6 principles of conversion optimizers in 2015

In accordance with all forecasts, 2015 will not be the easiest for internet marketers. That is why we are constantly in search of information that will help us and our colleagues to conduct business successfully. For example, previously there were translated articles on how Twitter and Facebook can be used to benefit the case, as well as material from Neil Patel on “6 most powerful calls to action”. When we saw this article by Jeremy Smith, we thought that it could be very useful for all of us, because the experience of a person consulting IBM, Dow Chemical, American Express, Panera Bread is worth something. So, the word - the author.



You've probably heard the expression "the whole thing is in the approach." It is often used as a special highlight in motivation lectures. And, no matter how annoying it is, it’s true. When I do conversion optimization, I love to follow certain tactics. I aggressively follow my strategy. I meditate on the original parameters for hours. I start my day with data analysis. And I dream about Google Analytics.



But I also realized how important the approach to conversion optimization is.

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At the beginning of this year, I would like to give you some excellent, proven on my own experience, tips on how to optimize conversion, along with practical recommendations on how to work. These tips may seem rather complicated, but believe me, they are very important.



6 approaches that each optimizer should use

1. Be prepared to make mistakes

The only reason you have good conversion optimization results is in your mistakes.

Take split testing for example. You are about to select samples for testing that will not produce the expected impression. They are not statistically valid. They show nothing. Maybe you are absolutely wasted time on them.

And what is the result ?!

First of all, you have experience. You realized that terribly conducted tests. And this is something. Mistakes are a wonderful thing, the more you commit them, the more experience you accumulate.

And the more mistakes you make, the more success you will achieve in the future.







I understand that there is little in common between basketball and conversion optimization, however, this phrase clearly makes them similar:

“I missed over 9,000 shows in my entire career. I lost almost 300 games. 26 times I had to score the winning goal, but I did not succeed. I suffered defeat after defeat, and it was thanks to them that I succeeded. ”



Michael Jordan - a legend in the world of basketball. And how did he achieve such success? He was ready to make so many mistakes.

So back to the conversion optimization.



The conversion optimizer path is strewn with errors. They will come to you at every turn, whatever you do. They are just everywhere. Why? Because the majority believe some kind of conversion guru and clearly follow his instructions. But in the end they have nothing.



The biggest mistake in your work may be copying the "best practices". But still try them and make your mistakes. Instead of reflecting on how good the proposed technologies are, try to apply them and gain experience on your mistakes.

2. Study all possible information about conversion optimization.

We all have limited time during the day, professional career and lifelong. Use your time to explore all possible sources about improving your conversion rate.

Read all possible blogs, check tweets, add known optimizers as friends, listen to all webinars and use all the tips you find.



Here is what Neil Patel wrote in the article: “10 predictions in marketing that you need to prepare for in 2015”:

We will see an increase in demand for conversion optimization. Work in this area involves a unique set of skills, but there will be more and more people studying this area in the coming years. Why? Because companies are willing to pay huge money to significantly increase their conversion rates (a link to a full translation of this material is at the end of the article).

More and more people are coming to this area. You have an exceptional position, because you already work in this market, and, as a result, you should be the best in it. I found out. Studied Won.

Conversion optimization is a huge area. I urge you to learn everything in your power about her.

Like any niche in digital marketing, conversion optimization will look completely different in a year. That is why you need to constantly explore current changes in this business. Trends are changing, and you need to adapt. But now you can build your business on the knowledge that you have and get all the possible benefits from it.

If you don’t know what else to read about conversion optimization, I recommend the following resources:



1. Read the book Quarto for beginners optimizers. This is an excellent resource for both experienced and novice professionals.







The book covers the following topics:

• What is conversion level optimization?

• Why is conversion level optimization important?

• Basics of optimizing the level of conversion.

• Drawing up and testing an optimization plan.

• User experience and sales funnel optimization.

• Optimization of the selling page.

• Reduce bounce from viewing the page.

• Myths about conversion level optimization.

• Testing and conversion optimization tools.

• Evaluation of optimization techniques and selection of the best strategy.

• Bonus. Tips and tricks for advanced optimizers.

When you read the entire book, and it will take you no more than a couple of hours, go to my second tip:



2. Perform A / B testing on your website.



Best of all we learn by doing. You will understand the essence of the work, conducting real testing, analyzing the results and making amendments.



3. Follow the news on the largest blogs. There are many excellent resources on optimization news. I recommend the following five sites:

• My

• ConversionXL

• Unbounce

• Wider Funnel

• The Daily Egg

Make this training format a part of your work day.

3. Test everything you can test.

Testing is the basis of optimizing website conversion rates.

Split testing underlies any attempt to successfully optimize conversion. If you learn to conduct effective testing, you are guaranteed to achieve great success in this area.



In optimizing conversion, there are only a few things that are not testable. And, on the contrary, there is a huge number of aspects whose action can and should be analyzed.



We have already talked a lot about the testing strategy for 2015. I recommend that you follow this strategy to significantly increase your desired rate and increase your own fees.

It is through testing that your work progresses. Now you have the opportunity to make this year the most profitable in your life, only if you are focused on high-quality testing. Test your email newsletter, contextual advertising, headlines, images, product ordering process. In short, test everything that is possible.

4. Be interested in the features of the human mind

The more you understand the subtleties of the mind, the better your conversion optimization will be.

The basic principle of optimizing conversion is to convince people to do something. To help them in this, you need to understand how they think.



That is why I am so keen on psychology. I try to penetrate the brain of site visitors. Psychology is behind any click, clicking on a link, a call to action, because any conversion is, above all, a process of thinking.

In my work as an optimizer, I put a huge emphasis on A / B testing. By experience, I can say that A / B testing is the most powerful and direct way to obtain the data necessary for further actions and irrefutable evidence of effective methods of work.



And in second place in its strength is such a source of information and data as psychology. In my previous article on the impact of psychology on the process of optimizing conversion rates, I wrote the following:

I recommend always asking "Why?". “Why are we doing this now?” Why do we change the size of the button? Why are we making this headline in green? ”

This is your first step - to look at the question in a new way, change the paradigm of familiar actions and try to find out what the user actually thinks when he comes to the site you work with.

At the second stage, a hypothesis is created. Before you start a split test, stop and think carefully about how a user could act in a particular situation. Will the user notice an orange button rather than a green button? Will a visitor be annoyed by a pop-up window or will it increase the number of subscribers? Create a hypothesis before you start the testing process.



And now your own mind is ready for testing. The preparatory work you have done is important - moral preparation. When you actually test and get data, you have a good base for analysis at your disposal to which you can apply the resulting information.



Ultimately, it is imperative to examine your users. Each site has its own specifics. Each product is different from others. Each market is unique. You need to understand who your users are, what they want, how they behave and what influences them best. You will spend your time with benefit if you start to carefully study the way of thinking of your users.



The following approach will help you better understand your users:



• Study their demographic characteristics.

• Create a buyer's action card.

• Talk to individual users.



The better you understand the way of thinking and the decision-making process of your customers, the better you will be able to create successful websites with a high conversion rate.

5. Desire more

In terms of conversion, you deserve much more. What is the highest conversion rate your site can have? This is 100%. Do you think that this can ever be achieved? Most likely no. But compare this figure with what you have now. What is your current conversion rate? 2%? 3%?

Whatever your source data, we always have where to grow. Larry Kim shared a very controversial opinion in the article “Everything you know about conversion optimization is a mistake.” He believes that the mistake is that most optimizers concentrate on low conversion rates. They achieve 3% -4% and are content with this. They rest on their laurels and do not aspire to more.



But so it is impossible! Here is what Kim writes about this:

After analyzing a lot of information on the sales pages and conversion rates, we can determine the characteristics common to all top selling pages with the highest conversion rate. What do they have that your site does not have? Believe it or not, you can increase your own indicators two or three times. But the principle of your future work will be completely different from the standard vision of the optimization process.

In his study, the conversion of top sites is 12%!







You can increase conversion rates. But you will not achieve such results if you focus on standard indicators. You need much more to be desired.

At the beginning of the year, everyone likes to set new goals. I suggest you set yourself the following two goals:



1. Set a goal to achieve a conversion level



Decide which conversion rate you want to implement in 2015. I recommend double the rate of last year. If the average percentage in 2014 was 3.4%, in 2015 you should achieve 6.8%.

Do not doubt, this can really happen! Take a look at the research done by WordStream. With 6.8% you will be in the group of excellent optimizers. But you don't want to be in a great group. You want to be a super star!







2. Set a goal in testing

Of course, you will not reach the desired new indicators only through positive thinking. They are possible only after real action. And what exactly do you need to do?



Testing.



Here is your second goal for 2015 - testing. Let us return again to the topic of increasing the index by half. How many tests did you do in 2014? And now we multiply this figure by 2. Or by 3. Or by an even larger figure.

For testing to be more effective, you need to organize yourself. Create a split test calendar, fill in the fields with information about what you will be testing, and for how long. Stick to this schedule and do not cheat. Testing will increase the conversion rates of your sites.



Most importantly, count for more. 2015 is the year of your victories.

6. Examine your users.

The most important approach in 2015, in my opinion, is simple and very powerful. We already talked about him above.

Examine your users.



In a complex interaction of testing, analysis, psychology, conversion rates, contextual advertising, natural traffic and increased profits, there is one simple but fundamental thing: you work with people.

This is one of the reasons why the conversion optimization process is so exciting. You interact with real people who buy your products, read your content or order your service.



Who are these people? What makes them decide? Why do they click on certain areas of the site? What do they want? How much time do they have? What are they addicted to? What is their education? What is their lifestyle?



The better you study your users, the more effectively you can meet their needs. Remember that you are not just selling someone a product. You interact with people.

Conclusion

Ready for 2015? If you are engaged in optimization of conversion, it promises to be incredible for you. There will be many exciting events, and you will find yourself in the very center. So prepare for this game as follows:



• Be prepared to make mistakes in conversion optimization. Mistakes are best for learning.

• Learn the maximum amount of conversion optimization information. It is impossible to know too much.

• Test everything you can test. Testing is a proven way to make progress.

• Study the workings of the human brain. Remember that psychology will bring you great success.

• You will not improve your conversion rates unless you want it more than anything else.

• Examine your users. In essence, for their sake and conversion optimization is carried out.