We depend on our websites to engage with visitors and convert them to buyers. Those involved in content creation and design are usually informed and influenced by design best practices or the likes/dislikes of a HiPPO (Highest Paid Person in the Office). While the constraints of a CMS platform or the trade-offs made due to budget or time constraints are real, we believe that Marketers and web teams need to push through contraints and consider the opportunities presented by site testing and optimization. Testing and optimization can drive significantly higher conversion rates and deliver increased revenue to your business.
At Webtrends Optimize, we leverage Webtrends Optimize with our paid search platform, Webtrends Ads to create the perfect match of paid search and landing page optimization.
Recently for a large B2B distributor, we tested and improved a landing page receiving paid search traffic. Our experienced client services team and account managers collaborated in each step of the engagement to deliver a 72% lift in user engagement and click through to a highly trafficked product category.
The process began with the identification of low engagement (low conversion rate, high bounce rate) landing pages and assessments of on-page optimization opportunities. Our list of landing page improvement opportunities were:
• A better headline
• More descriptive category text
• Additional product images for sub-categories
• Additional call-to-action elements for links to product sub-categories
We agreed that an A/B/n test would be the best fit for the client, allowing for more sophisticated testing during the next engagement (multivariate testing, visitor segmentation and personalization of content). A test hypothesis was developed stating that redesigning the landing page would allow users to easily scan multiple categories and would result in an increased click through rate and send more users deeper into the site. We then presented the redesigned landing page to the client for review and revisions.
After acquiring client approval, we prepared the search campaign keywords and ad creative. We then flipped the the bidding algorithm for testing mode allowing for stable bids and ad copy. The test page content and testing methodology was setup. The test was monitored and in weekly status calls with the client we communicated early results. Once we logged enough page views for the test results to be statistically significant, the test was concluded.
A thorough analysis of the results was completed and shared with the client. The results showed that changes to the challenger page resulted in a significant increase in landing page click through rates. The challenger page was clearly preferred by site visitors, resulting in an increase in visitor engagement with the site and the test hypothesis was proven to be true. The client was very happy with an observed 72% increase in on-page clicks on the challenger page compared to the control page. Based on recommendations from the Webtrends Optimize team, the client deployed the new challenger page to 100% of their search traffic in order to capitalize on the significant lift the page provided in the test. Moving forward, we are now moving on to phase two of the project.
It’s time to start breaking through the internal and system challenges and get focused on making your landing pages work harder and deliver more.
