We’ve compiled 5 tips to broaden your horizons and open your mind to some counter-intuitive split-tests which could seriously boost your profits.

1. Sometimes call-to-action buttons should stand out less

“Add to basket”, “Checkout”, “Sign up now”– Call to actions buttons are usually a high priority  for any split testing plan. Our natural instinct is to make them bigger, brighter and ultimately to stand out as much as possible.

If you’re nodding along so far and thinking “too right”, follow this link to see that you can definitely go too far!

The image to the right is the current Amazon “Add to Basket” button. Amazon is a great starting point for inspiration: they split test a lot and they are hugely successful. Notice that their button is a fairly soft colour; it stands out but it’s easy on the eye.

In contrast, red buttons can stand out even more, but are often subconsciously associated with danger. Amazon’s soft colours draw your eye clearly, but at the same time reassure you that you’re taking a safe and reasonable course of action. No one likes an overly pushy salesman; sometimes a relaxing sales environment can pay dividends. Or at least that’s my interpretation – ultimately, this is the colour settled on by Amazon through split testing.

Recommendation: Split test de-emphasising elements of your calls to action

2. Sometimes higher prices increase sales

I recently met an owner of a construction firm who’d been experimenting with different charging structures. He’d first raised his prices by about 10%, expecting to see a small drop in work, offset by an increase in profits. To his surprise, both bookings and profits went up! What’s more, as he continued to raise his fees, bookings continued to rise.

We’re certainly not suggesting that you overcharge your customers, but your prices shape your perceived value – if you undervalue premium products or services, your customers may do the same. Split-testing prices is a great way of understanding the price elasticity of your products.

Would Harvey Nichols sell more or less T shirts if they lowered their prices?

A word of warning: proceed with caution when split testing pricing options. Customers don’t like to feel that you’re overcharging them and it can even be legal complications. Strategies and legal implications are at least a full blog entry in their own right, so we’re not going to attempt to cover them in full right now. If you want to explore more, here are a couple of useful links:

• Advice and words of warning for split testing prices
• Visual Website Optimiser’s guide to split testing prices

Recommendation: Test higher prices as well as discounts

3. Sometimes social features hurt sales

Social networking is brilliant for ecommerce… or so everyone says. In many cases this is true, but don’t blindly assume that it will help your sales. For example a recent study by Empirica Research found that Men were 25% less likely to purchase Clearasil skin products when a Facebook Like Button or Tweet button was present. Sometimes just the presence of social buttons could reduce customers’ perceptions of privacy. If you use social buttons, do you know for certain that they help your sales?

Recommendation: If you use social buttons, and you sell products which could be considered private or personal, split test removing the buttons to increase perceived privacy.

4. Sometimes lower AdWords positions sell better

If you use AdWords to promote your site it seems a reasonable assumption, that if you pay more for a higher position, you’d get better results. However, in Google’s own words:

“on average, there is very little variation in conversion rates by position for the same ad. For example, for pages where 11 ads are shown the conversion rate varies by less than 5% across positions. In other words, an ad that had a 1.0% conversion rate in the best position, would have about a 0.95% conversion rate in the worst position, on average. Ads above the search results have a conversion rate within ±2% of right-hand side positions.”

In fact, for some clients we’ve seen click through rates go up as ad positions lower! The good news is that, if you don’t already, it’s easy to split test AdWords settings – just select Experiment from Advanced Settings and split test different bids.

Which of the right hand ad positions draw your attention most, bottom or second to bottom?

Recommendation: Split test lower positions for AdWords; don’t assume higher is better

5. Sometimes “Best Practice” isn’t best

Sometimes you need to be different, to stand out, to show that you truly understand your customers. Don’t blindly follow best practice. In fact, enjoy challenging it occasionally!

How can you become such a trend setting guru? Analyse, think, learn about your visitors and test, test, test!

Have you found any surprising results through testing? Is there anything you’d be particularly intrigued to see tested? Is there any “best practice” that you suspect might not stand up to cross examination? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

Here’s a handy diagram to explain how:

What are the SEO reports?

Found in the Traffic Sources section, the SEO reports give you insight into how your site appears in Google Searches.

The Queries report shows how often your site was seen in Google search results for specific keywords and its average position. Similarly, the Landing Page Report shows how many times each individual page from your site was featured in a search result.

For example, the query page below, for a lawnmower retailer, shows that the site was featured in Google search results approximately 1,600 times for the phrase “Lawnmowers” and that this generated 35 clicks.

The Average Position stat has recently been updated. It is now calculated from your average top position in any search; if your site features multiple times in one search, lower listings are now ignored in this calculation.

As you might expect, the Geographical summary page shows the Geographical locations of those who saw your site in their search results.

How do I set up the SEO reports?

There are two simple steps to set up the reports:

1. Set up Google Webmaster Tools for your site. This is a straight forward process: go to www.google.com/webmasters/tools/ and follow the instructions.
2. Click on any of the reports in the Google Analytics SEO reports and you will see the page below. Click “Set up Webmaster tools data sharing” and again, follow the simple instructions.

What can the SEO reports tell me about visitors’ onsite needs?

The key figure to on-sight insight is Average Position. This gives you a better understanding of what your visitors had already been through, before they arrived at your site. Here are two examples

Example 1

One of your landing pages has an average position of over 100

It’s easy enough to look at this figure and just ask your “SEO guy” to improve your ranking, but there’s a lot more that you can do. It’s inevitable that some of your pages will have low rankings so you need to know how to maximise their effectiveness.

A low ranking tells you that many of your visitors arrive at that page having already clicked though a lot of search results and probably having visited multiple competitors. You can replicate their searches to see what other sites they were likely to have seen. To do this, use anonymous browsing to avoid Google’s attempts to tailor search results. This can be achieved in most browsers: in Chrome use Incognito Windows; in Firefox, Private Browsing; and in Explorer use InPrivate Browsing.

As you do this, ask yourself the following questions:

“Why did these visitors not purchase from an easier to find competitor with a higher ranking site? What do these competitor sites lack? What drove people to keep on searching?”

“What can we do to immediately assure visitors through this landing page, that we can offer what they’ve not been able to find?”

For example, if you know that you have a superior returns policy, better delivery costs, better overall value, or better products, this landing page is a great candidate for split testing increased promotion of these strengths.

Your promotion may need to be VERY CLEAR as many of these visitors, by the time they pass the 100th search listing are likely to be tired!

Bearing this in mind you should also try extra hard to make these pages easy and clear in every way. If you have tired visitors, make sure that they find your site to be a relaxing oasis where they can end their long internet journey… and spend lots of money!

Example 2:

One of your landing pages has an average position of 1

You’re top, congratulations. Many visitors to this page will come to you before they see any of your competitors. You get first shot.

For these visitors, you need to ask yourself:

“How can we give them everything that they need, so that they never feel the need to leave?”

Study their behaviour: Where do they show signs of dissatisfaction? Where do they leave the site? What do they search for using your internal site search? How you improve this landing page to ensure that their needs are satisfied?

Furthermore you need to give them an answer to the question:

“Why should I not look elsewhere?”

If you know that you excel in a specific area, promote it here, “We pride ourselves in outstanding customer service”. If you’ve got great testimonials, promote them here, “Thanks for your lawnmower. It’s the best I’ve ever had!” If you’ve received industry awards, promote them here “Best Value Award”.

If you can sell to these customers first time, before they even see your competitors, you can reap the rewards for years to come as you establish yourself as their “first port of call”.

Comments

Have you improved your site performance by working with SEO data? Do you have any advice, thoughts or tips? Comments are welcome below.

• Will automated e-commerce systems outpace us all?

• Could product recommendation engines eventually completely take over the optimisation process?

• As split testing tools become increasingly capable, will the analyst one day simply be there to press “Go”?

• Will web analysts eventually be replaced by robots? (That last questions was asked primarily to give us an excuse to show a picture of a robot!)

The short answer: No

Your brain is still by far the most advanced tool you have. Here are just a few reasons why:

1. Tools need configuration. We recently reconfigured a poorly-performing product recommendation engine for a client and saw an immediate 9% uplift in sales.

2. You have to select the right tool for the job. The right tool in the right place can lead to a serious increase in profits, but beware: we also know of people who’ve been fired for committing their company to tools which proved ineffective.

3. Reports and data need to be correctly interpreted. You have an understanding of human behaviour and an ability to think laterally and join up results that goes far beyond that of any computer. Your insights are crucial.

How to make the most of your tools

History makes it clear: those who embrace, rather than fear, new technologies do better in business. The Luddites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite) did their best to stop mechanised looms from taking over, but I’m betting most of the clothing that you’re wearing right now wasn’t made completely by hand.

Here are some pointers for embracing and working with new tools:

1. Understand your business. What do you offer? What sets you apart from your competitors? These are questions that require your focus. Clear business aims need to drive your analysis and therefore, the selection of the right tools for you.

2. Value the customer experience. A laser like focus on customer experience can ensure that you build lasting, fruitful relationships. A good analyst asks the questions that aren’t always addressed by sales focused tools: “How does our sales experience make the customer feel?” “What else could we do to put visitors at ease?” If you really want to understand your customers, look for the story behind the data.

3. Understand your tools. The likelihood is that you underutilise the tools that you already have. Google Analytics for example, is an immensely powerful tool and its capabilities are being expanded all the time.

4. Make sure that you understand how your tools work and what they can and can’t do. Your role is to push their features to their limits and to ensure that your other tools and analysis, account for their weaknesses.

5. Test new tools. The beauty of automated tools is that they can be tested against each other. Not sure which product recommendation engine to use? Ask for free trials and then split test wherever possible.

6. Think outside of the box. Forgive such a clichéd phrase, but most tools work in very clearly defined boxes. An automated tool can optimise much of what you already have, but it’s up to you to come up with great new ways of using these tools.

7. Train, read, learn & get excited. Set aside time for training; read blogs such as this one and learn all that you can. This is an exciting growing field and you should have high hopes for your career. Make sure that you keep learning and thriving!

We’d love to hear about your experiences. Have you benefited from automated tools? Have you had the pleasure of beating a product recommendation engine with your own analysis? Comments are welcome below.

This doesn’t have to be the case.

Here are five ways in which your online channels can help your offline sales.

 1.     Market research

Imagine if every one of your catalogues, adverts, stores, or salespeople could keep incredibly detailed records of the way customers experience your sales efforts, what disappoints them, what please them and ultimately what leads to happy regular customers.

Wouldn’t you use this to improve your profits? If you sell online, much of this information is already be available to you through web analytics.

For instance, if your website has an onsite search facility, what products do customers consistently search for that you don’t stock? Whatever these brands or products are, there is an untapped online demand and there’s reason to think that there could be an offline demand as well.

2.     Learn to analyse, test and optimise

Some areas in life allow you to learn more quickly than others: an aspiring novelist can spend years crafting a book before he discovers whether it really connects with his audience, whereas a stand up comic can immediately test the impact of a new gag.

Analysis, testing and optimising are not exclusively online activities, but the wealth of tools and the ease of implementation allow you to learn and experiment at an incredible pace.

To trial different styles of product descriptions in a catalogue, you have to wait months before you can measure your results. Running the same trial on your online store, you can begin to gain meaningful insight in days. A typical store manager may get to test out a few new ideas in his first year in management; in the same period, an e-commerce director can become a seasoned split tester with a strong understanding of how to best implement and learn from split tests and, more importantly, a real track record of increasing profits.

If your company sells through online and offline channels, make sure that this experience isn’t going to waste. For instance, could your online team be assisting in the split testing of your catalogues, or your sales letters?

 3.     Gain leads

Increasingly consumers are turning to online research, even if they intend to make their purchase offline. Make sure that your offline channels can be easily found by on the web through clear contact details, phone numbers, store locators and catalogue request forms.

Not only do these ensure a smooth path for those wanting to make an offline purchase, but they can even increase your online conversion rate by making it easier for your customers to shop in whichever channel they prefer.

 4.     Build relationships

Social media gives you opportunities to build trust, loyalty and brand awareness with many of your online and offline customers. Not everyone on Facebook shops exclusively online; there are big opportunities to promote all of your channels.

Look for opportunities to build lasting relationships online with your customers through honest, helpful product support and special offers (both online and offline) to your social media followers. A little wit and character shouldn’t hurt either – as long as it’s appropriate: think carefully before making a joke to promote your funeral service company!

 5.     Benefit from the power of online advertising

There’s a reason that online advertising is growing so quickly: it works. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that it can only support your online channels. One study in the US found that approximately

“70 per cent of online ad campaigns led to a double-digit boost in offline sales”

Another went even further, suggesting that

“for every $1 of e-commerce revenue generated from paid search, marketers can expect to see approximately another $6 of in-store revenue.”

The message is clear: online ads definitely can boost offline sales.

Are you making the most of this opportunity?

Do you have any thoughts, recommendations, success stories or questions? We’d love to hear from you in our comments below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you missed our earlier posts in this series you can find them here:

Part 1,  Part 2

In the second of our three part guide to Multi Channel Funnels we explain these changes and how to account for them.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In December we’ll publish the final part of our series:

Part 3: Beginning to use the new data to increase your profits

Our three part guide introduces Multi Channel Funnels, a powerful new feature in Google Analytics, which gives a new depth of insight into which of your marketing activities have the most influence. Armed with this new data you’ll be able to further optimise your advertising spending and increase your profits!

In this, the first of out three videos, we explain the principles behind Multi Channel Funnels and familiarise you with the new reports available in Google Analytics.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In November and December we’ll publish parts two and three of our series:

Part 2: Understanding how Multi Channel Funnels affects data across your existing analytics reports

Part 3: Beginning to use the new data to increase your profits

We also run a training course in Multi Channel Funnels. If you want to get the very best out of these new tools and ensure that your whole team are up to speed, why not get in touch?

Mel Henson

The difference that online copy can make to online conversion rates is not always well understood. However, changing the words on your website is often one of the easiest changes you can make – no technies or code changes required.

In this post, I interview Mel Henson, Founder of Words that Sell, which provides copy for e-commerce websites. Mel’s company works with companies like Aspace, Cotton Traders, David Nieper, Donald Russell, House of Bath, Lyco, Muddy Puddles, SHOP.COM, Race-World.com and Turtle Mats.

Hi Mel, Can you tell me a bit about you and Words that Sell?

Like AWA we’re specialists in home shopping. When a retailer needs a large volume of high quality copy for products on the website – typically 150 or more – we take all the stress away. Our team of trained writers, editors and project managers means that we’re geared up to make everything go smoothly and deliver the content on brief, on budget and on time.

As for me, I have been lucky enough to work both agency and client-side, but for the last 12 years I have been a professional copywriter to multi-channel retailers. This year my book, Flicks and Clicks – How to Create Websites and Catalogues that Sell More.

What it’s the difference between great copy and great online copy?

Good copy depends on two things – understanding the customer and knowing your product. Copy is the bit in between that tells the customer about the product in the most compelling way possible. It’s often called ‘salesmanship in print’.

Online copy has to do that job just as much as traditional offline copy. The two main differences are the format and keywords. Format comes out of the web design and its content management system. The art of using keywords in copy is to sprinkle in just enough to make the search engine spiders notice you but not too many that it becomes dull to read. You can’t bore your customers into buying!

What sort of difference can good online copy make to an e-commerce website?

They say that retail is detail, and often the difference between success and failure is down to a small increase in the margins. Websites work like a funnel, pushing their visitors towards the sale.

Copy is at the thin end of the funnel – the very point where a customer is teetering on the brink, making up their mind whether to buy or not. If the copy can ‘speak’ to the customer, and persuade just one in a hundred to buy who might otherwise not, that’s a 1% increase in sales. If your average conversion rate is 2%, then copy has just helped you increase your revenue by 50%.

Why do you think companies often underestimate the job of writing copy?

Mark Twain said ‘If it reads easy, it was writ hard’. In other words, the more effort and skill that’s gone into the writing, the easier it looks to write. (It’s no coincidence that the highest paid journalists work for The Sun). I always love working for clients who have tried to write their own copy, because they have a much better appreciation of how difficult it is to get the message right – and just how long it takes.

Are great copywriters born or made?

Like any skill, copywriting is something that can be taught, although some people will always be better than others. For any copywriter, some life experience helps a lot because it helps them understand human nature and often the best writers have had a job in sales in the past.

It’s also true that practice makes perfect. I trained my first writers for Words that Sell over three years ago, and it’s been great to see them improve over that time. Different writers often have strengths in different areas. I have some ex-journalists on the team who are great at writing newsletters, brand overviews, category overviews and buyers guides. There are others who are really good when it comes to more technical products.

What businesses do you admire for their copywriting?

I’m always impressed by Betterware. They sell products that solve problems people didn’t know they had, and it’s full of active headlines that get straight to the benefit, like Keep jewellery jumble free Achieve smooth feet, Speedy cooking without the cleaning. Their website doesn’t look pretty but it certainly sells. I’m a fan of copy where there is real passion and a distinctive tone of voice that fits with their brand values, like Lakeland, Hotel Chocolat, Boden, Joules, Fur, Fin & Feather and Wiggly Wigglers.

What are your plans for Words that Sell?

At heart I believe that better copy is good for business and good for people, and I’m expanding the team so that we can do more. I’m also looking at new software to make it easier for clients to upload copy to their website,and tightening up our project management systems to make sure every project runs like clockwork.

Great, Mel. Thanks very much for your time and I wish you well with Words That Sell

You’re welcome.