website conversion
DESCRIPTION
A presentation I gave at the ECMOD (Direct Commerce) show on 1st December, on why new websites do not convert as expected when first launched.TRANSCRIPT
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Hayden Sutherland
Ideal Interface
1 December 2011
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“Why doesn’t my new website convert as expected?”
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So…..
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You eventuallycommissioned
that new ecommerce
website
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You went througha lot….
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55381795@N04/5180211802/
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/59937401@N07/5474158159
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You made a few promises to the boss about increased conversion
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?So why has your conversion rate dropped?
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There are severalthings you need
to consider
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1. Existing users now get adifferent experience
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1. Existing users now get a different experience
Recognition Vs. Recollection
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1. Existing users now get a different experience
Returning visitors are the greatest proportion of users
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1. Existing users now get a different experience
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1. Existing users now get a different experience
“Don’t make me think”
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1. Existing users now get a different experience
HSBC Example2007 onwards
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2. Your site isn’t optimised (yet)
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2. Your site isn’t optimised (yet)
Obligatory image of a funnel
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2. Your site isn’t optimised (yet)
• You have a new checkout process, but:– Are the buttons in the correct place?– Are they the right size?
• You have new imagery,but:– Does it convey enough reassurance?– Are they showing your products well?
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2. Your site isn’t optimised (yet)
• Your content may be re-written, but:– Does it work as well as it could?– Does it explain complex terms?– Does it say “why” the information is needed?– Are your merchandising teams writing copy that
informs & converts…..….rather than just ‘self-referential’?
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2. Your site isn’t optimised (yet)
Your A/B or multi-variate testing hasn’t had a
chance to learn whatworks!
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2. Your site isn’t optimised (yet)
This is only the start of the process
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2. Your site isn’t optimised (yet)
No basket / checkout is perfect
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2. Your site isn’t optimised (yet)
If it ain’t broken….
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2. Your site isn’t optimised (yet)
If it ain’t broken….
…. you’re not lookinghard enough
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3. You’re losing visitors from search engines
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3. You’re losing visitors from search engines
• Some things your new web agency might not tell you
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3. You’re losing visitors from search engines
• Some things your new web agency might not tell you– Changing your navigation structure– Changing your directory naming– Changing your server file name extensions
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3. You’re losing visitors from search engines
• Some things your new web agency might not tell you– Changing your navigation structure– Changing your directory naming– Changing your server file name extensions
Could lose you traffic
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/49823434@N00/4969812643/
Because when the Spider comes back…..
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???
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4. The site is too slow
• No new site is smaller in page weight than the previous one– AJAX / JavaScript adds interactivity & size– Mobile users– Affects SEO
• Caching strategy is not optimised
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5. You still have bugs
• Exhaustive testing takes time• UAT always gets squeezed• ‘Fit for purpose’ means…..• Even 99.99% pass rate
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What can you do?
• Understand your users– What could jar the user experience?
• Keep testing– Make your site as flexible as possible
• Get technical with SEO– 301 redirects (Point old URL’s to new URLs)– Update sitemap.xml (Submit ASAP)
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What can you do?
• Carry out performance optimisation– Front end (HTML/CSS, Images, etc.)– Caching, etc.
• Ensure your testing approach is comprehensive– Focus effort on conversion funnel– Prioritise remaining issues & have a separate
work-stream
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In summary
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Consider these thingsBEFORE you redevelop
your new site
© 2011http://www.flickr.com/photos/13923263@N07/1471150324/
And hopefully you wont have to make promises you can’t keep
