Think eBiz; thoughts on eBusiness

Landing Page Simplicity equals Online Success

Recently reading Jonathan Mendez' blog discussion (Optimize and Prophesize) on "simplicity in landing pages" resonated very well with the Think-eBiz view on web site effectiveness. Web site owners are catching on, that their site is not their online ego, but a place for business - real sales & leads - conversions!

And with a simple approach to landing page design, the ability to perform real and valuable testing is magnified. Often it is subtle changes to a web site that cause the greatest impact on increased conversions. A complex image and text heavy site that displays all '20' of your leading products will often rank high on the one-and-out scale (the % of people who come to your home page and leave).

So scale your site back, provide short powerfully written content that tells the visitor who you are, what you do and why they should be here...  draw your visitor in and gain their permission to learn more. And always give them an easy way to contact you, to provide their name as a lead or get to the specific product they were actually seeking.

Optimization can help - allowing you the analytics of what caused conversion, learn more and defection behavior. And with a simple design, it will be easy to make the subtle yet powerful adaptations that lead to a better overall visitor experience - delivery more and better sales!

PS: A great book on web site usability is Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (2nd Edition)

Recently reading Jonathan Mendez' blog discussion (Optimize and Prophesize) on "simplicity in landing pages" resonated very well with the Think-eBiz view on web site effectiveness. Web site owners are catching on, that their site is not their online ego, but a place for business - real sales & leads - conversions!

And with a simple approach to landing page design, the ability to perform real and valuable testing is magnified. Often it is subtle changes to a web site that cause the greatest impact on increased conversions. A complex image and text heavy site that displays all '20' of your leading products will often rank high on the one-and-out scale (the % of people who come to your home page and leave).

So scale your site back, provide short powerfully written content that tells the visitor who you are, what you do and why they should be here...  draw your visitor in and gain their permission to learn more. And always give them an easy way to contact you, to provide their name as a lead or get to the specific product they were actually seeking.

Optimization can help - allowing you the analytics of what caused conversion, learn more and defection behavior. And with a simple design, it will be easy to make the subtle yet powerful adaptations that lead to a better overall visitor experience - delivery more and better sales!

PS: A great book on web site usability is Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (2nd Edition)

MVT and Online Advertising

Every advertiser tests - of course they do. However, are they testing effectively?

When an advertiser launches an online media campaign they will monitor their impressions, click throughs, and ultimately conversions - but do they really understand the triggers of success? The behavior of the consumer? Often the answer is no - however they can claim success by reaching their cost-per-acquisition (CPA) targets while maintaining an acceptable ad spend budget (measured by cost-per-millions impressions -CPM) . We believe advertisers can do better - much better by leveraging multi-variant (sometimes called multi-variable) testing - or MVT.

An outlandish claim by the authors of Breakthrough Business Results with MVT, Charles Holland; "...MVT is the greatest business improvement methodology ever devised"

What is MVT? It is the structured ability to test many different variables all at the same time in order to uncover the greatest impacts to your business. In it's very simplest terms - do consumers click your banner because of a Free Shipping or 20% off? Now factor in other key variables:

Aesthetics; does a green banner do better than a red one, when advertising DVD's? What about Plasma Televisions?

Message; are consumers more apt to click on a strong compelling message or one that is softer, easier (maybe less direct)?

Offer; as we noted above, does free shipping attract more attention than a percent-off offer?

Call to Action; What drives the click behavior? --> Buy Now? Learn More? Take advantage of this offer today? What are you waiting for?

And then there are the use of images, banner types (flash, rich media, video, static) and the banner size.

Now test all of these factors simultaneously! Welcome to MVT, a powerful way of learning more about your consumers and the drivers of online success - more and better leads/sales. According to Forbes, "If you haven't yet applied multivariable testing to your business, get moving.".

Consider leveraging MVT as a means of helping your business deliver more and better conversions, yielding a higher ROI, while lowering your CPA - for your current level of ad spend budget... effectively! MVT offers "real-time data analytics and insights" into consumer clicking and buying behaviors (tm:O3performance). Some MVT vendors include Optimost, Offermatica, 1+X (previously known as Poindexter), SiteSpect and others.

Every advertiser tests - of course they do. However, are they testing effectively?

When an advertiser launches an online media campaign they will monitor their impressions, click throughs, and ultimately conversions - but do they really understand the triggers of success? The behavior of the consumer? Often the answer is no - however they can claim success by reaching their cost-per-acquisition (CPA) targets while maintaining an acceptable ad spend budget (measured by cost-per-millions impressions -CPM) . We believe advertisers can do better - much better by leveraging multi-variant (sometimes called multi-variable) testing - or MVT.

An outlandish claim by the authors of Breakthrough Business Results with MVT, Charles Holland; "...MVT is the greatest business improvement methodology ever devised"

What is MVT? It is the structured ability to test many different variables all at the same time in order to uncover the greatest impacts to your business. In it's very simplest terms - do consumers click your banner because of a Free Shipping or 20% off? Now factor in other key variables:

Aesthetics; does a green banner do better than a red one, when advertising DVD's? What about Plasma Televisions?

Message; are consumers more apt to click on a strong compelling message or one that is softer, easier (maybe less direct)?

Offer; as we noted above, does free shipping attract more attention than a percent-off offer?

Call to Action; What drives the click behavior? --> Buy Now? Learn More? Take advantage of this offer today? What are you waiting for?

And then there are the use of images, banner types (flash, rich media, video, static) and the banner size.

Now test all of these factors simultaneously! Welcome to MVT, a powerful way of learning more about your consumers and the drivers of online success - more and better leads/sales. According to Forbes, "If you haven't yet applied multivariable testing to your business, get moving.".

Consider leveraging MVT as a means of helping your business deliver more and better conversions, yielding a higher ROI, while lowering your CPA - for your current level of ad spend budget... effectively! MVT offers "real-time data analytics and insights" into consumer clicking and buying behaviors (tm:O3performance). Some MVT vendors include Optimost, Offermatica, 1+X (previously known as Poindexter), SiteSpect and others.

SEO and Web Site Effectiveness

With permission from MediaPost, a great source of news and information for the online marketer; my recent article was published. How does great coffee and search engine optimization related? Please Read On:

SEO and Effective Web Design

by Stephen Harris, Tuesday, Aug 16, 2005 2:16 PM EST

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU been approached to perform search engine optimization (SEO) magic on a Web site? It would seem that a lil' dab of content density adjustments, a dash of linking strategy, and an H1 tag make-over is all that is needed to give a Web site that spark. Sales will certainly follow, right? I need SEO! When I hear this, my first instinct is to take a step back and review the person's Web site. Often it is apparent that the answer to that question is, well, no. It will take more than SEO to bring on the sales. Is SEO important? A resounding yes, of course it is. For many Web properties it's a critical element for a site's overall success. However it is not the only element for a successful online experience. Absolutely, a well optimized site, under the right keyword(s), delivers enhanced branding and establishes credibility and ultimately the coveted "free" clicks. However, what some Web site owners fail to realize is that a well crafted title tag is just one factor for success. When discussing SEO, I first explain what SEO can do and then step back to view the complete online marketing landscape. An analogy often works best: Think of an effective SEO as an advertisement for your coffee shop, which is well placed at a train station. Your sign for fresh brewed coffee is the first one a commuter sees, and it's enticing enough that all other coffee shop advertising is bypassed. However, when the visitor arrives at your store, they can't easily find your selection of coffees and are distracted by signs for lunch specials. Not to mention, there is no one at the cash register. In other words, effectiveness doesn't come just from having a No. 1 ranking. It also takes an effective destination. To create an effective Web site, marketers should, at a minimum: Create a well integrated and seamless experience from the search phrase entered by the visitor to the first message they see when the site is displayed. Imagine the coffee shop now with a large sign displaying the available coffees and the smell of fresh roast. Establish credibility and provide basic information on the main Web page. It's like having the local newspaper do a great review of your coffee shop prominently posted on the walls. Provide easy and intuitive navigation; make it very easy for your visitor to find what they are seeking. A clearly defined area where you can learn more about the available coffees and someone who can answer your questions. Establish a strong call-to-action, well positioned on the Web page. Make it easy for your well motivated, and caffeine starved consumer to purchase that fresh cup of coffee. SEO and a poor Web site experience are like buying a cup of stale coffee. Of course, an effective SEO dictates effective use of content, but it doesn't necessarily require intuitive navigation and a strong call-to-action strategy. Further, there are some SEO practitioners that focus on the behind-the-scenes or black-hat methods, which do not aid in providing a quality user experience. High ranking perhaps, but what about the conversion? Combining effective search optimization with an effective Web site creates a strong synergy that may well deliver the sales that the site owner is ultimately seeking. Online marketers can use SEO to leverage a better overall experience and relationship with the client by delicately pointing out that a high ranking is nice, but selling more coffee is so much better.

Stephen P. Harris is managing director of SPH Associates, an Online Marketing Agency. He can be reached at stephen@sph-associates.com