14 tactics for improving conversion rates on travel web sites. Patterns and anti-patterns.

1. Homepage Design
LEVERAGE YOUR TOUCHPOINT

2. Stay Connected
facebook.com/SabreTravel
twitter.com/SabreTN #ttx15
agentstream.com
youtube.com/SabreTravelNetwork
sabretravelnetwork.com/blog
#ttx15 super excited to hear
@jalanbaumgarten talk about
Homepage Design.

3. ALAN BAUMGARTEN – UX / IA / IXD
Entertainment
William Morris Agency
Corporate Web Site – WMA.com
Business Extranet – Booking Resource Center
DreamWorks
Interactive Marketing – Shrek
Sony Digital Pictures Entertainment
Interactive Marketing – Stuart Little 2
Disney
Interactive Marketing – Lion King IMAX
Hallmark
Interactive Marketing – Visit Dinotopia; Energizer Hatch
& Win
Sci Fi
Interactive Marketing – Steven Spielberg’s TAKEN
NBC Sports
Web-based Fantasy Football Game
National Basketball Association
Web-based All Star Game
Technology
Sabre Airline Solutions
Enterprise Software – Airline Industry
Travel Industry Web Solutions
Novell
Corporate Web Site – Novell.com
Corporate Intranet – Novell Innerweb
Interactive Marketing – Brain Game, NetWare Dare
Business Communications – eSecurity; eProvisioning
Hitachi Data Systems
Corporate Web Site – HDS.com
Corporate Intranet – HDSnet
Business Communications – True North Flash
campaign
LANDesk Software
Corporate Web Site – LANDesksoftware.com
Partner Extranet – LANDesk Channel Sales
PowerQuest
Corporate Web Site – Powerquest.com
Interact
Corporate Web Site – Salexlogix.com; Act.com
Business/Commercial
Ancestry.com
Interactive Marketing – Ancestry Gift Campaign
The Greenwich Workshop
Corporate Web Site – Greenwichworkshop.com
Business Extranet – dealers.greenwichworkshop.com
Black Diamond
E-commerce Site – Blackdiamondequipment.com
American Crafts (Scrapbook.com)
E-commerce Site –Americancrafts.com
Park City Mountain Resort
Information and E-Commerce Site –
parkcitymountain.com
Premiere Resorts
Travel booking site
Caballo Negro
E-commerce site –
Drinkcaballonegro.com
WebLessons
Web-based eLearning Application –
Weblessons.com
SalvageSale
E-commerce site –
salvagesale.assetnation.com
Government/Non-Profit
Utah Freedom Festival
Organization Web Site
Interactive Marketing
2002 Paralympics
Organization Web Site – Paralympics2002.com
Park City Chamber of Commerce
Organization Web Site – Parkcityinfo.com
Park City Government
Government Web Site – Parkcity.org
Utah Advertising Federation
Organization Web Site – Utahadfed.com
Dallas Zoo Education
Educational Outreach Web Site –
dallaszooed.com
Leukemia & Lymphomia Society
Oranizational Web Site –
www.lls.org

4. Who is coming to my site?
What experience do they want?
How can I get them to buy (more)?
THE THREE TERRIBLE QUESTIONS

5. Who is coming to my site? – Web Analytics / SEO
What experience do they want? – Research / Usability Testing
How can I get them to buy (more)? – Conversion Optimization
THE THREE TERRIBLE QUESTIONS

6. LET’S GO BACK…

13. 14 Tactics for Conversion Optimization

14. 1. Design for mobile first
2. Have a call to action (CTA)
3. Use a contrasting CTA button
4. Experiment with CTA button text
5. Communicate your value proposition
6. Lose the rotating banners
7. Use personalized, dynamic content
8. Assume ADHD
9. Minimize form clutter
10. Create urgency
11. Convey trust
12. Use the “F” word
13. Engage below the scroll
14. Offer live chat
THE MONEY SLIDE

15. Tactic #1
Design for mobile first
In 2014 online shoppers spent 521 billion minutes on smartphones and 143 billion minutes on tablets. Together, that’s 100+
billion minutes more than the time spent on desktops.

19. Tactic #2
Have a call to action (CTA)

24. Tactic #3
Use a contrasting CTA button

31. Tactic #4
Experiment with CTA button text

37. Tactic #5
Communicate your unique value proposition

44. Tactic #6
Lose the rotating banners
In one case study, removing the rotating banner reduced the loading time to less than 2 seconds – a 10 second improvement –
with a conversion rate improvement of a whopping 88%.

48. Tactic #7
Use personalized, dynamic content

50. Source: HeBS Digital

54. Tactic #8
Assume ADHD
A stunning 55% of web users spend fewer than 15 seconds actively on a page.

59. Tactic #9
Minimize form clutter
Flying Scott, an airport car parking company, removed all unnecessary form fields from their details page of their booking
process and saw a 35% increase in form submissions.

64. Tactic #10
Create urgency

68. Tactic #11
Convey trust

75. Tactic #12
Use the “F” word
(Free)

79. Tactic #13
Engage below the scroll

83. Tactic #14
Offer live chat
44% of online consumers say that having questions answered by a live person while in the middle of an online purchase is one
of the most important features a Web site can offer.

87. Bonus Tactic
Video
By 2018 75% of web traffic will be based on video. In one test, a page with a video generated 64% more conversions than an
identical page with no video but the same content.

90. FINAL EXAM
http://www.tenontours.com
http://www.thomastours.com
http://www.airfarewatchdog.com
http://www.jetsetter.com
http://www.statravel.co.uk
http://to-europe.com
http://www.affordabletours.com
http://www.froschvacations.com

91. Stay Connected to Me
http://designforpros.com
@jalanbaumgarten
Alan.Baumgarten@sabre.com