Next time you set out to start a website optimization test consider the following tips:

1. Think About the Test
Before you jump head first in to rolling out a test make sure you really know what you are doing, what type of test are you going to run, what you are testing, and what you are trying to achieve from the test. The more thought you put into the test beforehand, the better crafted the test will be. The better crafted the test, the better results you will see. It is worth your while to put a little extra time and thought into the test before launch.

2. Test on High Traffic Pages
The more traffic you send to a test the quicker you will be able to see results. It is not a bad idea to run your first test on a low traffic website or page in order to get the hang of it but generally speaking the more traffic you are able to direct at a test the better.

3. Start with Small Test
With multivariate and split testing, you are able to test a wide variety of elements on a page, however, it is important to keep in mind that the more variations you are testing the longer the test will take. When running an initial test, start small by testing just a couple of elements on a page, 4 items maximum. From there you can take those findings and move on to a larger, more dynamic test.

4. Test on High Conversions
Ideally you want to run a test on something that will produce a high amount of conversions so that you are able to quickly gain insights from the test. For example, start by testing on how often a user adds a product to the cart rather than how often a user completes a purchase. Understandably, you want users to make the purchase but taking your test one step at a time will eliminate a lot of the guessing work involved when trying to figure out what is and is not working. Once you have users adding items to the cart, then worry about them successfully making a purchase.

5. Be Courageous
When you are running a test, make sure to test against variables that are distinctively different from one another. Testing a red headline against a light red headline probably is not going to yield much of a difference. Instead test a red headline against a green or blue headline. Make the differences notable and then, if need be, you can always come back and test slight variations later.

6. Analyze Your Test Combinations
Creating different test combinations takes a fair amount of time and effort. In creating these combinations you are likely to whip up some odd ball combinations; combinations that will most likely clutter the test and impair the results. As an example, using white text on a light gray background is not a great idea. Keep a close on your test combinations and make sure they are credible and do not run off track.

7. Inspect User Impact
The last thing you want to do is run a test in which your conversions tank, but it is possible. Look into the impact a test will have on your users, good or bad. Maybe you only want to run a test on a certain part of a website or perhaps even run a small series of tests. Make sure you are not flipping a switch for better or worse and always recognize the potential outcomes.

8. Keep Your Head Up
If your first test falls flat on its face, do not give up. It may take a few tests for you to see any improvements and finally catch on to how your visitors are reacting. No worry, optimizing a website is a long process, of which you need to be committed to in order to become successful. Keep your head up and be patient. If you are persistent you will run a successful test and find the results you have been looking for.

9. You Be the Judge
When it is all said and done, you know and understand your website better than anyone else. Make educated decisions based on what you believe to be the most beneficial for the website. Doing so can put your website on the map and ahead of your competitors.

10. Get Started!
Setting up and running an effective test might seem like quite a bit of work, and to an extent it is, but in the end it is all worth it. Do not put off testing because you feel like it is too much work or you are simply content with the conversion rate you have. Realize that there is always, always room for improvement and the test you start today could pave the way for greater success further down the road.

Sponsored Search 3. OPTIMIZATION. In the U.S. only, for those advertisers not bound by an Insertion Order, we may help you optimize your account(s). Accordingly, you expressly agree that we may also: (i) create ads, (ii) add and/or remove keywords, and/or (iii) optimize your account(s). We will notify you via email of such changes made to your account(s), and can also include a spreadsheet of such changes upon your written request. If you would like any of such changes reversed, please reply to such email within 14 days of the change(s), and we will make commercially reasonable efforts to reverse the change(s) you specifically identify. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you remain responsible for all changes made to your account(s), including all click charges incurred prior to any reversions being made. It is your responsibility to monitor your account(s) and to ensure that your account settings are consistent with your business objectives.

Yikes…a bit scary. However, agencies should contact their Yahoo agency representative to discuss options in regards to this change. Our experience has been that there is flexibilitly that may allow for opting out of this “auto-optimization.”

For those not working with an agency, we can only recommend you call YSM (866-924-6676) and ask the rep what options you might have.

You’ll hear several reasons why:

• Brand recognition
• Legal said we had to
• Doesn’t everyone have to ask for permission to link to another site?

Yes, there are still people out there that think linking to a site requires permission by the site owner.  And yes, there are legal departments that still want to control who links to the corporation’s web site.  And yes, there are marketing people that believe it tarnishes the corporate brand.

In fact, the opposite is true.  And requiring those who do business with you to ask permission and sign a 3-page legal document just to simply put a link to your web site is only going to discourage them from doing so.  This causes your corporation to lose out on a one-way link that can help you with the search engines.

Make it easy
Your corporation should make it easier for those who do business with them to link to their web site.  And at the same time keeping the brand in-tact.  Provide logos, content, landing pages and any other applicable items to encourage and make it easier for people to link to you and link to you correctly.  Don’t require permission or a signed legal document.

But legal still says…
Keep in mind our discussion here centers around a direct link to a page on your web site where the link clearly indicates to the user they are leaving the web site currently being viewed and onto your web site.  We are not discussing inline links where another site is ”stealing” your images or content and making it look like their own by appearing on their web site.  A pure and simple link like:

We are an authorized re-seller of Lever Interactive services including SEO, paid search management and conversion optimzation.

The question would be how can your legal department argue with that? Most times, the issue is the legal department does not understand what is being requested. They’ve heard about cases where one site is stealing another site’s content and presenting it as their own.  Or the reverse link, the corporation links to another site for information, and it turns out to be false or mis-leading information, and customers hold the corporation responsible for providing false or mis-leading information (thus invented the dislaimer interim page of “You are now leaving thiscompany.com web site and we are not responsible for the content”).

The bottomline: Stop the roadblock!  Encourage those who do business with you to link to your web site. Your company will benefit with increased visitors, possilby conversions if applicable, as well as the search engines.

• Content that is updated frequently and provides ongoing assistance or relevancy to the user (e.g. tips, blog entries)
• User ability to personalize the site to suite their needs (e.g. iGoogle, My Yahoo)
• Online communities/forums
• User feedback (e.g. product reviews, ratings, surveys)

The key to stickiness for online retailers is to not only provide a reason for users to come back, but also to have those users buy products, repeatedly. But it is a fine line, and the stickiness has to be compelling enough to encourage subsequent visits with the sales pitch a subtle part of it.

Here are some examples of stickiness mixed with a sales pitch:

• Blog entry giving tips on how to use products you offer.  Don’t forget, link the product pages from the blog so the user can click and order easily.
• Include a link for customers to provide feedback on the products they purchased in order confirmation/thank you/shipping notification emails. The page to provide the feedback should include accessories or other products that would compliment their purchase.
• Online community forum set up to talk about topics related to your web site and products.  For example, a web site specializing in baby products could have an expectant mother community forum.

Stickiness and SEO
Two of the basic principles behind Search Engine Optimization (SEO) are to update your content regularly as well as have links to your web site from other web sites.  Well, having a “sticky” web site can help achieve these two goals, and therefore help in your SEO efforts.

For example, if you take the above idea of writing blog entries for product tips, you are updating your blog weekly.  But take it one step further and take some of the information in your blog and update the product page, the category page, the new products/features/best sellers page, as well. Depending on the product and where it is placed on your web site, you could update several pages with new content.

Now, those same blog entries will be of interest to people, and others with their own blogs may link to yours, or others with their own web site may link to the product page that shows their great review.

Of course the possibilities are endless, but online retailers have to keep the goal in mind: repeat sales. Try different tactics until you find the right mix of visitors and sales.

Need help? Contact Lever Interactive for web site optimization, social marketing and search engine optimization.

It is a common mistake among online retailers. You placed a huge message advertising the sale on your home page, key landing pages and your order confirmation page. You sent out a special sale message to your email marketing campaign list. However, you forget to update your paid search to let the rest of the online world know you are having a sale.

Adding a new campaign and/or ad groups particularly targeting the sale may work the best, depending on your campaign structure. This may include duplicating keywords. You’ll need to “pause” duplicate keywords in their usual ad group, so they are trigged by the new sale ad group. Remember to turn them back on once the sale is over.

Here is a quick list of suggestions:

• Ads should include the sales information. Indicate the incentive, percentage/amount off, free shipping, no sales, tax, etc. Don’t forget image ads are a colorful and vibrant way to indicate a sale.
• Include the word “sale” (or similar) in the display URL of the sale ads (e.g. Sale.LeverInteractive.com)
• Create new keyword phrases by taking existing keywords and adding “sale,” “discount,” “clearance,” “deal,” etc. to them (e.g. if your keyword is “ceiling fan” create a new keyword phrase of “ceiling fan sale”). Remember to check your negative keyword list.

Run frequent sales? It is best to optimize your campaign structure to quickly and easily update your campaign for advertising your sales.

Need help? Contact Lever Interactive for paid search management services. We can help identify the best structure, ad text, and keywords for your campaign.

“Eyetracking visualizations show that users often read web pages in an F-shaped pattern: two horizontal stripes followed by a vertical stripe. F for fast. That’s how users read your content. In a few seconds, their eyes move at amazing speeds across your website’s words in a pattern that’s very different from what you learned in school.” (Nielsen, par. 1-2)

How to Make Your Web Pages More “Scannable:”

• Highlight keywords
• Use meaningful sub-heads
• Use bulleted lists
• Keep paragraphs to one idea
• Write in an inverted pyramid style
• Keep your word count down, use about half the word count that you would use for print

Don’t Lose Your Audience
Users will most likely visit multiple web sites in one sitting. Don’t lose your user’s interest by burying information in content-heavy pages. Try to provide useful information in a quick and visual way rather than through long text explanations. If you don’t, the user will more than likely leave your site to view a competitor.

Be Concise
Web writing should be concise. Don’t worry about transitions. Web users don’t look for a smooth, essay-like structure.

If You Have Further Information
If the topic has a lot of content, offer the most useful information on the landing page, and link to additional content for users who want more information. This will help retain users who just want a taste of information, but still satisfy users who are looking for in-depth information.

Is My Web Site Content Heavy?
One of the easiest ways to determine if a particular page is too content heavy is to look at the bounce rate and/or conversions. A page that has multiple paragraphs of text with no visual cues (bullet lists, sub-heads, highlighted keywords, etc.) and a high bounce rate and/or low conversions may indicate it is too content heavy. Conduct a simple A/B test with your original version and a new version with the content reduced, and see if you get better results.

Need help?
Contact Lever Interactive for web site optimization services. We can help identify problem pages, make recommendations and conduct testing.

Nielsen, Jakob. Jakob Nielsen on Usability and Web Design. F-Shaped Pattern for Reading Web Content. Nielson Norman Group. 17 April 2006

Here are some tips to writing good product descriptions:

• Use Specifics
  Descriptive words like “large” and “roomy” mean different things to different people. While you don’t want to exclude them, provide measurements to back up the statement.
• Limit Superlatives
  Web users detest “marketese.” Unless you can back up the statement in some manner, try to limit the use of superlatives like “Best Product,” “Hottest Ever,” etc. Instead offer a list of features allowing the user to determine on their own if it is the “Best Product.” Remember, web users are busy; they want the straight facts. Also, credibility suffers when users clearly see the site exaggerates.
• Provide Tips or Usage Examples
  Give real-world examples and tips on using a product, particularly if it is new, or has multiple uses.
• Don’t be too Fancy
  If the item comes in pink, light green and blue, use those common color terms instead of bubble gum, seafoam and indigo. If the manufacturer has offered the products with unusual color names, be sure to give the common color terms alongside the manufacturer’s color name.
• Keep it Short
  You are competing with millions of other web sites, busy schedules, and the shorter attention span of most potential customers. Keep it simple. Keep it short. Use headlines and bullet lists to help the user scan the text, so they can find their most important reason for buying the product.

If your product descriptions need some work, concentrate on your top 10-20 products first. Make some changes, and test to see if they make a difference. Keep changing and testing until you find the right combination and apply those changes to your remaining inventory.

Need help? Contact Lever Interactive for web site optimization services.

Paid search ads still running…

Tip: If you site is down, planned or not, turn off your campaigns.  Contact Lever Interactive for more info…;)

What we have found is that if that page eventually breaks (and they do, many times when adding additional tracking parameters), Google will not necessarily be aware that the ad is going to a non-functioning page. So, your campaign may be driving costly clicks to pages that don’t exist or call your 404 page (another reason to customize that 404). This can be a major issue with online retailers who have thousands of products and are leveraging product pages as landing pages. A product is no longer listed or pulled due to lack of inventory and, without the proper notification to marketing, clicks come…budget spent…un-smiley faces.

Solution:
There is a great little tool by EasyTools.com call URL Checker that allows you to run check of all of the URLs from an CSV file.

The tool then identifies all of the broken links and you can take appropriate action from there.

Dear AdWords Customer,

Your ads have stopped running because we were unable to process your billing information. To activate your account and start running your ads, enter your billing information.

In order to activate your account and start running your ads, enter your billing information. Pease sign into your account at http://adwords.google.com/select/login, and update your billing information.

Once your account is reactivated and your billing information has been processed, any your ads and campaigns can begin running immediately on Google.

———————————————————————————-

The Google-AdWords Team

Be warned – this is likely an effort to get your credit card.  Google doesn’t send out emails like this.  The clearest way to check if this is a scam is to view the hyperlink properties in the login url (changed above to go to the actual GG login).  Typically it will show a target url that is not Google.com.