Five Tips to Improve Online Experience, Drive Revenue and Reduce CostsMegan BurnsSenior AnalystForrester Research

March 4, 2009

3Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Most Web sites deliver a lackluster experience

• 60% of sites lack essential function.

• 63% of sites lack essential content.

• 74% of sites have unclear menus.

• 81% of sites make users take unnecessary steps.

4Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Bad Web experiences cost you money

• Average benefit from a Web site re-design:

– Retailers: $9M (low) to $39M (high)

– Manufacturers: $2.6M (low) to $3.6M (high)

– Financial Services*: $8M (low) to $25M (high)

* Secure site only.

5Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Five ways to improve the online experience

1. Identify problems that stop users from completing their goals online.

2. Eliminate technical issues.

3. Fix usability problems with well-known solutions.

4. Help people find what they want using search.

5. Streamline the end of the purchase funnel.

6Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Five ways to improve the online experience

1. Identify problems that stop users from completing their goals online.

2. Eliminate technical issues.

3. Fix usability problems with well-known solutions.

4. Help people find what they want using search.

5. Streamline the end of the purchase funnel.

7Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Web SiteMonitoring

Identify annoyances like slow page load times, content display errors, and software glitches.

Use the measurement tools you already have…

Web AnalyticsUncover problematic visitor behavior like

pogo-sticking.

8Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

HeuristicEvaluations

Use trained experts to find knownusability problems.

Remote Usability Testing

Find additional usability problems at lower cost.

...and layer in low cost qualitative techniques

Web SiteMonitoring

Identify annoyances like slow page load times, content display errors, and software glitches.

Web AnalyticsUncover problematic visitor behavior like

pogo-sticking.

9Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Five ways to improve the online experience

1. Identify the problems that stop users from completing their goals online.

2. Eliminate technical issues.

3. Fix usability problems with well-known solutions.

4. Help people find what they want using search.

5. Streamline the end of the purchase funnel.

10Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

11Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

12Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Errors erode trust in the Web channel

• Average cost difference between Web and phone is $5.40 per transaction.

• Even a small channel shift can have a big financial impact.

13Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Five ways to improve the online experience

1. Identify the problems that stop users from completing their goals online.

2. Eliminate technical issues.

3. Fix usability problems with well-known solutions.

4. Help people find what they want using search.

5. Streamline the end of the purchase funnel.

14Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Common problems with known solutions

Does the site present privacy and security policies in context?

Place clearly labeled links to privacy and security policies next to fields that ask for personal information.

Describe both privacy and security safeguards in the policies.Best Practice: Include a summary of each policy with the links.

Is text legible?

Does the site help users recover from errors?

Verdana should appear to be at least 9 pt., Arial at least 10 pt., and Times New Roman at least 11 pt.

Best Practice: If contrast is low (e.g., gray text on a white background or any text on a colored background), use type that’s

larger than minimum sizes.

Design error messages into page templates, not pop-up windows.Tell users what went wrong and how to fix the problem.

Use clear, polite language that doesn't imply that users are at fault.

Best Practice: Adopt the habit of forcing errors by finding a form or high-function application, doing something you’re not supposed

to do (like leaving fields blank), and observing the results.

Source: “Beating The Three Web Design Challenges”

15Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Five ways to improve the online experience

1. Identify the problems that stop users from completing their goals online.

2. Eliminate technical issues.

3. Fix usability problems with well-known solutions.

4. Help people find what they want using search.

5. Streamline the end of the purchase funnel.

16Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Help people find what they want via search

• Optimize copy, titles, and labels to help search engines match content to user search terms.

• Eliminate unused content to:

– Cut clutter in results

– Save time and money in content management

17Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Five ways to improve the online experience

1. Identify the problems that stop users from completing their goals online.

2. Eliminate technical issues.

3. Fix usability problems with well-known solutions.

4. Help people find what they want using search.

5. Streamline the end of the purchase funnel.

18Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Don’t stop people who want to give you money

• Make sure visitors have the information they need to complete the transaction.

• Remove unnecessary fields and steps in the task flow.

– Don’t require registration to make a purchase.

• Provide clear feedback and error messages.

• Tweak the location and appearance of key buttons to increase click through rates.

• Make sure the order review page doesn’t look like a confirmation page.

19Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Five ways to improve the online experience

1. Identify the problems that stop users from completing their goals online.

2. Eliminate technical issues.

3. Fix usability problems with well-known solutions.

4. Help people find what they want using search.

5. Streamline the end of the purchase funnel.

20Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Recommendations

• Do everything you can now to improve the customer experience so you’re well positioned to compete when things turns around.

• Focus on low cost, high value fixes that stop customers from completing their goals online.

• Keep detailed records of what you do and the benefits that come from it.

– Use this data to make the case for more funding in the future.

21Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Read more about business case best practices

• June 17, 2008 “How To Get Funding For Web Site Improvements”

• June 4, 2008 “Top Decision Criteria For Execs Who Approve Customer Experience Budgets”

22Entire contents © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thank you

Megan Burns

+1 617.613.6294

mburns@forrester.com

www.forrester.com

▪First SaaS Web Experience Management Platform

▪Web Experience Delivery Assurance across the application lifecycle

▪ExperienceFirst (XF) Network

▪80,000+ internet experience measurement points

▪Over 2,000 Customers Worldwide

▪13 out of 20 most visited US Websites utilize Gomez

▪250+ Employees

Gomez Profile

▪ Headquarters

▪ Lexington, MA

▪ Global Offices

▪ UK

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Matt PoepselVP, Performance Strategies

Not available

Available

8 Days per Year

$803,000 in lost revenue

$2,550,000 in lost revenue

“went offline for a period of several hours”

“lengthy outage that left businesses without access

to mission-critical data”

“network issuesbrought services downfor about six hours”

User Expectations

Poor performance impacts usability, user satisfaction, conversions

1. Recession Realities

2. Web Complexity

3. Great Expectations

Partnering for Lasting Success

• Customer Experience is being shaped by the Recession, Web Complexity, User Expectations

• Online revenues, cost containment and risk hang in the balance

• Business and IT partners need to work together to meet end-user expectations

• Success requires new types of communication and coordination

• Four key questions can guide the collaborative process

12

34

Keep the Doors Open

Are we sure that our customers can browse, view, and search our site?

KEY QUESTION #1

Protect the Revenue

What have we done to ensure all our customers can convert?

KEY QUESTION #2

Keep Them Satisfied

Are all of our customers really having a good experience?

KEY QUESTION #3

Protect the Quality

Are my IT team and partners succeeding with fewer resources?

KEY QUESTION #4

1. Take advantage of usability improvement recommendations from Forrester

2. Get detailed answers to the 4 Key Questions▪ Foster alignment and communication

1. Make sure all Business and IT counterparts have the information they need to succeed

Recommendations

Business stakeholders may not own the solutions, but they are responsible for ensuring that the problems are solved

“Gomez has made spectacular progress in the last 18 months…to become the leader in web experience management.”

Jean-Pierre Garbani, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester ResearchTech Horizons: Evaluating Gomez’s Web Experience Management Services, August 2008

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