I’ve been working on a B2B lead gen site and my Google Website Optimizer test shows a conclusive winner. Version B proved a 200% increase in conversion rate.
Very cool, and I’m looking forward to much more testing.
Skyrocketing conversion rates imminent!
Filed under Conversions, GWO, I'm awesome, Results
After much preparation, I decided to take the Google Analytics IQ test tonight and I got my certificate!
I’m now Analytics and AdWords certified, and I’ve got the link to prove it.
Filed under Certification, I'm awesome
Tax time means compiling yearly reports from online accounts. It’s always a fun experiment in usability.
This one takes the cake.
There’s a dropdown in the left nav, but the main page is an image explaining how to use the dropdown (though it doesn’t actually contain a dropdown).
Obviously Google does a lot of A/B and multivariate testing, but today’s homepage versions were pretty drastic by Google standards (meaning I actually noticed what they were testing).
Check out the Google homepage we all know and love:
Google Standard Homepage
Here’s the other version I got today. I can only assume they’re testing versions of the buttons to see what makes people click them. Now that I think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever clicked either button (aside from testing the “feeling lucky” button a few times).
But you can also see the search bar is bigger, and the logo lost the drop shadow.
Pretty cool stuff. Gotta love the Google Website Optimizer!
Google Test Version
Filed under Uncategorized
There has been a lot of chatter among SEO blogs lately regarding the classic “content is king” discussion. My take on the topic is that “content is king” is king of crappy clichés.
Search engines love to instruct owners that all they need to do is to create great content and the visits (and sales) will pour in to their site. Oh! It’s that easy! And all offline businesses need to do is create a great product and sales will happen naturally.
As a marketing professional, I find that advice insulting and misleading.
Of course you need great content. Of course you need a great product. If you don’t have a viable product or service, great marketing will only delay the inevitable.
If you’ve got a great site and you want more people to come, you’ve got to also write for the search engines. Sure, the bots are tireless workaholics, but they do appreciate it when you make their job easier. And while it’s nice to imagine a world in which high quality sites link to yours with targeted anchor text, sometimes a little effort to help facilitate that process helps get things accomplished faster.
Again, using the offline analogy, if a woman with a fantastic ice cream recipe opens a shop in a city in a bad location, word of mouth will likely help grow her business over a few years if she can afford to keep operating. However, if the local news station does a story on her shop opening and how she makes the best ice cream, I’d imagine her business would grow a little faster.
So yes, by all means, create great content. But marketing, branding, PR, and SEO might have a bit of an impact as well.
