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Just like you, we’re looking forward to the beginning of another year. As a tribute to one of the most enduring traditions around this time, we asked online optimization experts this question: “Which website optimization effort/s businesses should focus their skills and resources on next year to improve conversions (and the bottomline)?” We’re publishing their answers the entire month in the countdown to 2013 so stay tuned for more resolution must-haves in our upcoming posts 😉
Today’s CRO resolution must-have is from James Root, Head of Conversion Rate Optimisation at High Position:
My CRO Top tip for 2013 is: know exactly who your target market is, then cater for them. This will hold you in great stead and offer a multitude of testing opportunities.
Niche markets will obviously be less complex to research than broader audiences, yet learning what Calls to Action convert and which usability functions work best are vital no matter what industry or market segment. The key word here is ‘learn’. Continual Analytics trawling, click map gazing and user testing are essential in the continual cycle of learning about your users.
Test persuasion – CTA testing via AdWords is a sure fire way to learn quickly what persuasive language leads to conversion. Once you have optimised ad text and found some CTA gold, devise a persuasion CRO test. Users tend to like consistency of messaging – of course, all users are different which is exactly why you should always be testing.
Test usability – how web savvy is your target audience? If the demographic is older, perhaps the old cognitive skills will affect the ability to adapt to navigation structure changes, and other usability facets. And maybe larger font point size, and bigger and clearer buttons will improve usability? Set up useful tools on your site to learn how users interact with the site and then TEST IT.
Web user experience is organic: The process should never stop due to the frantic, changing nature of the Internet. Web user experience is also subjective; never forget this key point when devising tests.
More about James
James Root is Head of Conversion Rate Optimisation at High Position. An NCTJ qualified journalist previously working for the Guardian and Observer as well as the largest commercial Sports website in Europe.
James moved into Digital Marketing in 2008 and is now running conversion tests for a number of leading e-commerce and lead generation websites. He is an advocate of testing persuasive copy as well as – but not alongside – user experience, when not watching sports, renovating his house or playing with his puppy (not a euphemism). Follow James on Twitter and G+ or link up on LinkedIn.
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We hope you’re having a fantastic time with family and friends this Holiday Season 🙂
We’re already looking forward to Conversion Conference West 2013 in San Francisco, April 15-17. Check out what’s in store for you at ConvCon next year.
