Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Alissa Ruehl, Manager of Website Effectiveness Consulting at Apogee Search, to discuss the best strategies for increasing conversion rates.

SEO and PPC efforts can drive qualified traffic to your website, but in order to justify the time, effort, and expense, the site must be able to convert that traffic into either a lead or a sale. Alissa explains that different websites experience different obstacles, such as building trust, brand recognition, or simply experiencing high abandonment rates, and therefore require different solutions for improving conversion rates.

The best place to start analyzing your conversion rate is to look at entry pages with the highest traffic, such as home pages or high ranking landing pages. Alissa believes that these pages are extremely important in forming the right first impression with any visitor or potential customer to your site. If visitors are only spending a brief amount of time on these pages and you are experiencing a high bounce rate, consider using bullet points, bolded text, and more compelling headlines that grab every visitors’ attention and gets your message across in a clear and concise manner. If an individual is spending a great deal of time on your website then leaves without completing any sort of action, consider adding more calls to action to guide them into the conversion process.

Alissa states that lead form optimization is also an effective way to increase conversion rates on your website. In order to increase the amount of lead forms that are submitted with complete and accurate information and avoid abandonment, it is important to ensure that your forms are simple to complete, establish more trust with individuals, and only ask for information that is necessary and beneficial in obtaining a lead. Improving the conversion rate for eCommerce lead forms is slightly more involved. The amount of steps required in an eCommerce website can make conversion optimization seem daunting. Alissa separates problems with eCommerce purchases into three buckets:

1. Customer’s ability to find the product they want
2. Process of adding products to the cart
3. Process of purchasing the product once in the cart

Web analytics data can help you identify which of these steps is causing problems. These common problems can be resolved by working the individual into a pipeline, increasing the persuasion on the pages, inserting more calls to action, and discarding unnecessary requests for information that may deter an individual from completing the process.

In general, analytics tools like Google Analytics can help you pinpoint problems, while usability analyses, best practices lists, and case studies can help you identify possible solutions. However, replicating a method that may have worked for someone else is not guaranteed to work for you. Testing different solution ideas is crucial for ensuring an improvement in conversion rates.

It’s a proud day today at Apogee Search.

We officially announced that Google has recognized Apogee Search as a Google Website Optimizer™ Authorized Consultant (WOAC). We are one of a select group of companies worldwide (currently only 16 total) that have been awarded this recognition by Google.

“This prestigious certification from Google Website Optimizer reflects our willingness to invest our time and resources ahead of the curve to ensure our clients become better consumers of Google offerings. We’re honored to have acquired significant expertise and knowledge with Google Website Optimizer, and we expect that this new practice will be a very popular service offering in 2009, as it can dramatically improve the ROI of online marketing campaigns across the board,” said Apogee Search CEO Bill Leake.

Google Website Optimizer (GWO) is a testing tool that performs A/B and Multivariate testing on websites, landing pages and other web properties to help online advertisers increase their conversion rates. The results from these tests can determine the most effective combination of content and landing page design.

To be considered for this accreditation, WOAC applicants must have a verifiable track record of success using Google Website Optimizer, be a recognized industry participant in online marketing services, and be committed to improving online marketing techniques.

“We have already had proven client results using Google’s optimization technology, and this deeper collaboration with Google demonstrates our commitment not only to provide results, but also to generate empirical data for our clients on what is working for them and what is not, to ensure long term success,” said Alissa Ruehl, Manager of Website Effectiveness Consulting.

Jason Kapler, Marketing Programs Manager at Asure Software said, “Apogee Search was a tremendous partner in helping us implement Google Website Optimizer. They educated us on the value of the tool and then helped us implement a program that improved our conversion rates by 216%! Needless to say, now all of our campaigns use GWO when applicable.”

As an authorized consultant, Apogee Search offers highly skilled Google Website Optimizer set-up, support, training, and consultation services.

If you’d like to learn more about Google Website Optimizer, check out this video interview from our resident website effectiveness expert Alissa Ruehl as she discusses some helpful tips and tricks in working with GWO.

‘Tis the season for shopping, right? Well, on this lazy weekend, I was hoping to go to one of those cute little holiday bazaars with local and handmade treasures. I actually went to one last year and wanted to check the hours and entrance fee. So, like the good little search marketer that I am, I started by opening up my laptop to find the information I needed.

The bazaar I’ve been to before has been advertised around town a bit – something like Keep Austin Bazaar (if you aren’t familiar with Austin, you may not be aware of the play on the local phrase Keep Austin Weird). I took a stab at the name and came up empty handed – the first results page included a musical instruments retailer and a Paid Search ad from Amazon. So, dead end.

Next try – sometimes I try to throw in the year of an event, figuring that it might be called the 2008 Austin Bazaar or even the 2008 Austin Holiday Bazaar. No luck. I remember that the spelling might be the other version of the word, so I try again:

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After clicking on the first result, I realize I’m not at the actual event’s website, I’m at a listing for the event on the Austin section of When.com. I finally locate the link to the official website for the event — BAM! It all becomes clear…

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A site almost entirely coded in Flash. Am I surprised? Not really. I mean, it’s a cute site. The various event attractions are skating across the sky (“jewelry,” and “art,” etc.) and there are snowflakes (a rarity in Austin) sprinkling down the screen. The navigation string of holiday ornaments is pretty easy for site visitors to understand. Note: If I had searched simply “Austin Bizarre” I would have found the site immediately – however, I’m assuming the event organizers would like to rank for as many related terms as possible.

The search engines have a limited chance of actually serving this Flash site up for searchers, even searchers like me who know exactly what they’re looking for and (at least somewhat) how to perform a search.

And now for my good deed during this holiday season…

How could the Keep Austin Bizarre Holiday Bazaar have improved their website for the search engines? Here are 4 (somewhat) easy tips to implement for next year:

1. Limit the Flash content on the site

• Earlier this year, Google made major improvements in Flash indexing on websites; however, this is still not an optimal coding language for search engines to index. In particular, links and content should not be coded in Flash. For images or widgets, Flash works very well though.
• With the current Flash coding, there is no way the list of musicians and craftsmen could be returned for a search.

Solution: Don’t put the navigation bar in Flash, or provide an additional navigation bar (coded in HTML, which is search friendly) in the footer of each page.

2. Write a descriptive title tag

• Currently, the title tag reads: “KeepAustinBizarre.” The title tag is a lightning rod for the search engines – what better way to determine what a site is about than the title of the first page? Including descriptive text here will go a long way in your search engine optimization efforts.
• Do:
  • include the date of the event
  • include the address, and other important information
  • limit the title tag to 60 characters, including spaces
• Examples:
  • Keep Austin Bizarre Holiday Bazaar – December 12 – 23, 2008
  • 2nd Annual Keep Austin Bizarre – 2008 Holiday Bazaar
  • 2008 Keep Austin Bizarre – Palmer Events Center, Local Crafts

3. Submit to Google Local

• By submitting to Google Local Business Center, this event’s Google listing could include a highlighted result and link in addition to a map pointer directly on the event’s location.
• Cory Barbot gave some guidance about Google Local submissions a few weeks ago for our blog, so be sure to check that out to learn more about local search – Local SEO Tips.

4. Launch a Paid Search Campaign

• Vivian Chang was recently interviewed on event driven paid search campaigns for the Apogee Search YouTube channel, you can watch the video here: Promoting Events with Paid Search Campaigns.

A few tweaks and some prior planning for next year (maybe beginning around mid-2009) would make this site much more search engine friendly. And hey, who doesn’t want more traffic?

I recently spoke with Alissa Ruehl, Manager of Website Effectiveness Consulting at Apogee Search. She offered some helpful information about Google Website Optimizer (GWO).

Alissa began by explaining that Google Website Optimizer is a free tool that website owners can use to determine the most effective combination of content on their site through a variety of tests. The results from these tests can then be used to maximize conversion rates among existing traffic to your site.

GWO can conduct both A/B testing and multivariate testing. A/B testing will test two different pages against one another, and multivariate testing will test the various elements on the page to determine the best combination.

Alissa then offered a few strategies to keep in mind when using Google Website Optimizer:

• Ask big questions. You will only receive answers for the things that you actively test. You should test drastic changes rather than slight changes to obtain statistically significant data.
• Spend time developing well-written copy to test.
• Wait for significant data. GWO will indicate when a sample is large enough to be useful.

Alissa pointed out that there are different situations in which one would want to use A/B testing versus multivariate testing:

• Multivariate tests compare different elements of a page. Google uses a full factorial test so it is very easy to generate a large number of combinations even when testing just a few elements. These tests require a high amount of traffic to achieve statistical significance.
• A/B testing is suited for sites with less traffic because it requires a much smaller sample size to achieve statistical significance. This is the best option for testing a complete site redesign.

Finally, Alissa offered a few rules to follow when using Google Website Optimizer:

• Wait for statistically significant data. As discussed earlier, initial results might reflect random chance, so wait until you have had enough traffic for the information to be significant.
• Limit the elements being tested. If you create too many different combinations, it will take a great deal of time for GWO to produce meaningful results from your test.
• Spend as much time developing content for a test as you would for a website. Even though this is a test, you are testing potential real options for your site. Do not get sloppy with the content just because it is a test.

Technically, a landing page is just the first page a searcher sees after clicking on your ad.

Ideally, a PPC landing page is targeted to a group of search terms, and created for the purpose of converting visitors to a desired action. In lead generation campaigns, well designed landing pages often convert at 3-4 times the rate of homepages or product pages.

Most B2B sites were created to inform, rather than to convert visitors to leads. People in “search mode” have little patience and are actively comparing you against all of the other paid and natural listings they just saw on their search results page, most of which are probably from your competitors. You only have moments to grab their attention and convert them to an actionable lead that you can market to.

Here are some tips for creating good landing pages:

• Have a Form on the Page. The most obvious way to increase conversions is to put a lead form on the landing page. If your forms are playing hide and go seek, it’s unlikely that your visitors will spend the time looking for them. Bringing your forms into plain view generally results in higher conversions.
• Offer Something of Interest. Of course, you can lead a visitor to a form but you have to motivate them to fill it out. Some prospects need the extra motivation of “lead bait” – something of value in exchange for their information. The best lead bait not only seems valuable to the visitor, but also promotes your service. Whitepapers, webinars, free trials of software and similar offers can both motivate visitors to become a lead, and improve their perceptions of your company.
• Keep It Simple. Another way to increase the likelihood of the desired behavior is to minimize the number of distractions on the page. The copy on your landing page should be clear and concise. Although there needs to be enough content on your page to explain your product, service, or lead bait, long copy on a landing page rarely performs as well as short, simple copy.
• Only Use Relevant Navigation. Depending on your audience, you may also want to remove some or most of your navigation. Some pages benefit from removing all links except for a clickable logo in the top left corner, whereas other pages perform better with additional links.
• Keep Forms as Short as Possible. Respect your visitors’ time. Forms should be kept as short as possible while still remaining actionable for your sales team.
• Build Confidence with a Privacy Policy. Reassure visitors that by giving you their contact information, they won’t be subjected to a deluge of spam. Have a link to your privacy policy near your form, or simply state that you will not rent or sell their contact information to anyone, with a link to privacy policy at the bottom of your page.

Not long ago I blogged about research done by Google on the OpenID platform. Let’s do a quick rehash (cue NFL Primetime music. No, seriously, open a link in another tab and listen as you read):

What is OpenID?
“OpenID eliminates the need for multiple usernames across different websites, simplifying your online experience.”

Why should I care about OpenID?
According to the same report by Google, “[o]ne of the biggest reasons the industry has focused on federated login is to minimize the work required for a user to signup for a new account at a website.  When users are presented with a traditional signup page that asks for E-mail, password, & password confirmation, it is quite common for 30 to 50% of users to not finish the process.” Couple this 30% to 50% number with the fact that the average user visits 11 pages within a website, spending 43.62 seconds on each page for a total of 8 minutes spent on site and you’ll see that annoying users with a signup form will only shrink the already paltry amount of time they generally stay on a page. And think, creating a simplified login/signup process was basically completely out of your control.

Google and OpenID
Today Google announced they are providing web services with limited access to an API based on the OpenID protocol which is based on the user experience research of the OpenID community.

Users will be able to sign into certain websites using their Google account credentials without having to sign up for a new account at the websites. Zoho, Plaxo and Buxfer are among the initial launch partners.

With Google now joining Microsoft and Yahoo! in spreading the OpenID protocol to the masses, it looks like the user experience will improve for many people, and businesses could see an increase in sales from that 30% to 50% of individuals who would rather continue surfing than fill out a login/signup form.

This month’s Web Analytics Wednesday (WAW) – Austin will be held at Little Woodrow’s in downtown Austin on Wednesday, October 8th at 5:30 PM. It will be hosted by Ian Strain-Seymour, Director of Product Development at Apogee Search.

This month’s event will use a “birds of a feather” format. Each table will have an assigned topic, allowing people to easily find others that have similar interests. Attendees will be able to easily network and share knowledge by moving from table to table (the only problem may be making sure your drink order finds you).

Table topics will include:

• Measuring visitor engagement
• Online marketing success
• Web analytics for events
• Offline conversion

Want to add a topic? You can do so on Web Analytics Wednesday’s LinkedIn group.

Details on the event can be found on the official WAW website.

Information on the Austin Web Analytics group can be found on LinkedIn or on Facebook.

What is Web Analytics Wednesday?
Web Analytics Wednesday (WAW) is a monthly networking and educational event. It is held on Wednesdays around the world. It is a great chance for web analytics professionals (and amateurs), online marketers, online merchants, designers, developers, students and anyone else interested in web analytics to meet and share knowledge.

Undeniably, what currently works in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) occupies a majority of the collective mind of Apogee’s SEO department – links, links, links, on-page recommendations in the form of content, internal linking and tag optimizations, among others. However, we are also keenly aware of the future – that is, what does the future hold? Where is search heading? How will search engines determine a website’s relevancy for a keyword in the future? What will search results look like in the future? Where will Information Retrieval lead us?

To borrow an ongoing joke from Late Night with Conan O’Brien, what will happen in the year 2000 (9, 10, 11, etc.)? It behooves us to be Google, Yahoo! and MSN voyeurs because we are in the business of maximizing web sales or leads for our clients. Constantly researching industry trends will allow us to continue to produce solid results.

At present, Microsoft sits in third place behind Google and Yahoo! in the search engine space. Essentially, Google’s current domination of the market is due mostly to their search engine. Google provides the most relevant search results and, as a corollary, receives the bulk of traffic.

However (emphasis mine), according to Google, as quoted from their quarterly investor report, “[i]f Microsoft or Yahoo! are successful in providing similar or better web search results or more relevant advertisements, or in leveraging their platforms or products to make their web search or advertising services easier to access, we could experience a significant decline in user traffic or the size of the Google Network. Any such decline could negatively affect our revenues.”

So, how is Microsoft attempting to provide better web search results and snag the gold? Microsoft thinks it has an idea about where search could head in the future and, of course, they are looking to mold that future. PageRank meet BrowseRank. Google’s PageRank algorithm places emphasis on the number of incoming links to a website when determining relevant search results for a query. It is not the only criteria for determining rankings, but it’s very important. Researchers at Microsoft feel incoming links are important as well, but their BrowseRank algorithm places greater emphasis on how users interact with a website – length of time spent on the website and click through path, for example. In a paper entitled BrowseRank: Letting Web Users Vote for Page Importance, researchers concluded that, “PageRank only models a random walk on the link graph, but does not take into consideration the lengths of time which the web surfer spends on the web pages during the random walk. Such information can be a good indicator of the quality and thus importance of the pages.”

What might this mean for you and your website? Since we’re strolling through “what if” land (my history professor, Dr. Larson, always said “what if” history writing is terrible history writing, by the way), let’s assume PageRank and BrowseRank somehow form like Voltron to produce ProwseRank, the ultimate algorithm.

First, developing incoming links would continue to be vital to any SEO campaign. Second, providing users with the best experience possible through informative and interesting content, useful internal linking and optimal website effectiveness and usability would not only increase conversions, but would definitively increase rankings. It already sounds like a recipe for success!

Apogee Search launched their new Website Effectiveness Consulting portfolio of services on Tuesday, August 19th and national media outlets have taken notice. Reuters, TMCnet.com, and International Business Times are among several news and news related sites to report on Apogee’s new offerings.

The official Apogee Website Effectiveness press release was released on MarketWire.com. The press release outlines specific offerings of the new practice including Conversion Rate Improvement, Metrics and Analytics, and Testing and Measurement. It also explains Apogee’s new promotion, a free key page review, which is a detailed recommendation of changes to a site’s headings, copy, site navigation, and layout for the purpose of increasing conversion rates.