Day2 Blog

Numbers Are People Too: Balance Conversion with Customer

Meghan James — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:16:24 +0000

Congratulations! You've been running a testing program on your website for a while now. You've optimized those micro-interactions, you've got your conversion points humming. Now what?

We work with our partners to not only increase conversions, but to advance their optimization programs by thinking strategically in key areas. A critical piece of the process is moving the conversation from marketing to experience, which really means to stop talking about numbers, and start talking with customers.

Portland Google Analytics User Group: Content Value and Universal Analytics

Allen Tyler — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:53:57 +0000

Last week's Google Analytics User Group featured guest speakers from Babcock & Jenkins and SwellPath, discussing measurement for content value and Universal Analytics.

Analytics for Pros: SEMpdx Recap

Katie Del Angel — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:56:11 +0000

Last night, SEMpdx hosted over 100 Google Analytics enthusiasts to hear more about optimizing content and leveraging data to personalize experiences. ISITE Design's Amanda Bernard and Ryan Summers shared some of their insights, as well as explained how searcher personas can be key to establishing content and metrics for success.

Check out their slide deck below:

Which Test Won? Ours Did!

Meghan James — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 23:29:01 +0000

WhichTestWon has recognized ISITE Design and our Knowledge Universe partners in the Best 31 Online A/B & Multivariate Tests! Read about our award-winning tests.

Google Analytics Meetup Recap: Measuring PPC and SEO Efforts

Allen Tyler — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:06:02 +0000

Last night at ISITE Design we enjoyed the company of fifty other Google Analytics users at the third session of the Portland Google Analytics User Group. Folks from all different backgrounds gathered together on the final day of January, 2013, to hear presentations and discussions around measuring your Pay Per Click (PPC) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts using Google Analytics.

Search, Personified

Amanda Bernard — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:08:02 +0000

Most marketers and website owners understand the basics of search engine optimization (SEO). You probably have a list of keywords and your website has those keywords integrated strategically into your content. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a great foundation, but are you ready to take your SEO to the next level this year? Let’s make 2013 the year that we go beyond making subtle tweaks to on-page SEO or regularly creating fresh content and start optimizing the search experience for customers!

Collaborative Conversion Testing

Ryan Summers — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 20:42:55 +0000

In our webinar last week, we talked about how building a culture of optimization stems from getting people involved from multiple teams, and not doing test design in a vacuum. This year at Delight, our annual user experience conference, we took that idea to the next level and had an audience of over 300 people help us crowd-source an A/B test for our client GoHawaii.com.

Beyond the Test: Digital Optimization Webinar

Katie Del Angel — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 21:50:22 +0000

Check out insights and resources from our digital optimization webinar, Beyond the Test.

First, Do No Harm

Allen Tyler — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 19:30:46 +0000

Could we add a high-value form field without significantly hurting the completion rate?

Show Me the Money!

Sheryl Hampton — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 20:21:16 +0000

This latest post from the Always Be Testing series demonstrates how web site optimization can have a big impact on your bottom line.

Web analytics, A/B and multivariate testing, conversions, “the funnel” – these are all great areas of focus and activities for you, today’s digital marketer. But how do you convey the value of optimization in terms your CFO will get behind and support?

Turn Customer Insights Into Lift by Personalizing Landing Pages

Ryan Summers — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 22:59:11 +0000

Why would you deliver a single user experience to all of your visitors when we know that no two customers are alike? Web analytics data and visitor behavior can tell us so much about the visitor’s intent that we should be able to take a pretty good guess at why they came to the site.

The Theory:

From Flow Viz to PhotoBlast: GAUGE 2012 at a Glance

Katie Del Angel — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 15:35:33 +0000

Last week, our Day2 team hit Beantown in force for the Google Analytics Users' Great Event - GAUGE. In a whirlwind event featuring 4 presenting sponsors (including ISITE Design), 3 different tracks and a veritable firehose of information, we were able to glean some great insights from a range of Google Analytics pros. Between feverishly pounding out notes and trying to socially share our learnings, we pulled together a Storify, including tweets, slide decks, and photos, to recap the conference at a glance.

5 Steps (and a Tool!) to Start Optimizing Your Website

Allen Tyler — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 17:16:43 +0000

Here we outline five simple steps to get you started optimizing your website.

Can previous test findings apply elsewhere on the site?

Allen Tyler — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:28:16 +0000

After finding success testing button copy on one page, we decided to test the effectiveness of our winning button copy on the PPC landing page on KinderCare.com. Coming from a culture of testing, we wanted to verify our expected positive impact, prior to rolling one test winner across the entire site. Would the same winning test on the search results page produce the same lift in the conversion rate on the landing page?

TMI: We Asked for Less and Saw a 28% Lift in Form Completions

Allen Tyler — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 15:18:06 +0000

Could we help KinderCare increase the website conversion rate for visitors filling out an inquiry form by testing the length of the form?

Website Testing: Examples and Definitions to Guide Your Optimization Efforts

Allen Tyler — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 20:57:23 +0000

By now you have seen a few posts in our Always Be Testing blog series, sharing some exciting lift results from tests we’ve executed with KinderCare. If the increased conversions and visitor rates have you itching to begin your own testing to improve your users’ experience, here’s some background on two types of tests and when to utilize them.

Invisible Optimization: Better ZIP Accuracy Boosts Conversion Rate by 9%

Ryan Summers — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 19:00:00 +0000

The repertoire of Always Be Testing includes back-end systems, too. Today we explore something a little different than you might expect. Instead of testing creative or copy, or even changing the visual user experience, we are testing two systems that perform geo-location / ZIP code lookups. Our assumption was that a more accurate geo-location look-up service would result in an overall higher conversion rate.

Demystifying Website Optimization

Allen Tyler — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:15:00 +0000

Website optimization means different things to different folks. For some, it represents opportunities to make more money for an organization. For others, it means endless headache and worry. And for others, website optimization simply means continuously improving conversion rates.

A Tale of Two Meta Descriptions

Laura Allen — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 19:47:21 +0000

What was it about one search listing that got my attention? While their instant preview image was the most compelling out of three, it was ultimately the meta description that got me to click through. Let’s take a look at what a meta description is and how you can create well-crafted meta descriptions that get people to click through to your page.

Relocating One Call to Action Drives 25% Bump in KinderCare's Clickthrough Rate

Allen Tyler — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 16:15:00 +0000

Could we help KinderCare increase the conversion rate for visitors by moving the call to action for a chat widget to the top of the page?

Imagery and Copy Changes Increase Effectiveness of KinderCare Call To Action by 68%

Ryan Summers — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 19:33:45 +0000

In this installment of our Always Be Testing series, we ask which element of the primary home page call to action (CTA) will have the biggest impact on clickthrough rate?

Hypothesis: Using photography as the background image and a Search Button Icon instead of text would have the largest positive impact on clickthrough rate.

How KinderCare Increased Leads by 57% From Testing a Single Button

Allen Tyler — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 17:40:05 +0000

Could we help KinderCare increase the website conversion rate for visitors filling out an inquiry form by optimizing the text on the button that opens the form?

Google Plus is Here to Stay, Are You Ready?

Sheryl Hampton — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 16:40:02 +0000

The latest from the Search Corner series.

When I originally wrote the post, “Should Your Brand Have a Google+ Page” in February this year, a lot of people were very anxious about the upcoming change in Google’s privacy policy, and still mostly skeptical of Google+ adoption. I wanted to revisit the topic, a few months out.

Google Instant Preview: Small Images Bring Big Optimization Opportunities for Site Owners

Amanda Bernard — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:46:43 +0000

Have you ever been on a Google search results page and a small web page screenshot popped up as you moused over? Whether you uncovered this feature by accident or knew to look for it, the image you saw was courtesy of Google’s Instant Preview feature. Instant Previews are snapshots of web pages that get displayed in Google search results.

Calculated Copywriting: Leveraging analytics data to optimize content

Ryan Summers — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:59:59 +0000

Battle-tested optimization experts know that while you can test many elements of a landing page, the most influential areas are usually content related with the headline, value proposition and call to action.

Writing for optimized experiences can be a daunting task. The copy needs to be short and sweet but also contain enough that it helps overcome any anxiety a visitor might have. The ultimate goal of copy writing for testing is to increase clarity and provide clear actions that align to visitor intent.

Google Analytics Geeks Unite for the First Portland User Group

Jeff Cram — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 19:25:52 +0000

This post was originally posted on ISITE Design's Insight blog, included in our monthly newsletter delivered on Monday, June 4th.

Search, Plus Your World: Love Child of Personalized Search and Social Search

Laura Allen — Thu, 31 May 2012 16:03:56 +0000

Search, Plus Your World (SPYWorld) really isn’t as new of a concept as many think it is. Google has been personalizing search results for years. Google has also been providing social search results for years.

Amalgamated Analytics: Bridging the Data Divide in Google Analytics with Dashboards

Allen Tyler — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:38:18 +0000

The updated dashboard features are a welcome addition to Google Analytics (GA), and are a game-changer for the analytics industry. The ease of creating, updating, and interpreting these dashboards is unrivaled by most web analytics tools. When I think about these dashboards, three words often come to mind: easy, comprehensive, and AWESOME.

Optimization Beyond the Web

Allen Tyler — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:45:06 +0000

To paraphrase Lord Kelvin, if you don’t measure you can’t improve. Our data center operations team lives by this credo, and we take every opportunity to measure the performance of our facilities. In the same way that you might examine your electricity bill and then tweak the thermostat, we constantly track our energy consumption and use that data to make improvements to our infrastructure.

Google Analytics Social Reporting – The Holy Grail of Social Media Marketing?

Katie Del Angel — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:05:25 +0000

For as long as I’ve been working the ropes of social media channels, I’ve had this nagging question at the back of my mind – as I’m sure social media strategists, community managers, content strategists, and marketers across the board all have – what is the point? What IS the real value of social media?

Is There an SEO Doctor in the House?

Michelle Auchter — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:52:53 +0000

I was in a meeting with a client recently with one of our Digital Marketing Strategists. We were talking with the Marketing and Communications team about their organic keyword strategy. A familiar scenario, they were seeking more visitors and better qualified traffic to their website. As I listened to the conversation, I couldn’t help but feel like I was a fly on the wall at a clinic specializing in SEO. The scene unfolded like this:

“What’s In a (Google+) Name?"

Laura Allen — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 19:47:59 +0000

A few weeks ago I stumbled across a thought provoking article by Ian Chan about an issue that I hadn’t read about or, frankly, even thought about regarding Google+. I therefore credit him with inspiring the following post.

What is humor and approachability worth to your visitors?

Allen Tyler — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 22:12:44 +0000

There is a great review on the Dare to Delight blog about how digital marketing should be a conversation between an organization and its online visitors. The piece points out how humorous and approachable the sign-up form for Search Discovery's Satellite Tool is – a feature often neglected in creating forms. We started to wonder if this approach to the form could result in more visitors filling it out, at least compared to an uninspired version.

Should Your Brand Have a Google+ Page?

Sheryl Hampton — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:37:15 +0000

The short answer is yes, yes it should. Even just a simple, quasi-placeholder for right now, if that’s all you can muster. Though Google+ is changing by the day, we want to discuss some of the top considerations for brands looking to jump on the platform.

Social impact on search

Welcome to the Search Corner

Amanda Bernard — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:55:58 +0000

Presenting ISITE’s new online series, The Search Corner! It’s no surprise that our thoughts have been on the ever-evolving Google and what the evolution means (check out this awesome Google Panda in Plain English infographic). ISITE’s crackerjack team of folks obsessed with online search will be sharing opinions, thoughts, and advice over the coming weeks. Here’s a preview of what’s coming…

Overcoming those pesky operational barriers to optimization

Jeff Cram — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 18:39:28 +0000

One of the final sessions at the Optimization Summit was a panel on the operational barriers to optimization. Surely we can solve all these problems in an hour, right?

I love this topic and it’s a driving force behind the creation of our Day2 optimization program. Helping organizations get aligned to successfully deliver on optimization is hard, but necessary work.

Ad hoc testing is one thing, but a sustained commitment to optimization as a program is a much bigger nut to crack. Good optimizers are in the change management business.

Optimizing on a shoestring budget with Randhir Vieira of Eye-Fi

Jeff Cram — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:58:46 +0000

We’re in the home stretch of the Optimization Summit and Randhir Vieira, Director of Product Marketing at Eye-Fi is speaking on how they approach optimization with a small team of 2-3 marketing folks.Eye-Fi is probably one of the coolest products most folks haven’t heard of. I’ve been meaning to pick one up for awhile, and having Randhir demo it to me in person sealed the deal. Although I promised him I would first go to his website and convert so he got some credit. Eye-Fi is a memory card for your digital camera that wirelessly transfers photos from your camera to your laptop or phone.

Paul Terry on building a culture of optimization

Jeff Cram — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 03:15:37 +0000

The Optimization Summit is off to a fast start and I sat in on a terrific session by Paul Terry today. Paul is a Senior Manager of Optimization at PRIMEDIA, Inc., the parent company of Consumer Source, Inc., a national publisher and distributor of free print and online consumer guides for the apartment and home industries.

His focus is on testing a network of sites that includes ApartmentGuide.com and Rentals.com, among others. He was graciously transparent with their approach to optimization internally.

Cracking the validity nut with testing and optimization

Jeff Cram — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:42:36 +0000

Apparently the morning sessions at the Optimization Summit here in Atlanta were just a warm up act to the heavy hitting content in the afternoon. I just got out of a panel discussion on the topic of validity, digging into the gnarly topics of significant difference, sample size and levels of confidence. The panel was moderated by Daniel Burstein, Director of Editorial Content at MECLABS and featured Eric Miller, Director of Product Management at Monetate, Bob Kemper, Director of Sciences at MECLABS and our own Aaron Gray, fearless leader of our recently launched Day2 group.

Why Day2?

Aaron Gray — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 03:39:30 +0000

A year ago, when we started actively thinking about what is launching today as Day2, we knew we wanted to launch something that would be transformative. Something that would help clients finally achieve the elusive promise offered by analytics and optimization tools. We'd been building and optimizing websites for 14 years, so we knew first-hand from conversations with clients that they were struggling to get the ongoing, long-term benefit offered by measurement and testing vendors. They believed achieving those benefits was possible, but they were struggling to make it happen.