A structured approach to conversion rate optimization

Mark PatronOctober 2011

A Structured Approach to Conversion Rate Optimization

Conversion Rate Optimization


IntroductionConversion rate optimization (CRO) is the methodof creating an experience for a website or landingpage visitor with the goal of increasing thepercentage of visitors that convert into customers1.With the average online website conversion ratebeing just 2% to 3% there is clearly a lot ofheadroom to improve things. Forrester Researchestimates for every $100 spent on driving traffic towebsites, companies spend just $1 converting thattraffic into business. So, an extra dollar spentintelligently on CRO should be a better investmentthan spending more money on generating traffic.

Over the past 3 years RedEye has joined forces withEconsultancy to research how companies areimproving their website conversion. To understandwhat is working and what is not we have surveyedthousands of digital marketers. Whilst there havebeen some changes in favourite methods and toolsused the one thing that has consistently stood outis that to improve conversion you need astructured approach.

In 2009, 2010 and 2011 having a structuredapproach to conversion was one of the mostpredictive characteristics of survey respondentswho were having success with improvingconversion rates. In 2010 some 89% of surveyrespondents who had a structured approach toconversion had improved conversion over the past12 months2. This year a similar result was seen with74% of the survey respondents who said they hada structured approach to conversion stating theyhad improved sales3 . This year’s survey also foundcompanies that had a structured approach toconversion were twice as likely to have seen a largeincrease in sales. Structure had the highestcorrelation with improved sales and the secondhighest correlation with improved conversionrates.

However, producing a workable and successfulstructure isn’t always an easy task. In this year’sRedEye Econsultancy CRO Report only 31% of

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companies said they did have a structuredapproach to improving conversion. The problem isthere are so many tools to help improveconversion (multivariate testing, web analytics,usability testing, surveys, basket abandonmentemail… the list is endless); it’s difficult for anonline marketer to know where to start.

Using the findings from the past three years ofresearch and our own experience as practitioners,RedEye has produced a structure we believe willhelp marketers understand what will have thegreatest incremental improvement on onlinebusiness, and ultimately, if implemented correctly,will improve website conversion. At RedEye webelieve a structured approach to improvingconversion needs to be a continuousimprovement process; an iterative cycle ofmeasurement, analysis, testing and optimization(see Fig. 1).

Each stage of the cycle has a purpose and goal,that leads to the next, helping you understandyour users, and improve your conversion. Everywebsite is different so what works for one websitewill not necessarily work for another. However, byfollowing this structured formula you will achievea clear direction for improving conversion andunderstand what methods and tools can be used,at what stage, to optimize your online business.

Our research into conversion has proved the moremethods online marketers use to improveconversion the more likely they are to have betterresults. Our latest findings show companies whoseconversion had improved over the previous 12months used on average 26% more methods toimprove their conversion than those companieswhose conversion had not improved3. We alsoknow from experience that using complimentarymethods gives a better result. Fig. 2 shows howdifferent methods can be used to integrate bothqualitative and quantitative data to understandboth the “what” and “why” of online userbehaviour. CRO is both a science and art.


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Fig. 2: Mapping complimentary quantitative and qualitativemethods to understand online customer behaviour

Fig. 1: RedEye’s structured approach to improving conversion


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This RedEye white paper will take you through thedifferent methods and tools you can use withineach stage of RedEye’s conversion rateoptimization process, to help you achieve aneffective structure for improving conversion.

Stage 1: MeasurementYou cannot manage what you cannot measure, sothe first stage in the process is measurement. Inorder to continually improve conversion you needto constantly assess your activity as well as themarket place. Here are a few of the most importantpractices to get started on the road to greatconversion.

Business goals

As they say in the army, if you are unclear aboutyour objectives then you cannot fulfil yourmission. Define your overall goals. Do you wantsales? Registrations? Clicks? Or eye-balls? It is okayto have more than one goal, although you shouldprioritise them, ideally using some form of score-card. Once you have set your objectives you canstart to achieve them. Our research has shown, outof those that had improved conversion, 94%identified key performance indicators as a bestpractice they carried out3. Companies alsoreported that identifying key performanceindicators was their top best practice (see Fig. 3).

Fig. 3: Which of the following practices do you carry out?

Source: RedEye Econsultancy Conversion Rate Optimization Report, 2011


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KPI’s (key performance indicators) to consider

• Top line stats: Traffic fluctuations, revenues, conversion• Content: Top URL’s and sections of the site that have a high variance from previous weeks• Marketing: Top-line channel comparison• Search (paid and natural): Top phrases or phrases that may have changed dramatically• Email: Comparisons of all email activity • Funnels: The online user journey from entry to purchase• Engagement: Recency of visits/interaction with social media• Successful internal search

Benchmarking

Study well-executed competitor sites to findfeatures you should be using or testing. It’s freeresearch and probably the best investment you canmake. Piggyback on your competitors’ investmentby testing your competitors’ sales funnelscompared to yours. You normally find your bestcustomers are also your competitors’ bestcustomers, so your customers will know how yourwebsite compares; so should you! Simon Nixon, co-founder of Moneysupermarket.com, spent 20% ofhis time benchmarking competitors4. Leadingonline brands like ASOS use benchmarking tomaintain the best user experience for theircustomers (see www.redeye.com/clients/case-studies/asos/).

Web analytics data

Web analytics data is the most important source ofmeasurement for CRO. The single largest cause ofinaccuracy with web analytics data is out of datesite tagging, so regularly check page tags.

Surveys

Getting real consumer feedback is invaluable. Usesurveys on entry to ask what the user’s objective is,then another survey on exit to identify if theirobjective was fulfilled. Post-purchase surveys canalso work well. (Some free or low cost survey tools are

listed in Resources at the end of this whitepaper.)Internal search data

Identify good and bad searches. Are peoplesearching for diaries and if so should you stock them?Analyse the success of highly searched phrases byunderstanding if people are re-searching orleaving the site. If either of these things ishappening a high percentage of the time then youneed to investigate how you can help yourcustomers find what they want.

Stage 2: Analysis

Once you have set goals in place, and you knowthe direction you need to go, the next stage in theconversion process is analysis. Analysis will helpyou identify any potential issues or pain points onyour website, as well as help you pull out whatmethods are working the best. Here is a list of waysto help you do this.


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Content analysis

Look at exit/bounce rates to analyse how oftensomeone arrives on your site and does not look atanything beyond that first page. This will help youunderstand how well pages are performing. If apage has a high bounce rate it is important todetermine the reason people are leaving the pagewithout viewing more. Is the page not what theywere expecting based on where they have come from?Was the call to action clear enough? Was thenavigation confusing? Conversely, if a page has avery low bounce rate you should consider why thatpage is so effective. Understanding why a page iseffective will help you replicate the success on otherpages. When analysing how well a page performsconsider the objective of the page. Is it a doorway?An info page? A conversion page? What actions (corejourney) would you like the user to make followingviewing each page? By understanding the purposeof the page, you will be in a much better position tointerpret the data.

User needs analysis

Once you’re clear about what your business wantsfrom your KPI’s you should consider what’s in it forthe consumer. User needs analysis will identifywho your users are, what they are likely to use thesite for and whether they are able to achieve theirgoals. You can then use this information to makeyour website more engaging for the user.

Usability testing

One-to-one usability testing with eye tracking is thebest way to analyse and fully understand how yoursite design is performing and why your customersare doing the things you see in the web analyticsdata.

Core journey analysis

Use sales funnel analysis to understand theonline journey users are making in order topurchase. This will help you identify any problemsusers may be experiencing which hinder thebuying process. Your visitors will also be makingmany journeys that do not fit neatly into the salesfunnel analysis. As sellers we can be too focusedon the sales funnel and forget buyers do notnecessarily behave in a linear way. So you need toanalyse all the main journeys on your site.Customer core journey analysis looks at how yourprospective customers arrive at your website,move around it and make purchases. Where funnelanalysis looks at the conversion funnel, corejourney analysis considers all the primary usergoals, for example registration, signing up for anewsletter or finding product information. Thebetter you understand your core journeys thebetter you can lead or pull your users throughyour site rather than trying to push them.

Core journey analysis requires a combination ofanalytics and usability expertise. Once the corejourneys have been identified, and associatedanalytics segments created, the analysis of thesecore journeys involves overlaying revenueinformation, average order value and cutting thedata by customer segments and critical pages. Aswell as revealing invaluable insights to help youoptimize your user journeys, most importantly thisshould provide you with useful data in a formatthat is actionable and easy to understand andrelevant to your business goals. (For moreinformation see Stage 3: Test, Optimizationdashboard.)

Media and campaign analysis

Analyse your campaigns to differentiate whichgenerate best quality customers and whichgenerate the worst quality customers. Whichcampaigns and traffic sources convert the best?Analyse brand keywords versus generic. Aim toanalyse customer lifetime value by traffic source.

Ways to analyse user needs

• Focus groups• In-depth interviews• Quantitative online surveys


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Website owners spend a lot of money on media soit is important to understand how effective eachmedia channel really is. Consumers don’t work in alinear manner. Ideally your web analytics datashould enable you to look behind the last click tounderstand how different types of media assisteach other and how users respond to eachindividual media. Knowing this information willhelp you allocate your marketing and media spendmore effectively and maximise your conversion.

Stage 3: Test

The next step is the testing process. Too often testsare done by throwing hundreds of ideas against awall in the hope that a few will stick. This is a wasteof time and money, worse, the best ideas don’t get

tested. You need a rigorous method to justify what test to do next.

Testing is key to improving website conversion.Companies who were satisfied with theirconversion did on average 40% more tests thanthose companies who were dissatisfied3.Interestingly however, there was no materialdifference between the number of tests done bythose whose conversion had improved and thosewhose conversion had not; providing evidencethat improving conversion is not just about doingmore tests; it’s about doing the right tests.

Testing is fundamental to improving websiteconversion. The 2011 RedEye EconsultancyConversion Rate Optimization survey found thatA/B and multivariate testing were the two mostvaluable methods for companies to improveconversion (see Fig. 4).

Fig 4: How valuable do you find the following methods for improving conversion rates?



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Below are some strategies to use at this stage, toensure you have a structured testing process thatwill provide insightful results.

Develop a test plan

First brainstorm ideas for tests to run with four toeight key stakeholders from different parts of thebusiness. Successful previous tests are a goodsource of future test ideas. Before you start to test,think about what you want to achieve. Make sureyou have a clear goal in mind, for exampleincreased sales, more conversions or a higheraverage order value. Design tests for the thingsthat can and will have the greatest impact on yourgoals. You want to test things that will really movethe dial, don’t tinker around the edges.

Design tests carefully, consider how you will knowwhether the test has worked. Do not waste timedesigning tests you cannot implement. Withoutproperly constructed tests no learning is reliable,

so test one thing at a time and compare like withlike. In your test, make sure you’re comparing asimilar size of a similar demographic, at a similartime, for a similar offer. For example, a test at theweekend might give a different result to aweekday. Where the campaign or traffic value ishigh consider using a proper control. The controlgroup gets what you have always used, while testgroups get something new and different. For lessexpensive tests you can use a simplechampion/challenger approach where the test isrun against the existing format.

Prioritise

A lack of resources was the biggest barrier toimproving conversion according to the latestsurvey we did with Econsultancy3, with 53% ofcompany respondents claiming this as the mainbarrier to improving conversion (see Fig. 5). Thisreinforces the importance of prioritising scarceresources.


Fig. 5: What are the biggest barriers preventing your organisation from improving conversion rates?


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Fig. 6 shows what companies test. Calls to actionand page layout are top, with navigation and copya close third and fourth. Interestingly, the top threeshowed a year on year increase, while copy had aslight decline. Even though copy testing isimportant, other criteria such as navigation are alsokey. In the same way as we know using moremethods to improve conversion leads to a betterconversion rate, a more holistic approach tooptimization leads to better results. For example, ifall your tests are based on copy then testing acompletely different facet, such as navigation,could well give a better incremental improvement.What you test is more important than howmuch you test.

Prioritise tests by potential value and cost of eachof the tests (see Fig. 7). Consider testing first, poorly

performing steps in the conversion funnel and keypages with high bounce rates.

Optimization dashboard

Testing the right things is clearly important. RedEyehas developed a patent pending methodology tohelp prioritise tests by combining your consumertarget groups, your brand and your business goals.Your target groups are the various consumersegments such as first time visitors versus repeatvisitors. Your brand is represented by websitecontent. Your business goals are analysed throughcustomer core journeys (for example purchase,registration or getting product information).Together these three elements give you a holisticview of the data required to improve yourconversion (see Fig. 8).

Fig. 6: Specifically for your website, what do you test?



Fig 7: How to prioritise tests based on value and cost

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Fig. 8: How to produce a holistic view of CRO data


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These three independent factors must be put intoan optimization dashboard to prioritise what totest. The dashboard calculates the expectedreturns from traffic volume and expected lift andROI for each test. Obviously this is the part seniormanagement will be the most interested in andwill greatly help selling CRO to the board. Theboard will want to see fewer but more effectivetests generating better results with lower costs.

Testing process

Test everything and assume nothing. If all yourtests work then you are not taking enough risks.When you have a great idea and you’ve put in theeffort beforehand to analyse your website andcustomers in order to come up with that idea, it’seasy to be biased and expect the idea to work.Remember, testing is not there to prove an ideaworks, but to assess whether it works.

Make sure results are statistically significant. Thinkabout how you plan to use the results. Dependingon the results what action will you take? Everyonline campaign you run, or change you make,should be treated as a test. The key is to dosomething, and then see if it works. This applies toSEO and PPC campaigns, website pages and email.

You can never test too much. Decide what to test,test it, make a change and test again. Alwaysremember customer behaviour changes and it isnot an exact science. Customers often behaveunexpectedly. This is one reason we need to test.Even an idea you think would have a positiveimpact on user behaviour, based on previousanalysis, may not work. What may be workingperfectly well one month may suddenly hinderconversion levels next month. The only way tokeep on top of what is working and what is not isto test, test and test again!

Recording test results is essential. We know fromthe research that companies who combinefindings from different departments are morelikely to have seen improved conversion. This is

even more pronounced for companies with £10m+revenues, with 80% of companies who combinefindings from different departments havingimproved conversion3. In other words the biggerthe organisation, the more important it is tocombine findings in one place and to have a singleco-ordinated CRO strategy. Somewhere you need away to document the tests you do and build up aknowledgebase of what worked and what didn’t,so you do not reinvent the wheel in the future. It isstill worth retesting good ideas that did not work afew years previously because things change.

Stage 4: OptimizeNow you know your goals, have analysed your siteand have achieved insightful results from the testsyou have done, you are in a position to implementsuccessful designs and content changes. Aftercarefully analysing and testing you will be in aposition to begin to optimize your website basedon the information you have extracted about howyour users interact with your website. Data in itself,whether it is extracted from analysis or testing, isonly valuable when you use it. Below are someways you can use your data to start optimizingyour marketing strategy and improve your websiteconversion.

Landing page optimization

Landing page optimization is an important part ofconversion rate optimization. Optimizing landingpages is the first place to test to improve results.Copy, headlines, images and layout obviously drivehow well a landing page works and all of theseelements need to be tested. Most things in thiswhite paper apply as much to landing pageoptimization as they do to conversion rateoptimization. The only difference is the typicallength of the core journey.


Segmentation and targeting

Companies whose conversion had improved used50% more ways to segment their visitors andcustomers than companies whose conversion hadnot improved or had stayed the same3.Segmentation and targeting ensures yourmarketing communications are relevant to theconsumer. You want to show the right content tothe right person at the right time. Considersending visitors to different pages based on theirprofile and traffic source. You can segment trafficvia a simple drop down box. For example, differentjob titles or sectors get different user guides. Youdon’t have to change your e-commerce platform,simply use microsites to test catering for thesedifferent segments. You can also segmentregistered and non-registered traffic using login

Fig. 9: In which ways do you segment your visitors and customers?


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cookies. Align keywords, calls to action andlanding pages for each segment. Analyseconversion for different segments, specifically, newversus repeat visitors, channel used to access thesite, product and RFM data. To accurately segmentand target users you will need a good qualityonline single customer view database. The mostcommonly used types of segmentation are listed inFig. 9.

Reduce basket abandonment

Typically, 65% to 75% of consumers abandon theirshopping basket before payment. This high dropoff means one of the easiest ways to improveconversion is to reduce your basket abandonmentrates and convert more abandoners into buyers.


Examples of segments

Purchased any product: Compare the activity of those that have purchased to those that have not.This is most powerful when trying to understand what non-customers are doing on the site.

Repeat visitors: Understand the difference between the user behaviour of returning prospects andfirst time visitors.

Channel used to access site: How the user entered your site is a big clue to how they need to betreated. If they entered with the search term ‘cheap holiday’ send them emails on cheap deals. If theyentered via a PPC ad promoting a ‘luxury break’ send them an email about luxury breaks.

First time buyers: Paying customers act differently to first time browsers. By splitting the data inthis way you can focus on your buying customers. It is these users that are important to you.

Product segments: It is important to have segments per product so you can analyse the activity ofusers based on what they like to buy. Trends in behaviour may differ depending on what product isbeing purchased.

Advocates: Separate regular visitors from infrequent visitors. It is the regular visitors you want topay attention to. Understanding these users is critical because how they behave is how you want allusers to behave.

Engagement: Recent visitors are more engaged and can be contacted more frequently.

RFM: Recency, frequency and monetary spend segmentation is a tried and tested direct marketingtechnique that works well. For more information see www.jimnovo.com.

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Segmentation check-list

• KISS (Keep it simple stupid!) • Make it actionable• Use product and/or RFM data (recency, frequency, monetary value)• Make sure segment sizes are significant and meaningful


• Use clear and visible font sizes

• Consider accessibility (for example high contrasttext and background colours)

• Use quality photographs of your products

• Your brand should be visible on every page of the checkout process

• Make searching for items fast and accurate

• Use apologetic error messages highlighting the field they need to complete

• Include targeted keywords in product descriptions

• Show any store opening hours on your site

• Implement wireframe templates to finalise page look and feel

• Include user friendly error messages

• Make it clear what payment options are available

• Offer as many payment methods as possible

• Use form field best practice to make the checkout process streamlined

• Minimise required fields in forms

• Don’t ask for duplicated information

• Make it easy to fill in data (for example postcodeand street number only)

• Give the consumer the option to call

• Have a clear value proposition

• Reduce the number of steps in your checkout process

• Include a progress indicator on each checkout page

• Provide a link back to the product

• Be transparent, provide delivery costs early in the process

• Include prompts, for example free delivery when you spend £30

• Don't distract with unrelated offers and avoid clutter

• Show stock availability on the product page

• Make it obvious what to click next

• Add small thumbnail pictures of products purchased in the shopping basket

• Make editing the shopping basket easy

• Allow editing of quantities, sizes, colors, etc. within the shopping basket

• Show accurate colour choices and label the variations

• Offer a way to login and save what’s in the basket for later

• Make sure your product pages and basket load quickly

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Ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment


Remarket to your abandoners

The RedEye Econsultancy CRO Report 2011 found,70% of companies who target abandoners hadincreased sales, with 19% claiming they had aseen a large increase in sales3. As 46% ofconsumers claim they would be more likely tocomplete an online transaction if they received anemail reminding them of items they had notpurchased from their shopping baskets in aprevious session5, a simple triggered emailremarketing campaign is an easy way tocommunicate with abandoned basket shoppersand entice them back to your website. A singlebasket abandonment email should generate 2%to 4% extra revenues. Yet, according to ourresearch only 14% of top UK retailers sendabandoned basket emails6. (For a free trial of basket abandoned email seewww.ondemand.redeye.com).

Build an email list

Repeat visitors are eight times more likely topurchase your products or services than first-timevisitors7, and email is one of the best ways to getpeople back to your website. So it is important toentice consumers to give you their email address.Offer a discount voucher or even a free gift inreturn for their email address. Calculate the valueof your existing email addresses (the revenuesresulting from your email activity divided by thenumber of email addresses); then you know howmuch you can invest in collecting each additionalemail address.

Ideally registration should be included early in thebuying process enabling acquisition of emailaddresses, but it must be handled with a lighttouch and included within the buying flow. Don’tuse words like ‘register’ and ‘registration’ duringcheckout; use terms like ‘account creation’, ‘myaccount’, ‘customer login’ and ‘join’ instead. Makethe first stage of your checkout as simple aspossible, either with two clear options (login orguest checkout), or with the starting point beingentering your email address, then choosing

whether or not you already have a password. Whenyou ask the customer to choose a password,provide clear information on how many charactersthe password should be and whether or not itneeds to include alpha-numeric characters.

Build trust

Internet users have many reasons to be cynical, sobefore people will spend money with you theyneed to trust you. Demonstrate to them you’re areal entity. Build trust and reduce anxiety with trustlogos, a clear privacy policy, secure lock icons andsecure ordering on your shopping basket pages.Do you have any warranty or product guarantees?Consider testimonials and endorsements. It is alsoimportant to manage your online reputation anddeal with bad news head-on.

Research or brainstorm the top 10 reasons whysomeone would not buy from you and answerthose objections.

Calls to action

Are your calls to action compelling? Are they obvious?Are they easy to respond to? If you want yourwebsite visitors to convert, you have to tell themwhat to do. Align search keywords, landing pageheadlines/copy and calls to action. Create a senseof urgency by using deadlines. It goes withoutsaying that calls to action that are above the foldwork best. Note, calls to action were the highestreported type of test in the RedEye EconsultancyConversion Rate Optimization Report (Fig. 6).

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The top consumer e-commerce fears8

you need to address

1. Fear of credit card informationbeing stolen

2. It’s not a real store3. You’ll sell my information4. I can’t tell what the product is really like5. Not being able to track orders6. Needing help from a salesperson7. If I don’t like it, I’ll be stuck with it


Navigation

Navigation is one of the three most commonlytested things (see Fig. 6). Navigation is thefoundation for good website usability so make itwork for your site visitors. A rule of thumb is makesure your navigation gets people to where theywant to go in 3 clicks or less. Good categorizationand label naming makes it easy for users to findthe products and services they are after and spendmoney on your site. Consider doing a card sortingexercise to improve how your information isstructured and labeled, leading to more effectivenavigation. This involves asking consumers to sortpotential navigation terms into meaningful groups.

Make it easy for users to buy more

Just like impulse buys at a retail checkout counter,install modules that show other items the user canbuy once they've added products to the cart orwhile they are viewing other products. Be carefulthese do not become too distracting or get in theway of the main prize. The answer to making surethis does not happen of course is testing!

Remove barriers that may make it difficult for users to convert

If there is anything on your site that makes itawkward or difficult for users to proceed - fix it.Remove clutter, distractions and anything that getsin the way of the consumer fulfilling their and your

objectives. A great way to identify barriers isthrough user testing. For more information on thissee Steve Krug’s very readable book “Don’t makeme think! ”9

ConclusionNo website is the same and no users are the same.The trick is to understand your users and targetthem in the most appropriate manner. Customersare influenced by a range of activities before theyconvert; website content, website usability, on andoffline advertising all play a role in whether or notthe consumer will make a purchase. The key is tounderstand what impact each of these actions hasand then create strategies to target differentcustomers at different stages in the buying cycle.

With digital content doubling every 18 monthsand more and more websites competing forconsumers’ attention, the only way to maintain orimprove your website conversion is to follow arigorous structure of measurement, analysis,testing and optimization. The first step ismeasurement because you cannot manage whatyou cannot measure. The next steps are analysingand testing to see what works. However, analysisand testing is only useful if the findings are thenoptimized and rolled out. Then we are back tomeasuring the results and the process repeatsitself. Our research with Econsultancy over thepast 3 years has clearly demonstrated that astructured approach is the best way to improvewebsite conversion results.

Finally, it is important to remember it isempowered staff that makes things happen. Apartfrom having a structured approach, three of thetop four most correlated variables with improvedconversion were perceived control overconversion rates, having someone directlyresponsible for CRO, and incentivising staff basedon conversion rates3. So, you can use all the toolsand methods you want, but without the rightpeople doing the right things you won’t achievethe results you want. Improving conversion iscomplex and sadly there is no magic bullet.However get it right and the rewards are great.

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Things to draw the user’s attention to

• Popular products or themes/top sellers• Featured products you want to let

customers know about• Other items also purchased by those who

bought that particular item (similar interests)

• Accessories that go with that product or complimentary items at a discount when purchased with the main product


To find out more aboutRedEye call0845 094 1114or visit www.redeye.com

For a copy of the RedEyeEconsultancy CRO Report 2011 go tohttp://econsultancy.com/uk/reports/

Resources - Free trial or inexpensive CRO tools:

MVT www.google.com/websiteoptimizerwww.visualwebsiteoptimizer.comwww.whichmvt.com - compares MVT supplierswww.whichtestwon.com - good source of ideaswww.abtests.com - search engine for A/B and multivariatecase studies.http://visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/ab-split-significance-calculator/ - statistical significance tester

Web analyticswww.googleanalytics.com - it’s free so you’d be mad not to use it!www.crazyegg.com - inexpensive tool to see where your users are clicking

User testingwww.whatusersdo.comwww.usertesting.com

Basket abandonment emailwww.ondemand.redeye.com - free trial

Surveyswww.surveygizmo.comwww.4qsurvey.com

References

1 Conversion Optimization, Wikipedia. Submitted 31 March 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_optimization

2 RedEye Econsultancy Conversion Report 20103 RedEye Econsultancy Conversion Rate Optimization

Report 20114 William Richard King, Planning for Information Systems,

March 2011 (pg 197)5 E-Dialog, European Email Attitudes Survey 2009, cited in

Internet Retailing, June 2009, from http://www.internetretailing.net/2009/06/email-comes-top-for-driving-impulse-purchases/

6 Behavioural Email Benhcmark Study, RedEye, September 2011, from http://www.redeye.com/events/whitepapersandreports/behavioural-email-benchmark-study-5/

7 Nick Usborne, Marketing Experiments Blog, 2006, fromhttp://www.marketingexperiments.com/blog/general/repeat-visitors-8-times-more-likely-to-make-online-purchase.html

8 Richard Johnson, Why Are People Afraid of E-Commerce? September 2010, from http://www.sitejabber.com/blog/2010/09/20/why-are-people-afraid-of-e-commerce/

9 Steve Krug, Don’t make me think! New Riders, 2005(2nd edition)

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Technology

A structured approach to conversion rate optimization