10 Conversion Optimization Posts You Must Read

You will find many examples of how various headlines, call to actions etc. can be tested to drive more conversions and how many companies have successfully done so. Maybe you have done it too. However deep inside you know that moving the needle from 3% to 4% is huge but still there are 96% of your visitors/visits that did not convert. I have compiled a list of some of my blog posts that show you how can move the needle further up by taking action on things that are generally not found in tips and tricks books and articles.

1. 5 Things That Could Be Hindering Your Conversions
   In this post I have listed 5 fundamental things that are part of most of the online forms but could be preventing the visitors from converting.
   
2. Underline the Clickable Text and Link the Pictures
   Sometimes you just have to do it without doing testing. Underlining the clickable text and linking the picture to a page are few of those things that really do not require testing.
3. Are Form Validations Invalidating Your Conversions?
   Are the data validations on your sites form hindering your conversions? This posts gives you something to think about.
4. Is CAPTCHA Eating Up Your Conversions?
   Though CAPTCHA is a great tool for blocking spam it could be coming in the way of user experience and resulting in a lower conversion than you would have had without it.
   
5. 7 Ways Of Handling 404 Error Messages  - 404s are hard to avoid. Even if you have done everything correctly users might mistype the URLs and get a 404 on your site.  This post shows you how various companies are handling them effectively to drive engagement and conversions.
   
6. Conversion Optimization: Go Beyond A/B Testing and MVT
   A/B testing and MVT are a great way to help you drive more conversion on your website. A/B testing and MVT help you decide the best layout, headlines, images, message copy etc. that motivates the visitors to complete a transaction.
   However, A/B testing and MVT will only get you so far. If a visitor does not complete a transaction during later steps of the funnel then there are generally other reasons than those that can be simply fixed by changing the page layout, copy, images etc. .
7. Is Your Conversion Rate Wrong? – This post explains how your conversion rate calculations are wrong.
   
8. Conversion Tip: Making the Most of the Email Confirmation Thank you Page  -
   Thank you and confirmation pages are the most ignored pages. This post shows how to effectively use those pages to drive further engagement and conversions.
   
9. Are you Optimizing the Wrong Steps of the Conversion Process?
   Due to organizational structure, many marketers/analysts get a partial view of the customers’ conversion process data.  This results in optimizing the wrong steps of the conversion funnel /channel. I describe my recent experience while purchasing a laptop to show how focusing on one channel only can lead to wrong
   results.
10. Most likely your Conversion Rate is Wrong
    Most of the web analytics tools just allow you to see a view of single channel conversion rate i.e. web conversion rate. However, as I discussed in my post "Are you Optimizing the Wrong Steps of the Conversion Process?", customers don’t care how your channels are divided or who is responsible for what channel at your organization. They care about their money and will use whatever channel they feel most comfortable with.  Are you considering other channels when calculating your conversion rates?

And a bonus:
Significance of Statistically Significant Results in A/B Testing
Do not make the mistake of jumping the conclusions too quickly when running A/B tests, wait for statistically significant results.


I hope 2012 will bring you lot more conversions. Happy New Year!!!

Comments? Questions?

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