power involved, it is not instantaneous. That’s why the company offers a demo as well:

If you’re a consultant, you may not have a free trial or demo to offer up. What you can do in this situation is provide
advice for free. You can schedule a free consultation call and/or produce free content to demonstrate your expertise.

Match the Trial to the Right Funnel Stage
Advertise your free trial on your website —especially where early funnel users are likely to be
browsing. Audiences who aren’t yet ready to buy need an intermediate step. Free trials are
highly compelling offers for people who need more time to decide.
For instance, when readers come to the Craz yEgg Blog, they’re not necessarily ready to
become paying customers. A sidebar banner showcases a free trial instead:

Today’s Homework
Today’s homework may take more than just today
to complete. At the very least, you can get the ball
rolling with your development teams to get your
free trial ready as soon as possible.
1. Set up your free trial. You might offer a free
consultation or trial account that’s limited to a
specific period time. Choose whichever
framework will make the most sense for your
business.
2. Adjust your product pricing page to reflect the
free trial (once it’s ready)
3. Advertise your free trial on your blog and
homepages (once the trial is ready)
4. Notify your email/distribution list that you have
a free trial.

Add Live Chat Sof t ware
When customers visit your website, they likely have questions. They want to find

When customers visit your website, they likely have questions. They want to find
answers with as little effort as possible. Most companies have detailed knowledge
centers, extensive FAQs, and customer support phone numbers.

Image source: LiveChatInc
The thing is, you have to consider what your website visitors are doing when they come to your website:
They’re at work, tackling multiple projects at once
They’re at home, watching TV (and don’t want to hop on the phone)
They’re exhausted from a long day at work and don’t want to spend hours reading through knowledge centers
or FAQs
By installing live chat on your website, you’ll empower users with on- demand information. Live chat also lets you
keep scripts of conversations for your customer support teams (and company leadership) to analyz e.

Staf f ing Live Chat Sof tware
The concept of live chat may seem overwhelming, initially. How can a sole proprietor possibly
manage incoming query requests? Businesses need to make sure they’re operating as cost
effectively as possible — it doesn’t make sense to pay a sales director a six- figure salary to sit
around fielding live chats all day.
Here are a couple of opt ions:
Hire an intern: Live chat is a great way to teach a young, hungry, ambitious professional the
nuts and bolts of customer support.
Rotate the responsibility between entry level team members so that you’re optimiz ing your resources.
Outsource the responsibilities to live chat agents — companies like TaskBullet and LiveChatAgent can help.
Make live chat a part of your existing customer support team’s responsibilities (if your organization is large
enough to afford a support team).

Park your live chat after- hours. Nobody expects your business to be fielding requests after hours. Let your
customers leave messages, but let them know when you’ll be back the next day — give a specific time if
possible.
The point is that solutions are available for
organiz ations of all siz es. Don’t shy away from
live chat just because you’re running a small
business.

Choosing Live Chat Sof tware
Don’t design anything custom. There is software
out there to get live chat up and running with
minimal effort.
As with any software or platform, choose what
best complements your business’s strategic
goals. Here are some of the best options on the
market:
1. LiveChat Inc
This LiveChat platform allows you to
administer a pre- chat survey and view what
page the respondent is browsing at any
given moment. These features will help you
know your customers and what they’re doing.
Plans start at $36 per month.

Image source: LiveChatInc
2. LivePerson
This live solution was one of the first available online. The software integrates with Salesforce and Facebook
and comes with a suite of analytics tools for administrators and operators to access. Plans start at $99 per
month.

3. BoldChat
This platform features several tiers of live chat software, depending on what your business needs.
Administrators can distribute chains based on operator availability and expertise so that customers won’t be
passed through chains of agents. Plans are are based per year and per agent, starting at $99 per month.

Today’s Homework
1. Choose a LiveChat software provider. If you need more options to research, check out this post on Craz yEgg
that reviews 7 solutions.
2. Start the process of getting the software up and running on your website. Realistically, the process may take
several days (or weeks), especially if you need to put together a live chat script for your agents to follow.
Don’t rush the process. Your live chat agents are likely to be the first line of communication between your brand and
your customers. Make sure that this process is set up to drive conversions and to move your customers through the
conversion funnel.
In addition to introducing prospects to your product (and answering questions), live chat agents need to be trained to
find answers to important support requests.

Inst all Google Analyt ics
About half the people reading this guide will have Google Analytics up and
running already. If you’re already running analytics software, you can skip
today, take a break, or get a head start on tomorrow.
If not, today is an ideal break point to get the plumbing in place.

Why Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a robust platform for tracking your traffic data. Both free and paid plans are

Google Analytics is a robust platform for tracking your traffic data. Both free and paid plans are
available for a range of websites and business siz es.
If you’re operating a company with high volume web traffic (more than 10 million hits/month), you
may need to pay for Google Analytics Premium. This tool will give you access to better support
and unsampled data — in other words, you’ll see a complete data picture of everybody visiting
your website.
Google Analyt ics premium comes wit h t he f ollowing:
Processing for up to 1 billion hits per month (vs. the 10 million/month with standard accounts)
Faster, same- day processing
Service- level agreement around data collection, reporting, and processing
Up to 50 custom variables
Unsampled reporting
Unaggregated report downloads
Dediced account management
Phone & email support
Implementation consulting
Live & webinar training
24/7 emergency escalation support
Most small businesses and startups are just fine using the free implementation of Google Analytics. You can find a
complete list of features here.
Google Analyt ics will help provide t ools f or t he f ollowing:

Advertising reports
Campaign measurement
Cost data import
Tracking
advert ising
& campaign
perf ormance

Mobile ads measurement
Remarketing
Search engine optimiz ation

Advanced segments
Annotations
Content experiments
Custom reports
Dashboards
Analyt ics & t est ing

Real- time reporting

Audience data & reporting
Browser & operating systems
Custom dimensions
Flow visualiz ation
Map overlay
Monit oring
audience
charact erist ics &
behavior
Cross- device

Mobile traffic
Social reports
Traffic sources

Cross- device
& cross- plat f orm
measurement

Universal analytics (measure digital platforms beyond web and apps), so you can
connect offline conversions with online activity

API integrations
Filters
Dat a collect ion
& management

User permissions

App profiles
App specific metrics
Crash and exception reporting
Google Play integration
Mobile app t racking

iOS and Android SDKs

AdSense
AdWords
Google Display Network
Google Tag Manager
Google+
Product
int egrat ions

Wildfire

Attribution modeling & comparison
Data driven attribution
Ecommerce reporting
Goal flow
Goals
Sales & conversions

Multi- channel funnels

What Should You Track?
When it comes to web analytics, focus is key. More is not necessarily better. It’s easy to
become buried in the world’s biggest data dump.
Focus on reports that drive ROI for your business. If you’re not sure where to start, browse
through the videos here.
Here are some helpful pointers for what to start tracking:
Goals complet ed on your websit e: You specify which conversion goals you want to track. These include
free trial (or user account) signups, demo completions, and key pages visited. You can segment these
conversion events by web traffic source.

Visit or behavior by market ing campaign: You can track performance by implementing custom UTM
tracking code. See a crash course from HubSpot here.

Ref erral t raf f ic sources: Pay attention to who’s sending traffic your way.

Today’s Homework
The only way to learn Google Analytics is to try it out yourself and practice. Today, you’re going to get started by
taking the first step.
1. Install Google Analytics. Follow the official step- by- step guide here.
2. Log- in to Google Analytics. Start

2. Log- in to Google Analytics. Start
poking around. You won’t have
any data on your website, but
you can at least start becoming
acquainted with the website’s
functionality.
3. Watch 3 Google Analytics
training videos here. Keep
watching the videos consistently,
every day — especially as you
start to collect more data.
4. Monitor your referral tracking
sources every day.
5. Once you are feeling
comfortable with Google
Analytics, set up your goals.

Launch User Surveys
Google Analytics is a great way to
collect and monitor website trend
data. But what are your visitors
thinking? To answer that question,
you need to ask your users some
basic questions.
If you’re like most website owners or
marketing managers, you don’t have
time to reach out to everybody 1:1.
Administer a web survey instead.

Survey Fundamentals
Market research surveys have a
bad rap (because they’re annoying).
It’s common for companies to spam
their customer list with phone calls
and really long email surveys.
Stop badgering people. You’ll only
scare them away.
But don’t be overly cautious and
quiet, either. People want to share
feedback about your company.
They’re happy to help, and they feel
good knowing that you value their
opinion.
Just be sure to follow the golden rule
of web surveys:
Keep it short.

Don’t worry about being scientifically accurate. Even the most sophisticated survey
tools have natural biases in the data. Just make sure you’re focused on the
information that matters most for creating the best user experience possible.
Now t hat you know t he golden rule, here are some ot hers:
1. Make sure your survey has a purpose
Avoid asking questions out of curiosity. Anything you invest your time, money,
or resources into should directly influence revenue. Ask questions related to
user experience, usability, and buying decisions. Translate this feedback into
revenue- generating initiatives for your website.
2. Keep the questions simple
Get right to the point. Don’t use technical jargon. Be direct. Don’t assume that your website
visitors know what you’re talking about.
3. Be consistent throughout the survey
A rating scale is a great way to capture user sentiment. and to quantify key variables. If you
decide to use a rating scale, make sure to stay consistent. If you switch your rating scale around, you’ll end
up confusing your respondents.
4. Keep the order logical
Begin with an introduction that inspires your website visitors to take your survey. Jump into broad questions
and then narrow down your focus. Ask for contact information and demographic details at the end of the
survey.
5. Of f er a ‘thank you’
Reward your users for taking the time to complete your survey. Give them a discount or promotional code.
Incentives are a great way to boost response rates. But keep in mind — incentives also create sampling
biases in your data. Not everybody will be motivated by the same incentives.

Tools to Use
There are range of tools available for getting started. Choose the option that best supports
your implementation, customiz ation, integration, and analytics needs.
1. SurveyMonkey
This tool is ideal for website owners who need control over their surveys. Key features
include question creation, custom branding, response collection, and robust reporting.
Pro plans start at $24 per month.
2. SurveyGiz mo
SurveyGiz mo is ideal for website owners who want to fully customiz e their surveys. The platform features preprogrammed question types, a custom questions API, advances survey logic, and integration partner support.
Customers can also partner with the SurveyGiz mo team to get surveys designed, customiz ed, and deployed.
Plans begin at $19 a month.
3. iPerceptions
This tool allows website owners to collect answers to a range of research questions. The platform

immediately captures information including location, IP address, operating system, browser type, and version.
You can also listen to customer information in 32 languages. The platform comes with advanced text mining
capabilities and the ability to collect information on a secure site through encryption features. Premium plans
begin at $399 per year.
4. Qualaroo
This tool will help you understand and optimiz e your website experience. Qualaroo Insights will let you ask
focused questions to your website visitors. Qualaroo lets you target the right questions at exactly the right
moment you are likely to uncover critical insight. You can serve unique follow- up questions based on previous
answers. For instance, when a user answers that a certain feature is important to them, you can ask why.

Today’s Homework
Set up your first online survey. Here’s what you
need to do:
1. Decide what level of customiz ation you want.
This will help you figure out whether you need
to use a tool like SurveyMonkey or
SurveyGiz mo or whether your time is better
spend using something like Qualaroo.
2. Go through each platform to try demos.
Decide which one complements the look and
feel of your website.
3. Decide what questions you want to ask about
your website. These questions should
influence decisions about your business.
Have your team weigh in with ideas.
4. Launch!
Whoo hoo! Another week down. Time to jump into
the final stretch.

Here’s What You’ll Learn in the Final
Stretch
Bring everything you’ve learned this month together
Streamline moving parts of your conversion optimiz ation framework into a cohesive strategy
Analyz e trend data from this past month
Deliver a seamless user experience

Improve Your Checkout Page
Shopping cart abandonment happens to the best of brands. Just think about it. When
people shop online, they’re probably multitasking. They’re on their lunch breaks at
work, watching TV, or sitting in class during a lecture.
It’s easy to say, “Ehhh. I’ll come back later.”
According to Shopify, retailers are potentially losing 67.45% of their sales. For every
100 customers, 67 of them will leave without purchasing. Imagine the revenue stream
you’d be able to build if you could convert those missed connections into paying
customers.

Image source: Shopify
According to analysis done by Statistica, shoppers leave for the following reasons:

These barriers t o sale are all f ixable. Here is what businesses can do:
Present ed wit h unexpect ed cost s: Be transparent about your costs from the get- go. Don’t surprise
customers with any unnecessary processing fees. Remember that today’s consumers are entirely selfdirected. Empower them with as much information as possible during the research process.
People who are just browsing: Give buyers a compelling enough reason to buy. Coupon codes,
promotional offers, and freebies are significant value propositions. Additionally, you can follow up with a
personaliz ed email marketing campaign.
Found a bet t er price elsewhere: Offer a competitive price match.
Decided against buying: Deploy a personaliz ed, non- spammy email marketing campaign.
Websit e navigat ion complicat ed: Simplify it, or offer LiveChat.
Websit e crashes & process t aking t oo long: Monitor bugs. Make sure that your website is fully
optimiz ed. If you can’t make any interim changes, give customers a head’s up of how long they should expect
the process to take. The more you can curb expectations, the better.

Concerns about payment securit y: Optimiz e your checkout page with security badges and trust seals.
Prove to your users that you care about their privacy.

Suggestions f rom Shopif y
Shopify (a platform for powering e-commerce storefronts) has put together a great blog post on
specific steps you can take to optimiz e your checkout pages. Here is an adaptation of the list
they’ve provided:
1. Show T humbnails
Make sure that users can see the items they’re buying. Don’t show generic images. Be
exact, so customers know what they’re buying.
2. Display Security Logos
In a recent test published by Get Elastic, an online retailer was able to boost site sales by 4- 6% after placing
a security badge on their website. Shopify points out, however, that there are other studies that show a
decrease when using these logos. Make sure to test the placement and style as well.

3. Test Single Page vs. Multi-Page Checkout
Some conversion optimiz ation specialists believe that single page checkout is more effective. Other retailers
see stronger results from multi- page checkout. If you’re going to take the multi- page route, make sure to
include a progress bar so that users don’t get frustrated.
4. Make It Easy to Edit Shopping Carts
Shoppers need the flexibility to make changes. Don’t lock them into a transaction they don’t want.
5. Of f er Multiple Payment Options
FreshGigs saw a 15% increase in their checkout process by enabling the option to pay with American
Express.
6. Of f er Support
Provide the option for live chat and a customer support number directly on the checkout page. Remind
customers that you’re there to help if systems get wonky or processes get confusing.
7. Don’t Make People Register
Don’t make people register. That’s a total turn- off. Give them the option to just buy. A study by User Interface
Engineering showed a 45% increase in customer purchases when forced registration was removed from the
checkout page.
8. Of f er Free Shipping

Double Your Conversions in 30 Days

Double Your Conversions in 30 Days

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Double Your Conversions in 30 Days