A fully updated guide to making your landing pages profitableEffective Internet marketing requires that you test and optimize your landing pages to maximize exposure and conversion rate. This second edition of a bestselling guide to landing page optimization includes case studies with before-and-after results as well as new information on web site usability. It covers how to prepare all types of content for testing, how to interpret results, recognize the seven common design mistakes, and much more. Included is a gift card for Google AdWords.
Features fully updated information and case studies on landing page optimizationShows how to use Google's Website Optimizer tool, what to test and how to prepare your site for testing, the pros and cons of different test strategies, how to interpret results, and common site design mistakesProvides a step-by-step implementation plan and advice on getting support and resources
Landing Page Optimization, Second Edition is a comprehensive guide to increasing conversions and improving profits.
Introduction xv
Part I Understanding Landing Page Optimization 1
Chapter 1 Setting the Stage 3
What Is a Landing Page? 4
A Few Precious Moments Online 4
Your Baby Is Ugly 6
Your Website Visitors: The Real Landing Page Experts 6
Understanding the Bigger Online Marketing Picture 8
The Myth of Perfect Conversion 17
Chapter 2 Understanding Your Landing Pages 19
Landing Page Types 20
What Parts of Your Site Are Mission Critical? 22
What Is Your Business Model? 28
The Types of Conversion Actions 30
Chapter 3 The MatrixMoving People to Act 35
The Matrix Overview 36
Roles 36
Tasks 38
The Decision-Making Process 39
Awareness 40
Interest 43
Desire 45
Action 53
Part II Finding Opportunities for Site Improvement 63
Chapter 4 Common ProblemsThe Seven Deadly Sins of Landing Page Design 65
A Sober Look 66
Unclear Call-to-Action 66
Too Many Choices 73
Visual Distractions 76
Not Keeping Your Promises 83
Too Much Text 86
Asking for Too Much Information 87
Lack of Trust and Credibility 93
Real-World Case Study: CREDO Mobile 106
Chapter 5 Conversion Ninja ToolboxDiagnosing Site Problems 111
You Are Not as Good as You Would Like to Believe 112
Focus on the Negative 113
Web Analytics Tools 114
Visual Analysis Tools 125
Feedback and Survey Tools 131
Website Performance Tools 133
Competitive Analysis Tools 135
Usability Testing Tools 136
E-mail Enhancement Tools 139
Chapter 6 Misunderstanding Your VisitorsLooking for Psychological Mismatches 141
Empathy: The Key Ingredient 142
Researching the Whole Story 143
Demographics and Segmentation 144
Welcome to Your Brain 148
Cognitive Styles 152
Persuasion Frameworks 157
Cultural Differences 165
Part III Fixing Your Site Problems 169
Chapter 7 Conversion Improvement Basics 171
Web Usability Overview 172
Visual Presentation 173
Writing for the Web 192
Usability Checks 197
Chapter 8 Best Practices for Common Situations 201
Homepages 202
Information Architecture and Navigation 205
E-commerce Catalogs 211
Registration and Multiple-Step Flows 234
Direct Response Pages 243
Mobile Websites 246
Chapter 9 The Strategy of What to Test 251
How to Think About Test Elements 252
Selecting Elements to Test 261
Testing Multiple-Page Flows 264
Timeless Testing Themes 267
Price Testing 273
Part IV The Mechanics of Testing 279
Chapter 10 Common Testing Questions 281
Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics 282
Crash Course in Probability and Statistics 286
Have I Found Something Better? 293
How Sure Do I Need to Be? 295
How Much Better Is It? 298
How Long Should My Test Run? 300
Chapter 11 Preparing for Testing 305
Overview of Content Management and Testing 306
Content Management Configurations 308
Common Testing Issues 313
Chapter 12 Testing Methods 325
Introduction to Testing Terminology 326
Overview of Testing Methods 331
A-B Split Testing 332
Multivariate Testing 335
Variable Interactions 350
Part V Organization and Planning 359
Chapter 13 Assembling Your Team and Getting Buy-in 361
The Usual Suspects 362
Little Company, Big Company 372
The Company Politics of Tuning 375
Strategies for Getting Started 378
Insource or Outsource? 380
Chapter 14 Developing Your Action Plan 387
Before You Begin 388
Understand Your Business Objectives 389
What Is the Lifetime Value of the Conversion Action? 390
Assemble Your Team 401
Determine Your Landing Pages and Traffic Sources 403
Decide What Constitutes Success 405
Uncover Problems and Decide What to Test 407
Select an Appropriate Tuning Method 410
Implement and Conduct QA 412
Collect the Data 416
Analyze the Results and Verify Improvement 418
Chapter 15 Avoiding Real-World Pitfalls 421
Ignoring Your Baseline 422
Collecting Insufficient Data 422
Not Accounting for Seasonality 424
Assuming That Testing Has No Costs 424
Not Factoring In Delayed Conversions 426
Becoming Paralyzed by Search Engine Considerations 433
Failing to Act 436
Appendix Landing Page Testing Tools 437
Enterprise Tools 438
Free or Inexpensive Tools 440
Glossary 443
Index 451
